Relationships: Sexual selection and Evolutionary behaviour

Question 1

Sexual selection

Answer 1

Evolutionary process in which physical and psychological qualities (that resulted in greater reproductive success) become more common across species

Question 2

Anisogamy

Answer 2

Difference between male and female gametes

Question 3

Anisogamy: males

Answer 3

Sperm: Small, mobile, continuously produced

Question 4

Anisogamy: female

Answer 4

Ova(egg): Large, static, produced in intervals for limited number of years

Question 5

Consequences of anisogamy

Answer 5

Plenty fertile males, fewer fertile females

Gives rise to different mating strategies

Question 6

Inter-sexual selection

Answer 6

Selection of mates between sexes.

Each sex has innate preferences for a mate with certain characteristics

The preference determines area in which other sex must compete

Question 7

Which gender prefers inter-sexual selection?

Answer 7

Females bc quality over quantity

Question 8

Female strategy

Answer 8

Females make a greater investment of time and commitment before, during, and after birth of offspring

Seeks male that will provide healthy offspring, support them w resources

Female makes biological investment in the child, thus looks for good resources

Question 9

Female strategy: what do females seek?

Answer 9

A male that will:
Provide healthy offspring
Support them with resources
Physical strength in male

Question 10

Inter-sexual selection: factors impact on human reproductive behaviour

Answer 10

Preferences of both sexes determine attributes that are likely to be passed on (e.g. females preferring taller men (height))

Overtime, leads to characteristic becoming more evident in males - the runaway process

Question 11

Runaway process

Answer 11

Likelihood of a characteristic becoming more evident overtime in a gender, as it is preferred by the opposite gender.

Question 12

The runaway process happens…

Answer 12

Overtime

Question 13

Intra-sexual selection

Answer 13

Competition among members of same sex, for members of opposite sex

Question 14

Which gender prefers intra-sexual selection?

Answer 14

Males bc quantity over quality

Question 15

Male strategy

Answer 15

Competition is necessary because females are a limited resource and a choosy

Victors can pass the genes to the next generation and therefore those traits which lead to their success are maintained

Question 16

Intra-sexual selection: factors impact on human reproductive behaviour

Answer 16

Intra-sexual selection pressures -> certain patterns of human behaviour:
Male aggression
Male preference for youthful and fertile women
Male desire

Question 17

Male aggression

Answer 17

Male act aggressively = more likely to succeed in mating bc more likely to win competition against another male

Question 18

Male preference for youthful and fertile women

Answer 18

These characteristics are a better guarantee of reproductive success
Therefore genes of those males with these preferences = more likely to be passed on to their offspring = successful mating strategy

Question 19

Male desire

Answer 19

Fuckboy: Male desire to optimise mating chances by fertilising as many female as possible

Question 20

Male desire: evolutionary theories

Answer 20

Fuck and chuck. Say that men decrease sexual attraction following sex to prevent spending too much time with any one woman

Question 21

A03: support for relationship between intra-ss and human reproductive behaviour

Answer 21

Buss (1989)

Conducted survey on partner preference using over 10,000 adults in 33 countries

Question 22

A03: Buss 1989: procedure

Answer 22

Conducted survey on partner preference using over 10,000 adults in 33 countries

Question 23

A03: Buss 1989: findings

Answer 23

Females value resource-related characteristics (ambition, financial prospects) more than males

Males value reproductive capacity ( physical attractiveness, younger women bc fertility) more than women

Question 24

Resource-related characteristics

Answer 24

Ambition

Financial prospects

Question 25

Reproductive capacity

Answer 25

Younger women bc more fertile

Physical attractiveness

Question 26

A03: Buss (1989) culture advantage

Answer 26

33 countries suggests universality
Supports:
sex differences due to anisogamy
partner preference derived from sexual selection theory

Question 27

A03: Buss (1989) culture disadvantage

Answer 27

Wasn’t truly cross cultural study
Hard to include rural population
Not a proper sample within a country, as results reflect people from cities, not rural areas

Question 28

A03: Against Buss: alternative reason as to why men prefer younger women

Answer 28

Preference due to social power; younger = easier to control

Question 29

A03: against alternative as to why men prefer younger women

Answer 29

Kenrick et al
Found teenage males prefer women 5 years older than them
These women not easily controlled
Support evolutionary explanation

Question 30

A03: Buss supports

Answer 30

Intra-sexual selection and human reproductive behaviour

Question 31

A03: Support for inter-ss and human reproductive behaviour

Support for claim males seek ST mating opportunities

Answer 31

Clark and Hatfield (1989)

College campus study - see whether females and males willing to have sex with attractive stranger

Question 32

A03: Clark and Hatfield findings

Answer 32

0% females agreed - suggests female choosiness exists

75% males agreed - males evolved different strategy for reproductive success

Question 33

A03: Singh et al. SO what?

Answer 33

Evolutionary factors reflected through
patterns of human reproductive behaviour through
partner preference

Question 34

A03: support Singh et al waist:hip ratio

Answer 34

Measured males preference for females waist hip ratio
Hip size attractive if ratio of one to the other is 0.7
Signifies fertility and not currently pregnant

Question 35

A03: against. Chang et al. Findings

Answer 35

Report some preferences have changed, some remained same over 25 years in China

Question 36

A03: against. Chang et al. SO what?

Answer 36

Suggest both evolutionary and cultural influences must be taken into account when explaining human reproductive behaviour

Question 37

A03 1/2 support for inter-sexual

Answer 37

Penton-voak
Fertile: masculine faces (virility, good genes) ST mating desirable for offspring
Less fertile: feminine faces (kind, cooperative) LT partner