Evolutionary Explanations Including Jealousy and Infidelity

Evolutionary Explanations Including Jealousy and Infidelity

1. Adaptive - inc/ survival + reproduction. Acquiring/protecting resources (food, territory +mates)

2. Males = status in G. Ensuring pass genes onto future generations

3. Male-to-male - compete for desirable mates. More agg/ - drive away others, successfully secure mate + transmit genes.

4. Women - verbal agg/ - reduce attractiveness of competitors, name caller get most desirable mate. (Buss, 1999)

5. Infidelity: unfaithful. Males - threat paternal uncertainty. Guard against investing energy + rearing + protecting offspring not own. Actual/ threatened agg/ - prevent female sexually unfaithful = paternal uncertainty diminished

6. Mate retention strategies: prevent males gaining access + threatening woman

7. Women: (EEA) - children costly - protection + adequate resources. Partner left - compromise ability to obtain resources. Show non-physical agg/ (threatening to leave) to prevent partner committing resources to another.

8. Haden + Hojjit (2006) - how agg/ men+women in situations rival competing for attention of partner. MEN: agg/ to rival. WOMEN: upset/sulk (agg/ to partner)

9. Domestic violence studies - biggest cause of agg/ is jealousy. Sexual jealousy underlying factor 58/214 murder cases (Daly + Wilson 1985)

10. Miller (1980) - 44 battered wives - womens hostel Canada - majority sited extreme jealousy for husbands beh/. 25% actually unfaithful. Assaults motivated by suspicion. Prospect infidelity + paternal uncertainty.

11. IDA - PRACTICAL APPLICATION - agg/ tactics - male retention - early predictor violence. Wilson et al (1995) women reported male parter direct guarding - 72% seriously physically assualted. Friends + fam/ alerted to beh/s predict future violence. Relationship therapy to prevent.

12. IDA - NATURE/NURTURE - genetic inheritance=nature. Neglects social factors. Considerable differnces levels agg/ bet/w cultures - not predicted by evolutionary theory.

    • E.g. Yamomamo males, South America - abduct, rape women neighbouring villages + beat wives for suspected adultey
    • Aka people - Central African Republic - agg/ to women never obs/d. Cannot be wholly genetic inheritance

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