Evolutionary explanations for partner preference

Question 1

What is natural selection?

Answer 1

The process where organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring

Question 2

What is adaptation?

Answer 2

Behaviour that enables a person to cope in their environment with the greatest success and least conflict with others

Question 3

What is reproductive success?

Answer 3

The degree to which an individual is successful in producing offspring that are able to produce offspring of their own

Question 4

What is sexual selection?

Answer 4

The competition for mates between members of the same sex, which has a significant impact on the evolution of certain physical and psychological traits, such as greater height and certain facial and body features

Question 5

What is inter-sexual selection?

Answer 5

• The preferred strategy of the female (quality over quantity)
• Females make a greater investment of time, commitment and other resources before, during and after the birth of their offspring
• Females may be quite fussy and wisely choose a partner who can offer resources (food, territory, protection)
• This will enhance the female’s reproductive success, as any child she bears will have a greater chance of survival due to resource availability, and will pass these genes on

Question 6

What is intra-sexual selection?

Answer 6

• The preferred strategy of the male (quantity over quality)
• The competition between males to be able to mate with a female
• The winner of the competition reproduces and gets to pass on to his offspring the characteristics that contributed to his victory (strength, height, facial features)

Question 7

What are the male mating strategies?

Answer 7

1. Courtship rituals
2. Size
3. Sperm competition
4. Mate guarding
5. Sneak copulation

Question 8

What are courtship rituals?

(Male mating strategies?)

Answer 8

Showing off genetic potential and resources

Question 9

What is size?

(Male mating strategies)

Answer 9

Bigger body sizes demonstrate physical strength and an ability to protect the partner and offspring from threats

Question 10

What is sperm competition?

(Male mating strategies)

Answer 10

Men have evolved to have bigger testicles and faster swimming sperm

Question 11

What is mate guarding?

(Male mating strategies)

Answer 11

Keeping a close eye on partners to prevent unfaithfulness

Question 12

What is sneak copulation?

(Male mating strategies)

Answer 12

Being unfaithful

Question 13

What are the female mating strategies?

Answer 13

1. Handicap hypothesis
2. Sexy sons hypothesis
3. Courtship

Question 14

What is the handicap hypothesis?

(Female mating strategies)

Answer 14

• Some women may pick men with handicaps, as it shows an ability to thrive despite adversities
• It may explain why some women are attracted to men who take drugs and drink a lot

Question 15

What is the sexy sons hypothesis?

(Female mating strategies)

Answer 15

Females select males they deem as physically attractive, as they are likely to pass this onto their children, increasing the offspring’s chance of reproducing

Question 16

What is courtship?

(Female mating strategies)

Answer 16

Dating is an important strategy for females to establish a mans worth to produce offspring

Question 17

If the point is:

A strength of evolutionary explanations for partner preferences is that there is supporting research for it.

What is the evidence and link?

Answer 17

Evidence- Buss looked at over 10,000 participants in 37 different countries and asked them to rate different characteristics they thought were important when picking a partner. He found that men preferred younger, physically attractive females whilst females preferred ambitious men that had good financial prospects.

Link- These findings support the fact that partner preferences are due to sexual selection, not just in 1 society but across multiple cultures.

Question 18

If the point is:

A weakness of evolutionary explanations for partner preferences is that the external validity of these explanations could be considered to be low.

What is the evidence and link?

Answer 18

Evidence- Generally, these explanations don’t take into account homosexual relationships or partnerships where children are not desired, and thus cannot be attributed to all individuals. These explanations of partner preferences can only be used to explain heterosexual relationships.

Link- Given that these ideas can only be applied to a subset of the population, it could be argued that the usefulness of these theories is limited.

Question 19

If the point is:

A strength of evolutionary explanations for partner preferences is that Clark and Hatfield also support this theory.

What is the evidence and link?

Answer 19

Evidence- They sent male and female psychology students around a university campus to approach other students. They said to the students around the university “I have been noticing you around campus. I find you to be very attractive” then asked either “would you like to go on a date with me tonight?” “would you go back to the apartment with me?” or “would you like to have sex with me?” Findings showed that, for females, 50% agreed to a date, 6% to apartment and 0% sex. For men, 50% agreed to a date, 69% to apartment and 75% agreed to sex. However, this study was conducted in 1989, so it may be era dependent and we may not find the same results in todays society. Therefore, this study may lack temporal validity.

Link- This research suggests that males strive to reproduce in comparison to females.

Question 20

If the point is:

A weakness of evolutionary explanations for partner preference is that they fail to take into account changes in society over time.

What is the explanation, evidence and link?

Answer 20

Explanation- After WW2, many women carried on working in the roles they took up whilst the war was commencing, and as society has moved on women have remained in the workplace. However, these evolutionary theories don’t always fit in modern society, as women are no longer reliant on men for resources.

Evidence- For example, the gender pay gap decrease and changes in society with the acceptance of homosexuality.

Link- Therefore, evolution cannot explain this.

Question 21

What are the evaluation points for evolutionary explanations of partner preferences?

Answer 21

+ Evidence to support

— External validity could be considered as low

+ Further research to support

— Fail to take into account changes in society over time