Ohne Titel

A02- parental investment

Extra marital affairs- female cost of child rearing- make sure good quality offspring.To achieve this marry a man good recourses and caring. Extra marital affairs allow for good genes. with attractive men but no recourses.

Baker- evidence through survey of 2700 uk women. 14% of the population were children of extra marital affairs.

Cuckoldry- benefits for women- additional social support and higher quality genes for her offspring. Risks - abandonment and mate retention stratergies by current partner.

x- small sample size compared to population- difficult to extrapolate such data to wider generalisation. Also, has a cultural bias.

F-

Buss- found that male US students indicated more concern about sexual infidelity where as female students expressed a greater concern over emotional infidelity. Men showed more distress with sexual rather than emotional infidelity. Again this supports the theory showing sex differences and how jealousy has evolved in males and females to provide the best and ensure survival of offspring age group may also not be indicative of the whole population as they were simply young adults and the results given may simply be more indicative of that age group rather than the wider population.

Males-

Males do invest- Joint parental care- successful reproductuion. if males can ^ success of raising offspring it will benefit them to do so. (dunbar)

Parental investment theory predicts investment by fathers better if 100% sure offspring was theres. Howver, andrson went against this and measured recourses given by stepfathers and fathers. Found no differences in recourses provided to actual children compared to stepchildren which is not biologically theres.

Research to support that males do invest rather than taking reproductive opportuinities by providing recourses. family live in healthier environment. decrease infant mortality rate and allow offspring to therefore survive.

This displays a weakness in the theory as if parental investment is down to evolution. investing in other children wouldn't be advantageous. so must be other factors influencing parental investment such as personality, quality of relationship and social conditions. reductionistic- over simplified.

IDA-

Parental investment shown by comparing to closely related species such as chimpanzees. show little or no paternal investment.suggest male parenting a evolutionary change or cultural learning and better cognitive thoughts.

x- evolutionary theories research are hard to prove or disprove.

Deterministic and gender bias.

Geher-91 non parent graduates. found no sex difference in self reports in terms of parental investment perception scale. Found clear differences in ANS arousal to different parenting scenarious. Men ^ hr when shown cost of parenting e.g sacrifices.

Consistent with predictis of parental investment theory. shows males are biologically less prepared than females in confronting issues associalted with parenting.