SS & Human Reproductive Behaviour

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SS & HRB - DARWIN

- during the EEA, those who failed to mate, also failed to become ancestors.

- successful mating was a complex task - had to find an appropriate partner.

- HRB's that occurred in the EEA are still present today/have evolved over time

SEXUAL SELECTION

Theory proposed by Darwin after NATURAL SELECTION to account for factors which NS could not, ie. non-adaptive features

- for example, PEACOCKS TAIL ILLUSTRATION - can explain women's choice of less desirable males (better looks than adaptive features) back in the EEA

- can be used to explain HRB today, mating preferences & strategies to attract members of the opposite gender

BUSS identified male and female mating preferences:

FEMALE: older, rich males that are able to provide for them/protect

MALE: younger, attractive, child bearing age

EVOLUTIONARY PRESSURES/SEXUAL SELECTION can be used to establish difference between male and female preferences as well as reasons for the differences

Females have to be more choosy - they have limited offspring/opportunities to reproduce

Males desire more sexual partners/are less choosy - but have paternal uncertainty and a desire to spread their gene pool as wide as possible

EVALUATION / RESEARCH

1989 CLARK & HATFIELD - support for preferences and behaviours

- found in a survey/ up front interviews among a student body on a night out that young men are more likely/desire more casual sex or one night stands than young women // THEREFORE THIS IS IN LINE WITH EVOLUTIONARY THEORY

- BUT in more recent years this may have changed due to greater availability of contraception and a change in social norms

- BUT, METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES (self report/social desirability of responses)

BUSS - further support

- found that men seek/desire a greater number of sexual partners

- in line with SS & evolutionary theory

- also supports the C&H study

- BUT low generalisability limits support of this study - only approached young men/women on a night out - what about those who prefer to stay at home?/older

IDA/COMMENTARY

- limited (ignores social influences)

- gender bias in ST mating/relationships

research states that men desire a great number of sexual partners than females/ have a greater desire for casual encounters

this behaviour could never have evolved without the participation of willing females

every new partner for a male means that females are also having a variety of partners

despite the fact that ST mating is considered to have many costs for women (evolutionary theory)

GREILING & BUSS suggested there may be potential benefits as well (ie. a way to leave a poor quality relationship / way of producing more genetically diverse offspring)

- in some modern day relationships, the female partner may have experienced more sexual encounters than the male / therefore demonstrating that over time HRB may have changed for both males and females - SOCIAL NORMS HAVE CHANGED

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