Discuss the relationship between sexual selection and human reproductive behaviour (16) PDF

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Discuss the relationship between sexual selection and human reproductive behaviour (16)

Evolutionary psychologists say behaviour today is based on the behaviour, that was adaptive to our ancestors, the hunter gatherers during the period of the evolutionary environment of adaption (EEA). These traits are then successfully passed on, if they have survived through natural selection A.K.A survival of the fittest or sexual selection. Since these traits come from our hunter gatherer ancestors they should be found universally and across all cultures, no matter their norms. There are two types of sexual selection. There’s intrasexual selection which is male competition, where males compete with eachother for access to memebers of tbe other sex. Those who are victorious are able to pass on their genes, whereas those who lost do not. This means that whatever traits lead to success in these same sex contests will be passed on to the next generation. When it comes to intrasexual selection men have evolved to typically look for women who show signs of fertility, by paying attention to a female’s appearance i.e. wide hips, small waist. This then shows her ability to be able to produce healthy offspring. This is supported by Buss who’s study on universal sex differences in mate preferences discovered that, universally, males put importance on attractive and healthy looks and youth, which are signs of fertility. The study has been criticised for having low validity, as they’re measuring preference rather than behaviour. Then, there’s intersexual selection which having a choice in choosing who your mate is, where memebers of a sex choose those based off of the desirable qaulities and so these qaulities get passed on. Using this method of selection allows for females to assess whether their mate has the ability to be a good parent. Humans are preprogrammed to respond to these indicators and increase their willingness to mate. This is the selection women most likely prefer as women are attracted to the features of men that have survival value i.e. a msculine body shows the man can protect her and the offspring, economic resources show the man can provide for the woman and child etc. Another strategy women may use as well is females select their mates based off attractiveness because they want their children to be attractive and have a better at reproduction. Research that supports this is by Waynforth & Dunbar who researched the ‘lonely hearts’ column in an american newspaper. They found that women tended to describe their attractiveness, physical appearance and youth i.e. ‘curvy, fun, flirty’ etc. whereas, men would advertise their wealth and intelligence more than women did. In terms of short term mating preferences, the evolutionary theory would say that msles are more likey to wnat casual sex. This is because those who impregnate

multiple females will have successfully passed on copies of their genes. This isn't the case for women as they are limited to one pregnancy every 9 months and so there’s little reason for women to want multiple partners. Short time mating is an evolved adaptation which prevents men from spending too long with one woman and helps them spread their genes. Clarke & Hatfield had a study where 3 questions were asked to both sexes. To the third question which was ‘would you have sex with me?’, 75% of males said yes whereas 0% of females said yes which therefore, supports the concept of men’s desire for casual sex. But, some argue that research into short term mating is gender biased, as it may not have only been men who developed the willingness for sex. Although the explanation of human reproductive behaviour does explain some aspects of sexual selection, it is argued that the theory is reductionist. It narrows mate choice to an evolutionary adaptation, ignoring other factors such as cultural and environmental factors. For instance, men across cultures have different definitions and perception of attractiveness. Anderson et al found that cultures where food supplies were stable, men prefer slim women as opposed to countries where food was scarce men prefer women with heavy bodies. This also brings into question whether these behaviours and traits are universal and challenges the evolutionary basis for sexual selection. Furthermore, the evolutionary approach is deterministic, as it suggests that sexusal selection and reproductive behaviour are heavily down to what we inherited from our ancestors, the hunter gatherers. However, reproductive behaviour has changed in the last century with homosexual relationships becoming th enorm and the widespread use of contraception and the fact that less couples are choosing to have children. This portrays that as humans we have more free will than what the evolutionary theory has implied. In conclusion, although, the approach does provide empirical evidence for some of the claims it’s made i.e. women prefer rich men as they can provide resources and men prefer young women as they’re most fertile. Unfortunately, the theory is also unfalsifiable because we can't travel back in time and observe our hunter gatherers behaviour to see if it relates to today's adaptive behaviour....