Discuss evolutionary explanations for partner preferences [16 marks]

 
AO1: Outline 
 
Sexual selection:  
 Based on Darwin's evolutionary explanations (why we prefer certain people as
partners) 
 Suggests certain attributes or behaviour are passed on if there are increasing
reproductive success 
 Things we like in other people are likely to be passed on through generations
if they helped secure a partner to reproduce with 
 
Anisogamy: 
 Basis of human reproductive behaviour- involves differences in male and
female gametes  
 Female egg: large, static, limited fertility years, large investment in time and
energy – choosy traits 
 Male sperm: small, very mobile, infinite supply and minimal energy and time
needed 
 
Inter-sexual selection: 
 Occurs between sexes- what males do to get females and vice versa 
 Involves preference of one sex for members of opposite sex who possess
certain qualities , e.g. height- women want tall men (strong and security, also can
increase height in population through breeding) 
 
Intra-sexual selection: 
 Occurs within sexes- strategies posed by sexes to be picked by the opposite
sexes 
 Men prefer younger women as it maximises fertility and chance to reach
optimum + quantity over quality 
 There's competition between men for high quality female, and the winner gets
to pass on the genes  
 Led to dimorphism 
 Psychological consequences (aggression level increased)  
 Men try to mate with as many females as possible to spread out their genes 
 
AO3: Evaluate 
 
Buss (1989) 
 Universal trends across 33 countries, 10,000 adults 
 Women desired men who were financially stable (provided for her and
children) 
  Both sexes wanted intelligent mates (for producing optimum off springs)  
 Men desired women younger than them- better position to have children 
 These finding show that mating strategies reflect on anisogamy and are trying
to reach optimum offspring  
 Generalisable and valid  
 
Clark and Hatfield (1989 and 1990) 
 Evidence suggests males are more likely to engage in casual sex and
polygamous relationships. This is to spread out their genes  
 The study was conducted in an university where strangers asked students, 'I've
noticed you around, I find you very attractive, will you go to bed with me?' 
 Findings showed 50% of both men and women agreed to go out on a date,
however none of the women agreed to have sex, whereas 75% males agreed.  
 This shows females are more choosy and males have evolved to have a
different mating strategy (intra-sexual) 
 
Chang et al. (2011) 
 Social and cultural changes- women no longer depend on men since they
work and earn their own money; rely less on men for resources 
 Study: compared partner preferences in China over 25 years- some changed,
but others remained the same 
 This correlated with social changes at the time 
 Suggests that mating preferences are combination of evolution and culture –
theory doesn't account for cultural influence (incomplete) 
 
Waynford and Dunbar (1995) 
 Analysed content of lonely hearts columns- 43% of males thought a youthful
mate compared to 25% of females  (the younger the female the more fertile) 
 44% males sought a physically attractive partner compared to 22% females. 
 Also found that females advertise their physical attractiveness and men their
resources 
 This supports the idea that males and females have different preferences in
partners 
 
Davendra Singh (2002) 
 Evolutionary theory- males prefer a body shape that signals fertility (e.g. big
hips) 
 He looked at hip-waist ratio- found that body size doesn't matter, but waist to
hip ratio does. 
 Ideal ratio is 0.7 with smaller waists and bigger hips – big hips (fertile) and
small waist (not currently pregnant) 
 Supports theory – idea that men seek high quality females who they can
reproduce with.