Sexuality and Partnership

CHAPTER SIX

What are some adaptive benefits of long term reproductive partnerships for men?

• better chances of attracting a partner

• increased opportunity to attract a desirable partner

• greater certainty of paternity

• increased survival chances for the children

• increased reproductive success of children due to parental investments

• increased social status acquired through marriage in many cultures

• additional allies gained through the partner’s family

• access to the partner’s resources and status

what are some partner preferences shared by heterosexual men and women, and how do men’s preferences also differ? (BUSS 2019)

Both men and women prefer partners who are intelligent, kind, understanding, healthy, and share similar values. However, due to evolutionary differences, men also have unique preferences related to evaluating fertility and reproductive success.

Explain how women’s mate preferences influence men’s evolutionary tendency toward long-term commitment.

Women tend to prefer men who are willing to commit long-term, which increases the likelihood that only those men predisposed to commit will reproduce. This influences men's evolutionary development of long-term mating preferences.

What is the main reason male mate choice is significant in species where males invest substantially in reproduction?

Because the fitness of both parents depends on genetic compatibility and cooperative parenting, making careful mate selection important.

fluctuating asymmetry

Random deviation from perfect bodily symmetry

what are the risks of choosing an unhealthy partner according to Buss, 2019?

• other partner may not have been able to maintain adaptive advantages like procurement, protection, healthcare, and childcare investment

• A sick partner could have infected shared children, thus reducing their chances of survival and reproduction.

• If the partner’s disease traits were hereditary, there could have been a risk that certain genes impairing health would have been passed on to their children.

• A sick partner could have transmitted contagious diseases or viruses to the healthy partner, thereby threatening survival and reproduction.

• a sick partner dying prematurely may cut off resource provision and forced the female partner to undertake the effort of searching for and selecting a new partner.

two types of resources that men historically controlled, according to Buss

Tools & Territories

Why did women benefit more from a single long-term partner than multiple short-term ones, according to Buss (2019)?

Because a long-term partner could consistently provide resources and investment for the woman and her children, increasing their survival and reproductive success.

two conditions must have been met for women’s preference for men with resources to develop, what are they?

1-Throughout evolution, men must have been able to accumulate, defend, and control resources.

2- Men must have differed in how many resources they possessed and how much they wanted to invest in a woman and her children.

causes of asymmetries

genetically caused developmental disorders, diseases, and stress during ontogenesis can manifest in asymmetries (Buss, 2019; Fink & Sövegjarto, 2007).

Why is it important to consider both evolutionary and cultural factors when studying women’s partner preferences?

Because partner selection is influenced by both adaptive biological traits and social or cultural norms; neither factor alone fully explains mate choice.

Explain the difference between direct and indirect benefits of female mate choice.

Direct benefits are material or behavioral support (like food or parenting help), while indirect benefits are genetic advantages passed to offspring (like disease resistance or strong traits).

how can female’s maximize reproductive success?

1. Increasing maternal investment in offspring: This strategy is, however, limited by the female’s available time and energy.

2. Selectively choosing a mate: This involves choosing a partner who provides benefits to the female and/or her offspring.

what does reproduction represent?

Reproduction represents a decisive contribution to an organism’s fitness

advantages of asexual reproduction

• High reproduction rates

• No need to search for a mate

• Stable genotype is maintained

disadvantage of asexual reproduction

Lack of genetic variation, making adaptation difficult

asexual reproduction

Reproduction without fertilization; offspring are genetic clones of the parent

Unisexual Reproduction

Reproduction from a single germ cell without fertilization (parthenogenesis)

Genotype

The complete set of genes in an organism

Mutation

A change in the DNA sequence that introduces genetic variation