Evolutionary Explanations for Partner Preferences

Describe partner preferences in terms of evolutionary

adaptations that have evolved over time

What did Darwin propose about sexual selection in 1871

eg) as male peacock feathers are impractical, if they survives, it suggest they are fit by being able to run away from predators despite disadvantage

individuals seek out partners who are more likely to successfully reproduce to produce healthy offspring

Anisogamy refes to the differences between …….. cells

This suggest sexual selection has different ……….. for males and females as a result, male and females have different stratergies for selecting mates eg) inta and …….. sexual selection

sex

inter

For males, anisogamy suggest they shoud have ………. mates as they can produce ………. sperm than a single egg being released in females

This results in males typically competing with males for females (………..sexual selectrion) as members of the same sex compete with each other

many

more

intra

Anisogamy suggest the …….. for mating is much ……… for females than males as they can only reproduce after an egg has matured in a cycle

This suggest females are more ……….. when selecting mates of the opposite sex and activley seek the best from the rest

This stratergy is called ……… sexual selection as its when a female is choosing between members of the opposite sex.

Females are likely to have preferences for the same ……….. characteristics in a mate such as muscles which indicate strength/protection . This is an evolutionary advantage as these advantageous traits can be passed on to their ……….. and these preferences for these desireable characteristics passed onto …………

cost

higher

careful

inter

desirable

sons

daughters

The process of characteristics and preferences being passed down to offspring is known as ……………..

runaway effect/process

P) There is study support for the evolutionary explanation for partner preferences

Ev) Buss (19..) aimed to investigate the ………….differences in ………. preferences. He used ….. adults over 33 …….

F) He found that females preferred characteristics in males that of .,,,,,,,,,,like intelligence and financial prospects . On the other hand, males preferred signs of …….. ability like youth and attractiveness

Ev 2) Singh found that men prefer a waist - to - hip ratio of …… This is an indicator of ………. which backs Buss’s claims on male preferred characteristics

L) This is useful as it shows evidence for evolution and differences in sex (anisogamy ) can affect differences in partner preferences of each sex

89

gender

partner

10,000

adults

resources

reproductive

0.7

fertility

P) There is further evidence to support the theory of sexual selection on partner preferences

Ev) Waynforth and Dunbar (19 ..) looked at lonely heart newspaper adverts in America.

F) That women tended to promote their ……… attractiveness such as …… skin and shiny hair which were all signals of …….. In contrast, they found men were more likely to offer ,,,,,,,,,, and were more interested in women who were physically attractive and youthful

L) This is further evidence to suggest effects of sexual selections on partner preferences

95

physical

soft

youth

rescources

P) There is evidence to support intersexual selection

Ev) Clark and Hatfield (19..) used confederates who approached ………. on university campuses and asked: ‘Would you go to bed with me tonight’

F) No women …….. to the ask by the confederate however, …..% of men did agree when asked by female confederate

L) This supports the idea that women are ……. selective of their sexual partners

89

students

agreed

75%

more

P) There are some limitations of the evolutionary explanation for partner preferences

1) Evolutionary theories may be overly ………… as this approach usually ignore ……… factors that affect partner preferences such as changes in social norms or effect of modern day dating

Exp) The development of ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, has lead to greater sexual freedom worldwide due to ……… risk of pregnancy. This suggest ……… doesn’t have as much of an effect on partner select mating strategies.

L) This suggest the evolutionary explanations concerning mating selection strategies has limited application to modern day and explaining sexual behaviors of women worldwide these days

reductionist

other

contraception

reduced

anisogamy

P) Another limitation of the evolutionary explanation is that it over exaggerates the differences between male and females concerning characteristics they desire in potential partners

Exp) This exaggeration in gender differences is known as ………. bias.

Exp 2) For example, women are more ……… in the workplace and are therefore less dependent on men and males ……….

L) This suggest there is difficulty in applying evolutionary theories on partner prefences in modern day

alpha

prominent

rescources

P) Evolutionary theory may suffer form hetrosexual bias and ignore homosexual relationships

Exp) This theory is difficult to apply to non-heterosexual relationships or relationships where partners do not want children or wherby partner choic doesnt ……. to reproductive ………

eg) …. FROM BOOKLET

relate

success

(-) Evolutionary theories may be overly ……… as they suggest selection strategies are determined by gender

( -) Most of the research is based of ………… which may lack ecological validity and may not be an accurate reflection of mate preferences in real life

deterministic

questionaires

FIND EVALS FROM BOOKLET

DEFINE INTRA AND INTER SEXUAL SELECTION FROM BOOKLET