relationships Flashcards
(20 cards)
what is sexual selection
characteristics or traits that have evolved in order to increase the likelihood of reproductive success
anisogamy
differences between male and female sex cells
male gametes are large in numbers and are continuously produces
whereas female gametes are limited in number and need a large amount of energy to produce
mating strategies are based on these differences
inter-sexual selection
women prefer quality over quantity - invest more time and energy in producing offspring than males
- pick males with attractive physical traits that can be passed on to the next generation and with resources
- sexy traits passed onto sons (sexy sons hypothesis) - increase changes of finding mate
intra-sexual selection
men compete with each other to gain access to as many females as possible
prefer quantity over quality as their investment into offspring is limited compared to females
seek young women as youth is an indication of fertility
evaluation of evolutionary explanations - buss
surveyed more than 10,000 adults across 33 countries and found that females preferred resource-related characteristics and males valued good looks and chastity - supporting sex differences in mate selection
evaluation of evolutionary explanations - clarke and hatfield
approached university students and asked if they would go to bed with them
0% women
75% men
evaluation of evolutionary explanations - waist-hip ratio
singh - waist-hip ratio was an indicator of attractiveness for females
men prefer a ratio of 0.7 as it indicates the women is not pregnant and fertile
self-disclosure
self-disclosure involves revealing personal information about yourself
romantic partners reveal more about their true selves as the relationship develops
these revelations strengthen the relationship, if used appropriately
social penetration theory
gradually revealing yourself to someone which involves reciprocal exchange of information
breadth and depth
as trust develops, partners move from revealing low risk information (that we would tell anyone), to high risk, more personal and intimate information
reciprocity
also must have reciprocity
partners must respond by also revealing more intimate information, so that there is a balance of self-disclosure, in order to have a successful romantic relationship
evaluation of self-disclosure - sprecher and hendrick
found a positive correlation between measures of satisfaction and self disclosure in heterosexual couples
evaluation of self-disclosure - cultural differences
Tang et al - found that sexual self-disclosure of men/women in USA is greater than in china - levels of satisfaction is the same - limited explanation
evaluation of self-disclosure - relationship breakdown
romantic relationships become more satisfying as self-disclosure increases
- Theories of relationship breakdown - partners often self-disclose more often and more deeply as their relationship deteriorates
- This does not increase satisfaction and often not enough to save relationship
- Incomplete theory
physical attractiveness
symmetrical faces have been found to be the most attractive across all cultures, as they signify genetic fitness - Shackleford and Larson
neotenic features are also considered attractive, as they trigger a caring instinct in women
matching hypothesis
assess our own attractiveness and pick someone who we rate as similar - walster et al - we compromise between looking for the most attractive mate against them being out of our league
the halo effect
one feature has a disproportionate influence on our judgement of a person’s other attributes - tend to regard physical attractiveness as evidence of someone who is kind, successful and see them more favourably as a result
evaluation of physical attractiveness - contradicting research
taylor et al - studied activity logs of online dating site and found that daters sought meeting with potential partners who were more attractive than them, without considering their own attractiveness level
evaluation of physical attractiveness - everyday life
palmer and peterson found that the halo effect was present in everyday situations - attractive people were rated as more politically knowledgeable and competent than unattractive people
evaluation of physical attractiveness - meta-analysis
feingold - found positive correlation in ratings of attractiveness between romantic partners
