AO1 - sexual selection and human reproductive beha
Sexual selection = any physical/behavioural trait that increases the reproductive success of an individual becomes more common in the population over time whereas one that doesn't becomes rarer.
to extrapolate this onto HRB these behaviours must be genetically determined
due to different selection pressures on men + women they carry out different beh
E.g. of HRB effected by Sexual selection = mate choice - intersexual selection - one sex's preference for certain qualities of the other sex e.g. female preference for tall men results in a taller population.
according to this men should mate w/ as many young/fertile/attractive women as possible to maximise their reproductive success + continuation of genes through many offspring. - little biological cost as millions of sperm made/day. women should be more choosy + pick men who can invest resources as women have greater biological cost/investment + resources promote lower pregnancy + child mortality - gene survival
E.g 2 - intrasexual selection/mate competition males compete for mates - victors can pass on genes + losers can't - traits leading to competition success are passed on
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AO2 - sexual selection and human reproductive beha
Strength:- Buss 1989 - found after studying 37 diff cultures including diversity of ethnic/religious/political/economic groups - women desired mates w/ good financial prospects more than men + men prioritise youth +physical attractivness (linked to fertility) - shows there are sex diffs - and that women want resources but men want fertile women -no cultural bias + good sample size but lacks historical validity
Strength:- study showing women selecting sperm donors similalry value resources most
Strength:- Dunbar shows that homosexual beh. (a weakness) can be a strength - heterosexual women = 3x more likely to seek resources in partner than lesbians - lesbain Rs unrelated to reproductive success so sexual selection not a factor.but homosexual Rs = weakness of ev. theory as they aren't geared towards goal of reproductive success
Weakness: - other reasearching focusing on 'nature' side of 'nature-nurture' debate also explains HRB - e.g. may learn through cultural/social norms what's attractive - behaviourism - operant conditioning e.g. choose a partner your family/friends don't mock/hate = negative reinforcement - we won't repeat - equally good explanation for HRB as evolutionary theory
Weakness:- supported by real life- western cultures males value very slim women, e.g. african cultures value plumper women. in history - 1920s skinny women valued in 1950s hourglass women valued - not innate preferences from EEA -
even Buss' findings could be explained by media influence + SLT
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AO3 - sexual selection and human reproductive beha
Gender Bias: - mate choice is apparently biologically inherent but in many societies women are punished for choosing more/younder sexual partners and therefore may choose not to be seen to have the same sexual preferences as men -
due to gender inequality in most of the world women tend to have less fincanial/power resources + therefore mate selction = easiest way to achieve this - may be forced into this
if there were equal oppourtunites for women accross the world would mate selection be more similar/the same? - this may explain sex differences more than evolutionary theory
Speculative about the EEA - + we are no longer as controlled by selection pressures - + we now have free will due to larger brains + higher intelligence - more able to base decisions on morality/consequences/context of modern world - evolved preferences may no longer be relevant to actual behaviour
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