Evolutionary Approach to Gender

parental investment theory

- looks at human reproductive behaviour 

- males are promiscious and females are selective 

- male investment in offspring are low 

- females investment in offsrping are high 

- it isn't scientific 

- the results are based in the past 

- it has real world application - people are easily able to see these types of behaviour in the real world 

- it is high in mundane realism - the results can easily be applied to everyday life 

- nature v nurture 

pair bonds

- pairs have developed as it has improved the odds of conception and successful childrearing 

AO2

• this can be seen easily in the real world 
• it isn't very scientific 

sexual selection

- argues that certain characteristics that a person has boosts reporductive success 

AO2

- there is real world application 

- it isn't scientific 

• males and females approached strangers of the opposite sex 
• based on a uni campus with students 
• they asked the strangers 3 questions:

- will you go out with me tonight 

- will you come back to my house with me 

- will you have sex with me 

• 50% of men and women agreed to going out that night 
• no women agreed to sex but 75% of men did 

- the campus may be a situational variable

- social desireability effect - if the people being asked are with friends they may gave different asnwers to what they would if they were on their own 

- there is low mindane realism as the experiment has been made to seem artifical 

- it can't be fully generalised as it only uses students 

- there is low internal validity as it isn't a controlled experiment 

- the findings may be artefact of the research situation 

- it is very reliable as it can easily be repeated 

- it supports the findings of Trivers

- there is evidence for the approach in the real world 

- the approach is very deterministic - it negelcts free will and says one thing will determine the behaviour of the other thing 

- it neglects culture - there may be differences between other cultures that aren't western eg collectivist cultures 

- it is less relevant in a contemporary society - most of the research is based in the past eg males may now invest more in their offspring 

- the approach is very sexist 

- it isn't a scientific appraoch