EVOLUTIONARY EXPLANATIONS OF RELATIONSHIPS

EVOLUTIONARY EXPLANATIONS OF RELATIONSHIPS

1. Environment of Evolutionary Adaption

   • thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of years ago "in the EEA"
   • The time when a relationship formation criteria was established
     • The EEA is NOT a specific time or place - but the environment to which a species is adapted.

2. What is attractive? EG: FACIAL FEATURES what men think? what women think? Symmetrical Facial Features .. MALE (square Jaw, ridged eyebrows, small eyes) FEMALE (large eyes, small nose, small chin)

   • Grammer and Thornhill 1994

3. Partner Selection

   • females preferred powerful males (what does this look like? modern day? e.g.: financial security and ambition
   • Males preferred youthful attractiveness - to spread genes
   • NB: LINKS TO PARENTAL INVESTEMENT
   • Mate choice is a product of mate preference formed in the 'environment of evolutionary adaptiveness'

4. Differences in reproductive behaviour ?

   • " MEN HAVE MORE SEX" (i don't thin this really makes sense coz like how can you have more sex than women if you're having sex with women?.. ANYWAY the alleged reason for this "more sex having" in Evolutionary explanatory terms is because men want to perpetuate GENE pool
   • concerns with relationships are seen to involve two priorities (FOR MEN - concern with sexual infidelity FOR WOMEN - concern is with emotional infidelity)
   • nature of sexual selection: INTRASEXUAL = male competition INTERSEXUAL = men choosing women & women choosing men
     • Darwin 1874 - "SEXUAL SELECTION"

5. (SEXUAL SELECTION)

6. SEXY SONS - hypothesis a female chooses a sexual partner for successful and attractive attributes as these are likely to be inherited by their sons

7. SHORT TERM MATING

   • more vulnerable
   • overtime humans have "evolved" many mating strategies
   • WHY? - the more females that the male can impregnate the more likely they are for reproductive success

8. HRB - "Human reproductive behaviour" ESSAY = begin by talking about mate choice - female then male what they want/look for - then link to Darwins "SEXUAL SELECTION"

   • WHAT IS HRB ?? - the romantic behaviours in the present day and how these are explained by the evolutionary explanations given by "sexual selection" and the EEA
   • humans born prematurely - because of head size

9. PARENTAL INVESTMENT

   • breast-feeding can last for up to four years in some societies. In the UK and other Western cultures the average is between 3 and 12 months VS MEN WHO COULD HAVE AN ULIMITED NUMBER OF OFFSPRING
   • Females must nourish the baby for 9 months which means she can only have a limited number of babies
   • Trivers 1972 "any investment by the parent in an individual offspring that increases the offspring's chance of surviving {and hence reproductive success} at the cost of the parents ability to invest in other offspring"
     • includes provision of resources (such as food, energy and time used in obtaining food and maintaining the home and territory) time spent teaching offspring dn risks taken to protect the young
   • FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCES IN HUMANS sperm = unlimited & eggs = sacred
   • BIOLOGICAL INEQUITY - females must be choosier when selecting potential mates - males compete for quantity of females whereas choose quality male because of their resources
   • OPTIMUM number of offspring - trivers argues that there is an optimum number of offspring for each parent
     • Quality (women) vs Quantity (men)
   • SEXUAL & EMOTIONAL JEALOUSY
   • HOW TO BEST PAST ON YOUR GENES? - ONE WOMEN OR AS MANY AS POSSIBLE (NOTE THE PROPOSITION IS THAT THE MEANING OF LIFE IS TO SPREAD YOUR GENES) DOES THIS APPLY TO THE MODERN RELATIONSHIP? NO.