Relationships
Evolutionary explanations for partner preferences (1)
(the adaptive nature of behaviour)
Natural Selection Process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive & produce more offspring
Sexual Selection The evolution/ development of characteristics that confer a reproductive advantage (leave more descendants)
• The differences between male & female sex cells (gametes). Male gametes (sperm) are small, highly mobile, created
Anisgamy continuously in vast no.s form puberty to old age & do not require great expenditure of energy to produce.
for mate • Female gametes (eggs) are relatively large, static, produced at intervals for a limited no. of fertility years & require a
selection huge investment of energy.
• No shortage of fertile males but a fertile female is a ‘rare’ resource.
• Individuals of one sex (usually males) must outcompete other members of their sex order to gain access to member
of the other sex in order to become successful & pass on their genes.
• This strategy has given rise to dimorphism in humans: the obvious differences between males & females.
Intrasexual
• Females do not compete for reproductive rights so there is no evolutionary drive towards favouring larger/ stronger/
selection
more resourceful females
• A behavioural consequence of this competition for fertile mates is a distinct preference for youth & a sensitivity to
the indicators of youth/ certain facial features & fertility (certain body shape)
• Members of one sex evolve preferences for desirable qualities in potential mates; members of the opposite sex that
possess such characteristics will gain mating advantage.
Intersexual
• Female’s optimum mating strategy is to select a genetically fit partner who is able & willing to provide resources.
selection
• ‘Runway process’ – encapsulated by Ronald Fisher: a female mates with a male who has a desirable characteristic,
which will be inherited by their son. This increases the likelihood that successive generations of females will mate
with their offspring.
Strengths Limitations
Research support: Gender/ cultural differences:
• David Buss (1989) • Bernstein (2015) argues that gender differences in
• Over 10,000 people from 37 different cultures rated each of 18 characteristics (e.g. mating preferences may stem from cultural traditions
physical attractiveness/ good financial prospects) on a scale based on their desirability. rather than evolved characteristics.
• Four-point sale used; ‘3’ being indispensible & ‘0’ being irrelevant • Women have gained more economic/political power -
• 97% of samples, females valued ‘good financial prospects’ more than men qualities such as ‘good financial prospects’ will not be
• 92% of females valued ‘ambition & industriousness’ more in a mate than men ranked as highly.
• All 37 samples, males preferred younger mates –valued increased fertility • Kasser & Sharma (1999) found that women within
• All samples - males rated ‘good looks’ more than females – providing cues to a cultures with less access to resources/ status will value a
women’s health hence her fertility & reproductive value. mates access to ‘resources’ far more than someone who
• Both sexes desired intelligence (linked to skill at parenting) had a high status.
• Supports the ev behaviours of human behaviour/ Reflects sex differences in mate Reductionist: disregards biological factors:
strategies due to anisgamy/ Supports predictions about partner preferences derived • Pentok-Voak et al (1999) found that female mate choice
from sexual selection theory varies across the menstrual cycle.
• Reflects fundamental human preferences are not primarily dependent upon cultural • Women chose a slightly feminised version of a male face
influences. as ‘most attractive’ for a long-term relationship: suggests
Research support: kindness & cooperation in parental care.
Singh (1993) proposed that a waist to hip ratio served as an 'honest' marker of female • For a short-term sexual relationship, during the high
age / reproductive status / health. conception risk phase of the menstrual cycle, women
• Participants examined 12 randomly arranged line drawings of WHR at three levels of preferred a masculinise face shape more: higher levels of
body weight & rank them in order of attractiveness. testosterone which suppresses the immune system.
• Males & females rated the figure with the lowest WHR (0.7) as being more youthful, • (A male who is healthy despite this, has a highly efficient
healthy, reproductively capable & attractive. immune system – a valuable characteristic to pass onto
The underweight figure with a WHR of 0.7 was rated as being the most youthful but not offspring)
as attractive or reproductively capable. Difficult to test:
• Males show a preference for a female body shape that signals fertility. • Based on evolution
Lonely hearts research: • Evidence is based on presumed knowledge about human
Waynforth & Dunabr (1995) – women tended to offer physical attractiveness & environments leading to speculations about which
indicators of youth & men offered resources ‘successful, ambitious etc) & sought youth & behaviours may have been adaptive.
physical attractiveness.
• The degree to which a person's physical features are considered aesthetically pleasing or beautiful.
• Shackelford & Larsen (1997) found that people with symmetrical faces are rated as more attractive – honest signal of genetic
fitness (evolutionary theory)
Physical
• People are also attracted to neotenous (baby-face) features – triggers a protective/ caring instinct – valuable resource for
attraction females wanting to reproduce.
• McNulty et al. (2008) found evidence that the initial attractiveness that brought partners together, continued to be an
important feature of the relationship after marriage, for at least several years.
• The cognitive bias where one particular trait, especially good characteristics, influences or extends to other qualities of the
person.
• One distinguishing feature has a disproportionate influenced on a person’s judgments.
‘halo’
• Physcial attractiveness involves preconceived ideas about the personality traits attractive people have – universally positive.
effect • Dion et al. Found that physically attractive people are consistently rated as kind, strong, sociable & successful compared to
unattractive people.
• The “halo effect” biases one’s decision with a tendency to focus on the good.
• Elaine Walster and her colleagues (1966)
• Claims that when individuals seek a partner for a romantic relationship, they tend to look for someone whose physical
attractiveness approximately equals to their own
Matching
• Individuals assess their own ‘value’ and then select the best available candidates
Hypothesis • Therefore maximising their chances of survival.
• Balanced out by fear of rejection leading to what Walster calls ‘realistic choices’
• We desire the most physical attractive partner possible for evolutionary, social, cultural and psychological reasons – we balance
this against the wish to avoid being rejected by someone.
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