AQA Psychology for A Level Year 1 & AS - Student Book
Covers the whole of the relationships module for psychology A level. A01 points in black, positive A03 points in green, negative A03 points in red, real world application in orange.
Outline and evaluate the relationship between sexual selection and human reproductive behaviour (6+10).
Short – term mating preferences Reproductive fitness Clark et al Buss et al
• The more females a male • So, for men to maximise their • Attractive male and female • Men showed a decrease in
impregnates, the greater his reproductive fitness, they need researchers approached attraction for their ‘casual
reproductive fitness to have many short-term strangers on a university partner’ following sex
• Consequences of casual sex partners and have lots of sex campus and asked them if • Evolved adaptation to prevent
greater for a woman • Whereas for women it means they’d like to have sex men ‘wasting’ valuable time
• Anisogamy – woman produces having 1 long term partner who • 0 females agreed, 75% of males with 1 woman
1 egg cell a month, but man will support them long term did
produces billions of sperms in 1 • So, men have evolved
ejaculation, so a woman has a psychological mechanisms to
more limited no. of offspring ensure success in mating
Sexual selection (Darwin) Intrasexual selection Intersexual selection Buss
• Men compete and women • Among the same sex – usually • Between the sexes • Studied over 10,000 people
choose male • The preferences for members from 37 cultures across the
• A male peacock’s tail is more • Members of 1 sex compete of the opposite sex who possess world to explore whether there
brightly coloured. This attracts with one another for members certain qualities were universal mate differences
predators which is of the opposite sex • E.g., tall males are a preference • Across all cultures, women
disadvantageous and would • The victor’s mate and pass on so there’s an increase of tall wanted men who had resources
have been not naturally their genes to the next males in the population or traits that translate into that
selected. But it’s still a trait generation • Preferences of 1 sex determines e.g., intelligence
because it enhances the the areas in which the other sex • Men wanted younger women
peacock’s reproductive success must compete with hourglass figures
Ultimate vs. proximate Alpha bias
• For women engaging in casual • Psychologists maximise the
sex, it would have been a huge differences between the sexes
risk to be left as single mothers. as the men are viewed as
• But now we have contraception wanting to sleep around and
which reduces the risk of the women are viewed as being
pregnancy and so it alters completely monogamous
female sexual behaviour • In reality, this isn’t the case at
all
, Outline and evaluate explanations into physical attractiveness (6+10).
Why is it important? Why else is it important? The matching hypothesis
• Indication of good genes – and • A ‘baby face’ (button nose, big • Walster et al – the more socially
what your babies will look like eyes etc…) are social releasers desirable a person is, the more
• Symmetrical faces are desired – that make us want to care for desirable they would expect a
sign of good genes our partner partner to be
• Cue to women’s health and • Halo effect – idea that what is • Couples who are matched are
reproductive fitness – hourglass beautiful is good. We think more likely to have happy,
figure important to men more attractive people are enduring relationships
• Upside down triangle face good. • Realistic choices – influenced by
shape – indicator to men’s probability of the other person
ability to protect woman saying yes
The dance study – method The dance study - findings Taylor Matching hypothesis
• Walster et al – 752 undergrads • Before the dance – more • Research on online dating sites • Photos of random men and
invited to dance attractive the student, the more • Individuals kept trying to women shown to independent
• They were randomly allocated a attractive they assumed their arrange dates with people judges who rated each picture
partner, but they thought date would be considered to be more out of 10
they’d been matched • Once pps met their matches, physically attractive than them • When pictures put back
• Success of the matches regardless of their own level of • Alternative theory – people together into couples, was
assessed using questionnaire in physical attractiveness, reacted want to be with someone more found that ratings matched –
an interval during the dance, more positively to physically physically attractive than them high correlation
and a follow-up 6 months later attractive dates & more likely to to increase the chances of their • More significant effect in
arrange more dates with them children having good genes committed couples than casual
Complex matching Gender differences Pasch et al
• Matching is a more complex • Takeuchi – physical • Both men and women were
process attractiveness of women valued more concerned with their
• Someone who isn’t physically more heavily by men, but partners being ‘trustworthy,
attractive but has a lot of valued less by women supportive and warm’ above
money might be an attractive • Men can compensate for any physical attractiveness
match etc… deficit in physical attractiveness • Physical attractiveness not as
with other desirable qualities deterministic as matching
more than women can hypothesis suggests
• Matching influenced by 3rd
parties
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