Love Actually - Evolutionary Perspective on Love

Natural Selection

-Survival of the fittest.
-Passing on genes that would improve chances of survival.

Sex selection

natural selection acting on mate-finding and reproductive behavior with mates

kin selection

-Natural selection in favor of family, who share a proportion of their genes, instead of the individual.
-Group preservation instead of individual.

Red Queen Hypothesis

-hypothesis stating that species must constantly adapt, evolve, and proliferate (increase) in order to survive while pitted against ever-evolving opposing species.
-frames evolution as a race
-We run so fast to stay in the same place with each other

Helen Fisher

-States that monogamy is natural for humans with some exceptions.
-Pair bonding is essential to the human animal.

Waist to Hip Ratio

-0.7 in women
-0.9 in men
-Stable across cultures

benefits of sexual reproduction

-Offspring have variety
-Better chance of survival
- less susceptible to viruses, germs, threats
-creates genetic diversity needed for evolution

evolutionary psychology

-Study of behaviors (and thoughts & feelings) through the lens of evolutionary biology.
-Assumes that human behavior is a result of evolutionary pressure and processes over time
-these behaviors were adaptive in some way.

The Human Brain: An Organ of Sexual Selection?

-The human brain is a far more complex than what we would need to survive millennia ago
-Other species have small simple nervous systems used only for survival
-Humans notice beauty, but we are ALSO attracted to how someone thinks, feels, and acts
-perhaps artistic expression, the poetic and story-telling uses of language, and humor stem from our desire to impress the opposite sex

"the standard narrative"

-Males and females assess the value of mates from perspectives based upon their differing reproductive agendas/capacities
-Opposing reproductive strategies:
-Male competition versus female choice -Men are promiscuous, women are choosy

Sociocultural Theories (from Lehmiller)

-biology may play some role in different mating strategies between sexes, but social structure plays a larger role
-As the social structure changes, behavior should change

Alternative perspective from Sex at Dawn

-states that current mating behaviors aren't human nature but adaptations to a social norms introduced by agriculture
-some criticized the author for overstating the strength of their data
-but the book challenged evolutional perspectives on love

Monogyny

one man, one women

Polygyny

One man, several women.

monandry

one women, one husband

Polyandry

one women, several man

monogamy

Marriage to only one person at a time

Polygamy

having more than one spouse at a time

Polygamy in Culture

-a minority of cultures recorded prescribe monogyny
-most cultures permit polygyny
-polyandry is rare

The Oneida Community

-John Humphrey Noyes started a colony in Oneida NY to create a Christian, communist utopia
-Everyone lived in one mansion and shared everything - including sexual partners
-Romantic love for a particular person was considered selfish and shameful
-people still fell in love

Monogamy Explained (video)

-monogamy is hard
-love and monogamy are not the same thing. love is feeling, monogamy is rule
-monogamy is a choice bc it is not natural, we choose what relationship we want to have

Dan Savage (Monogamy Video)

-says monogamy is not natural
-states that people experience sexual attraction to people outside of their relationships
-cheated before

Monogamy and Its Discontent

-many seem to find monogamy, translated as mandatory sexual and emotional exclusiveness, quite difficult to maintain

Consensual Non-Monogamy Subtypes

-Open Relationships -Swinging
-Polygamy
-Polyamory

Intimate Relationships, Chapter 3: Attraction

-assert that the fundamental basis of attraction is instrumentality; the extent to which someone is able to help us achieve our present goals
-acknowledges that instrumentality can be idiosyncratic and changes over time depending on what a person's goals are
-We want people whose presence is rewarding
-People who fulfill our need to belong

proximity effect

-the theory that the closer you are to another person in physical distance, the greater the probability that you will grow to like or even love the person
-Proximity is rewarding and distance is costly

Mere exposure effect

-familiarity
-exposure makes impressions more positive
-However, the impressions have to start at least neutral
-doesn't work as well on bad first impressions

Influences on Attraction: Physical Attractiveness

-We assume beautiful people also have good personalities
-We also assume they are more promiscuous
-People tend to engage in matching in levels of physical attractiveness in couples

Influences on Attraction: Reciprocity

-Potential Partner's Desirability = Physical Attractiveness x Probability of Accepting you
-Being hard to get doesn't work, but being selectively hard to get does; we don't want to be rejected, but we want someone who doesn't say yes to just anyone

Influences on Attraction: Similarity

-We like people who resemble us; couples tend to match in demographic backgrounds of origin, attitudes, and personalities to some degree
-People sometimes like others based on perceived similarity, but outside observers can tell that they're different
-Might be attracted to people who are mildly different from us but like our ideal selves
-Dissimilarity among members of a couple decreases over time
-We might like people whose behavior differs from ours, but helps us reach our goals (complementarity)

Overall: What People Want

-Warmth and loyalty
-Attractiveness and vitality
-Status and resources
-Men value attractiveness a bit more and women value resources a bit more
-However, warmth and loyalty are more important to both

Attraction Processes among LGBTQ People

-Physical attraction - as important as to heterosexuals
-Similarity - may not be as important (more interracial / interethnic relationships)
because of smaller field of eligibles / smaller dating pool
-Propinquity may play less of a role; people meet online