Reproductive Behaviours

What good is sex?

• In some species of reptiles, a female sometimes has offspring by herself, using only
her own genes and none from a male (Booth, Johnson, Moore, Schal, & Vargo, 2011).

• Biologists’ explanation is that sexual reproduction increases variation and thereby

enables quick evolutionary adaptations to changes in the environment.

• Certain invertebrates reproduce sexually when they live in a complex and changing
environment, but reproduce nonsexually when they live in a constant environment
(Becks & Agrawal, 2010).

• Sex also corrects errors: If you have a disadvantageous mutation in one gene and
your mate has a disadvantageous mutation in a different gene, your children could
have a normal copy of both genes.

 Sex and Hormones

• Females have two X chromosomes, whereas males have an X and a Y
chromosome.

• Biologists used to believe that the chromosomes determine sexual

differentiation entirely through hormones.

• Male and female mammals start with the same anatomy during an early stage
of prenatal development.

• Both have a set of M llerian ducts (precursors to female internal structures)

and a set of Wolf an ducts (precursors to male internal structures), as well as
undifferentiated gonads that are on their way to becoming either testes or
ovaries.

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 • The male’s Y chromosome includes the SRY (sex-determining region on the Y

chromosome) gene, which causes those primitive gonads to develop into testes, the
sperm-producing organs.

• The developing testes produce androgens (hormones that are more abundant in males) that
increase the growth of the testes, causing them to produce more androgens and so forth.

• That positive feedback cannot go on forever, but it lasts for a period of early development.

• Androgens also cause the primitive Wolf an ducts, precursors for other male reproductive
structures, to develop into seminal vesicles (saclike structures that store semen) and the vas
deferens (a duct from the testis into the penis).

• The testes also produce M llerian inhibiting hormone (MIH), which causes the M llerian
ducts to degenerate.

• The nal result is the development of a penis and scrotum.

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• Because females do not have the SRY gene, their gonads develop
into ovaries instead of testes, and their Wolf an ducts degenerate.

• Because their ovaries do not produce MIH, females’ M llerian ducts

develop and mature into oviducts, uterus, and the upper vagina.

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• Hormones are molecules that are produced by

endocrine glands then are carried via the blood to their
target cells.

• Androgens and estrogens are steroid hormones,

containing four carbon rings, derived from cholesterol.

• Steroids exert their effects in three ways (Nadal, D.az,

& Valverde, 2001). First, they bind to membrane
receptors, like neurotransmitters, exerting rapid effects.

• Second, they enter cells and activate certain kinds of

proteins in the cytoplasm.

• Third, they bind to receptors that bind to

chromosomes, where they activate or inactivate certain
genes.

• Androgens and estrogens are categories of chemicals; neither

androgen nor estrogen is a speci c chemical itself.

• The most widely known androgen is testosterone. The most

prominent type of estrogen is estradiol.

• Progesterone, another predominantly female hormone, prepares the

uterus for the implantation of a fertilized ovum and promotes the
maintenance of pregnancy.

• Androgens promote the development of typically masculine features,

such as facial hair. Estrogens promote typically female features, such
as breast development.

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• Androgens and estrogens also in uence activity in many brain areas and alter the
pattern of which neurons survive during early development (Forger et al., 2004;
Morris, Jordan, & Breedlove, 2004).

• Certain brain areas are relatively larger in men, on average, and others relatively
larger in women.

• Research demonstrated that some differences depend directly on control by the X

and Y chromosomes independently of hormones (Arnold, 2009).

• At least three genes on the Y chromosome (found only in men) are active in speci c
brain areas, and at least one gene on the X chromosome is active only in the female
brain (Arnold, 2004; Carruth, Reisert, & Arnold, 2002; Vawter et al., 2004).

• In both humans and nonhumans, the Y chromosome has many sites that alter the
expression of genes on other chromosomes (Lemos, Araripe, & Hartl, 2008).

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 Organising effects of sex hormones
• Biologists distinguish between the organizing and activating effects of sex hormones (Arnold, 2009).
Organizing effects produce long-lasting structural effects.

• The most prominent organizing effects occur during a sensitive stage of early development—shortly before
and after birth in rats and well before birth in humans—determining whether the body develops female or male
anatomy.

• The surge of hormones at puberty also produces long-lasting effects, such as breast development in women,
facial hair in men, and male–female differences in the anatomy of certain parts of the hypothalamus (Ahmed et
al., 2008).

• Activating effects are more temporary, when a hormone increases some activity that lasts only while the
hormone is present.

• Activating effects occur at any time in life.

• The distinction between the two kinds of effects is not absolute, as a hormone can produce a combination of
temporary and longer-lasting effects (Arnold & Breedlove, 1985; C. L. Williams, 1986).

• During an early sensitive period, differentiation of the external

genitals and several aspects of brain development depend mainly
on the level of testosterone.

• A high level of testosterone causes the external genitals to develop

the male pattern, and a low level leads to the female pattern.

• Estradiol produces important effects on the internal organs, but it

has little effect on the external genitals.

• The human sensitive period for genital formation is about the third
and fourth months of pregnancy (Money & Ehrhardt, 1972).

• In rats, testosterone begins masculinizing the external genitals during the

last several days of pregnancy and rst few days after birth and then
continues masculinizing them at a declining rate for the next month (Bloch
& Mills, 1995).

• A female rat that is injected with testosterone shortly before or after birth is
partly masculinized, just as if her own body had produced the testosterone
(I. L. Ward & Ward, 1985).

• Injecting a genetic male with estrogens produces little effect on his

external anatomy. However, he develops the female-typical pattern of
anatomy and behavior if he genetically lacks androgen receptors, if he is
castrated (deprived of his testes), or if he is exposed to substances that
block testosterone effects.

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• Drugs that tend to feminize or demasculinize early development
include alcohol, marijuana, haloperidol (an antipsychotic drug),
phthalates (chemicals common in many manufactured products),
and cocaine (Ahmed, Shryne, Gorski, Branch, & Taylor, 1991).

• To a slight extent, even aspirin interferes with the male pattern of

development (Amateau & McCarthy, 2004).

• Although estradiol does not signi cantly alter a male’s external

anatomy, estradiol and several related compounds do produce
abnormalities of the prostate gland—the gland that stores sperm
and releases it during intercourse.
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• The overall mechanism of early sexual differentiation has been described by saying
that nature’s “default setting” is to make every mammal a female.

• Add early testosterone and the individual becomes a male; without testosterone, it
develops as a female, regardless of the amount of estradiol or other estrogens.

• A genetic female that lacks estradiol during the early sensitive period develops
approximately normal female external anatomy but does not develop normal sexual
behavior.

• Even if she is given estradiol injections as an adult, she shows little sexual response
toward either male or female partners (Bakker, Honda, Harada, & Balthazart, 2002)

• So estradiol contributes to female development, including certain aspects of brain

differentiation, even if it is not important for external anatomy.

Sex differences in hypothalamus

• In addition to controlling differences in the external genitals, sex hormones
early in life in uence development in parts of the hypothalamus, amygdala,
and other brain areas (Shah et al., 2004).

• One area in the anterior hypothalamus, known as the sexually dimorphic

nucleus, is larger in males than in females and contributes to control of
male sexual behavior.

• Parts of the female hypothalamus generate a cyclic pattern of hormone

release, as in the human menstrual cycle, which the male hypothalamus
cannot, and neither can the hypothalamus of a female who was exposed to
extra testosterone early in life.
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• In rodents, testosterone exerts much of its organizing effect through

a surprising route: After it enters a neuron in early development, it is
converted to estradiol.

• Testosterone and estradiol are chemically very similar.

• In organic chemistry, a ring of six carbon atoms containing three

double bonds is an aromatic compound. An enzyme found in the
brain can aromatize testosterone into estradiol.

• Other androgens that cannot be aromatized into estrogens are less

effective in masculinizing the hypothalamus.

Why does a female rodent’s own estradiol

fail to masculinize her hypothalamus?
• During the early sensitive period, immature mammals have a protein
called alpha-fetoprotein, which is not present in adults (Gorski,
1980; MacLusky & Naftolin, 1981).

• Alpha-fetoprotein in rodents binds with estradiol and prevents it

from entering cells, where it could produce masculinizing effects.

• Because testosterone does not bind to alpha-fetoprotein, it can

enter neurons, where enzymes convert it into estradiol.

• Drugs that prevent testosterone from being aromatized to estradiol

block the organizing effects of testosterone on sexual development
and thereby impair male sexual behavior and fertility (Gerardin &
Pereira, 2002; Rochira et al., 2001).

• Testosterone is a way of getting estradiol to its receptors when

estradiol circulating in the blood is inactivated.

• Injecting a large amount of estradiol actually masculinizes a female

rodent’s development. The reason is that normal amounts are bound
to alpha-fetoprotein, but a larger amount exceeds the capacity of
alpha-fetoprotein and therefore enters the cells and masculinizes
them.

 Sex differences in childhood

behaviour
• Some children have a stronger preference for boys’ or girls’ toys than
others do, and their preferences tend to be consistent over time.

• Those who show the greatest preference for boys’ toys and activities
at age 3.5 usually show the greatest amount of typical boys’ activities
at age 8, and they tend to be the most physically active at age 12.

• Similarly, those with the greatest preference for girls’ toys and
activities at 3.5 usually show the greatest preference for typical girls’
activities at later ages (Golombok et al., 2008; Mattocks et al., 2010).

• It may be that parents give those toys because previous generations

found that boys and girls typically differ in their interests from the start.

• In one study, infants 3–8 months old (too young to walk, crawl, or do
much with a toy) sat in front of pairs of toys, where researchers could
monitor eye movements. The girls looked at dolls more than they
looked at toy trucks. The boys looked at both about equally
(Alexander, Wilcox, & Woods, 2009).

• Studies found that prenatal injections of testosterone into female

monkey fetuses led to increased masculine-type play after they were
born. In those cases the focus was on spontaneous, rough-and-
tumble play rather than playing with toys (Wallen, 2005).

• Researchers took blood samples from pregnant women, measuring

testosterone (some of which would enter the fetus).

• When the daughters reached age 3.5, researchers observed their

toy play. The girls who had been exposed to higher testosterone
levels in prenatal life showed slightly elevated preferences for boys’
toys (Hines et al., 2002).

• These girls were anatomically normal, and we have no reason to

believe that the parents treated girls differently based on how much
testosterone had been present in prenatal life.

• In another study, researchers measured phthalate levels in pregnant

women.

• Phthalates inhibit testosterone production. U.S. law bans phthalates from

children’s toys, but pregnant women are exposed to phthalates from
other sources, including perfumes, hair spray, and food packaging.

• Researchers measured phthalate levels in pregnant women’s urine

samples and compared results to the sons’ toy use at ages 3 to 6.

• On average, sons of women with high phthalate levels showed less

interest in typical boys’ toys and more interest in typical girls’ toys (Swan
et al., 2010).

• Prenatal hormones combine forces with rearing experiences. When

a child shows a preference for a certain kind of toy, even if it is just
a small preference, parents tend to provide more of that kind of toy

• and more opportunities to strengthen that preference.

• Psychologists call this a “multiplier effect” (Dickens & Flynn, 2001).

Activating effects of sex hormones

• Changes in hormonal secretions in uence sexual behavior within 15

minutes (Taziaux, Keller, Bakker, & Balthazart, 2007).

• Behaviors can also in uence hormonal secretions. For example,

when doves court each other, each stage of their behavior initiates
hormonal changes that alter the birds’ readiness for the next
sequence of behaviors (C. Erickson & Lehrman, 1964; Lehrman,
1964; Martinez- Vargas & Erickson, 1973).
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 Activating effect in Rodents

• Testosterone is essential for male sexual arousal (Hull & Dominguez,
2007).

• A combination of estradiol and progesterone is the most effective

combination for females (Matuszewich, Lorrain, & Hull, 2000).

• Sexually experienced rats are aroused more easily because the

effects of previous experience sensitize the response to future
stimuli (Dominguez, Brann, Gil, & Hull, 2006).

• Sex hormones activate sexual behavior partly by enhancing sensations.

• Estrogens increase the sensitivity of the pudendal nerve, which transmits tactile
stimulation from the vagina and cervix to the brain (Komisaruk, Adler, &
Hutchison,1972).

• Testosterone increases sensitivity in the penis (Etgen, Chu, Fiber, Karkanias, &
Morales, 1999).

• Sex hormones also bind to receptors that increase responses in parts of the
hypothalamus, including the ventromedial nucleus, the medial preoptic area
(MPOA), and the anterior hypothalamus.

• Erection depends partly on the fact that testosterone increases the release of
nitric oxide (NO), which increases blood ow to the penis.

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• In moderate concentrations, dopamine stimulates mostly type D and D 1 5

receptors, which facilitate erection of the penis in the male (Hull et al., 1992)
and sexually receptive postures in the female (Apostolakis et al., 1996).

• In higher concentrations, dopamine stimulates type D receptors, which leads to

2

orgasm (Giuliani & Ferrari, 1996; Hull et al., 1992).

• The sudden burst of dopamine in several brain areas at the time of orgasm
resembles the “rush” that addictive drugs produce (Holstege et al., 2003).

• Whereas dopamine stimulates sexual activity, the neurotransmitter serotonin

inhibits it, in part by blocking dopamine release (Hull et al., 1999).

• Many popular antidepressant drugs increase serotonin activity, and one of their
side effects is to decrease sexual arousal and orgasm.

 Sexual motivation among rats

• After rats have had sexual relations in a particular cage, males work hard
to return to that cage, but females generally do not.

• In a study, a male rat was con ned to that cage, but the female was free
to enter or leave at any time. She could therefore control the timing of
when their sexual activity started and stopped.

• Under these conditions,females developed a clear preference for that

cage (Paredes & Vazquez, 1999).

• Evidently, female rats nd sex reinforcing only if they get to decide when
it occurs.
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 Activating effects in humans

• Sex hormones affect brain systems with functions not directly related to sex.

• Testosterone decreases pain and anxiety, and estrogens probably do, too
(Edinger & Frye, 2004).

• Decreases of sex hormones—for example, in men being treated for

prostate cancer—lead to impairments of memory (Bussiere, Beer, Neiss, &
Janowsky, 2005).

• Estrogens directly stimulate parts of the prefrontal cortex that are important
for working memory—that is, memory for what one is doing at the moment
(Wang, Hara, Janssen, Rapp, & Morrison, 2010).

 Testosterone
• Researchers found that, on average, married men and men living with a woman in a
committed relationship have lower testosterone levels than single, unpaired men of the
same age (M. McIntyre et al., 2006).

• The apparently obvious interpretation was that once a man established a lasting
relationship, he no longer needed to work so hard to seek a sexual partner, and his
testosterone levels dropped.

• Another study found that men’s testosterone levels did not change after marriage.
Instead, men with lower testosterone levels were more likely to marry than were men
with high testosterone levels (van Anders & Watson, 2006).

• Similar studies found that single women had higher testosterone levels than women with
a long-term partner, either homosexual or heterosexual (van Anders & Goldey, 2010)

• Both men and women with high testosterone levels are more likely
than average to seek additional sex partners, even after they marry
or establish a long-term relationship (M. McIntyre et al., 2006; van
Anders, Hamilton, & Watson, 2007).

• The alternative interpretation is that some other in uence leads to

an interest in multiple partners, and the variety of partners increases
testosterone production.

• It has been shown that when women think about sex or anticipate
having sex, their testosterone levels increase temporarily (van
Anders, Brotto, Farrell, & Yule, 2009).

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• Decreases in testosterone levels generally decrease male sexual
activity. For example, castration (removal of the testes) generally
decreases a man’s sexual interest and activity (Carter, 1992).

• However, low testosterone is not the usual basis for impotence, the
inability to have an erection.

• The most common cause is impaired blood circulation, especially in

older men.

• Other common causes include neurological problems, reactions to

drugs, and psychological tension (Andersson, 2001).

• Testosterone reduction has sometimes been tried as a means of

controlling sex offenders, including exhibitionists, rapists, child
molesters, and those who commit incest.

• One major practical problem is getting sex offenders to continue

taking drugs that block testosterone (Hughes, 2007).

• Another drawback is the side effects of testosterone deprivation,

including weight gain, diabetes, and depression (Giltay & Gooren,
2009).

Estradiol and Related Hormones

• A woman’s hypothalamus and pituitary interact with the ovaries to produce the menstrual cycle,
a periodic variation in hormones and fertility over the course of about 28 days.

• After the end of a menstrual period, the anterior pituitary releases follicle-stimulating hormone
(FSH), which promotes the growth of a follicle in the ovary.

• Toward the middle of the menstrual cycle, the follicle builds up more and more receptors to FSH,
so even though the actual concentration of FSH in the blood is decreasing, its effects on the
follicle increase.

• As a result, the follicle produces increasing amounts of estradiol.

• The increased release of estradiol causes an increased release of FSH as well as a sudden
surge in the release of luteinizing hormone (LH) from the anterior pituitary.

• FSH and LH combine to cause the follicle to release an ovum.

• The remnant of the follicle (now called the corpus luteum) releases the
hormone progesterone, which prepares the uterus for the implantation of a
fertilized ovum.

• Progesterone also inhibits the further release of LH.

• Toward the end of the menstrual cycle, the levels of LH, FSH, estradiol,
and progesterone all decline.

• If the ovum is not fertilized, the lining of the uterus is cast off
(menstruation), and the cycle begins again.

• If the ovum is fertilized, the levels of estradiol and progesterone increase

gradually during pregnancy.

 Nausea during pregnancy

• One consequence of high estradiol and progesterone levels is
uctuating activity at the serotonin 3 (5HT ) receptor, which is
3

responsible for nausea (Rupprecht et al., 2001).

• Pregnant women often experience nausea because of the

heightened activity of that receptor.

• Increased sensitivity to nausea may be an evolved adaptation to

minimize the risk of eating something harmful to the fetus.
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 Birth Control Pills

• Birth-control pills prevent pregnancy by interfering with the usual feedback
cycle between the ovaries and the pituitary.

• The most widely used birth-control pill, the combination pill, containing
estrogen and progesterone, prevents the surge of FSH and LH that would
otherwise release an ovum.

• The estrogen–progesterone combination also thickens the mucus of the cervix,

making it harder for a sperm to reach the egg, and prevents an ovum, if
released, from implanting in the uterus.

• However, it does not protect against sexually transmitted diseases such as

AIDS or syphilis. “Safe sex” must go beyond the prevention of pregnancy.

 Activating effect on sexual behaviour

• Changes in hormones over the menstrual cycle also alter women’s sexual interest.

• The periovulatory period, consisting of the days around the middle of the
menstrual cycle, is the time of maximum fertility and high estrogen levels.

• According to two studies, women not taking birth-control pills initiate more sexual
activity (either with a partner or by masturbation) during the periovulatory period
than at other times of the month (D. B. Adams, Gold, & Burt, 1978; Udry & Morris,
1968).

• According to another study, women rate an erotic video as more pleasant and
arousing if they watch it during the periovulatory period than if they watch it at
other times (Slob et al.,1996).

• Sex hormones also in uence women’s attention to sex-related

stimuli.

• When women were asked to view videotapes of two men and

choose one for a short-term relationship, women around the time of
ovulation were more likely to choose a man who seemed athletic,
competitive, and assertive and who did not describe himself as
having a “nice personality” (Gangestad, Simpson, Cousins, Garver-
Apgar, & Christensen, 2004).

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 Oxytocin
• Secreted by posterior pituitary gland.

• Oxytocin stimulates contractions of the uterus during delivery of a baby, and it stimulates
the mammary gland to release milk.

• Sexual pleasure also releases oxytocin, especially at orgasm (M. R. Murphy, Checkley,
Seckl, & Lightman, 1990).

• People typically experience a state of relaxation shortly after orgasm as a result of

oxytocin release. In animal studies, rats show increased exploration of potentially
dangerous places—that is, decreased anxiety—after orgasm.

• Blocking the release of oxytocin prevents that effect, so oxytocin is apparently responsible
for the calmness and lack of anxiety after orgasm (Waldherr & Neumann, 2007).

Pair bonds and social behaviour

• Strong release of oxytocin facilitates formation of pair bonds between mating partners
(Kosfeld, Heinrichs, Zak, Fischbacher, & Fehr, 2005).

• A study found that women who had the highest oxytocin levels during pregnancy
spent the most time gazing at, vocalizing to, touching, and pleasurably interacting with
their infants after delivery (Feldman, Welle, Zagoory-Sharon, & Levine, 2007).

• When people inhale a nasal spray containing oxytocin, as compared to a placebo,

they become more accurate at recognizing familiar faces (Rimmele, Hediger,
Heinrichs, & Klaver, 2009).

• They are also quicker to recognize blurry words on a screen, if those words refer to
pleasant social relationship words, such as love or kissing (Unkelbach, Guastella, &
Forgas, 2008).

• In a study where participants played trust game, people who are

given oxytocin give more money to people who seem trustworthy,
but not to people who seem competitive and aggressive
(Mikolajczak et al., 2010).

• Testosterone decreases trust (Bos, Terburg, & van Honk, 2010).

 Parental Behaviour
• A female mammal’s behavior changes in many ways when she becomes a mother.

• In addition to nursing and caring for the young, she eats and drinks more than usual, and
becomes less fearful and more aggressive, especially in defense of her young.

• Although the role of hormones is less central for humans, it is critical for maternal behavior in
other species.

• After a mother rat delivers her babies, she increases her secretion of estradiol and prolactin,
while decreasing production of progesterone (Numan & Woodside, 2010).

• Prolactin is necessary for milk production and certain aspects of maternal behavior, such as
retrieving the young when they wander away from the nest (Lucas, Ormandy, Binart, Bridges, &
Kelly, 1998).

• It also inhibits sensitivity to leptin, enabling the mother to eat far more than usual.

• In addition to secreting hormones, the female changes her pattern of

hormone receptors.

• Late in pregnancy, her brain increases its sensitivity to estradiol in the

areas responsible for maternal behavior (Rosenblatt, Olufowobi, & Siegel,
1998).

• The hormonal changes increase the mothers’ attention to their young after
delivery.

• Hormones increase activity in the medial preoptic area and anterior

hypothalamus (Featherstone, Fleming, & Ivy, 2000), areas that are
necessary for rats’ maternal behavior ( J. R. Brown, Ye, Bronson, Dikkes, &
Greenberg, 1996).

• Another key hormone is vasopressin, synthesized by the hypothalamus and secreted by

the posterior pituitary gland.

• Vasopressin is important for social behavior in many species, partly by facilitating

olfactory recognition of other individuals (Tobin et al., 2010).

• Male prairie voles, which secrete much vasopressin, establish long-term pair bonds with
females and help rear their young.

• A male meadow vole, with much lower vasopressin levels, mates with a female and then
virtually ignores her.

• However, these little social isolates changed their behavior after researchers found a way
to increase activity of the genes responsible for vasopressin in the voles’ hypothalamus.

• Suddenly, they showed a strong preference for a recent mate and, if placed into the same
cage, they even helped her take care of her babies (M. M. Lim et al., 2004).

• If a female that has never been pregnant is left with some baby rats,
she ignores them at rst but gradually becomes more attentive.

• After about 6 days, the adoptive mother builds a nest, assembles the
babies in the nest, licks them, and does everything else that normal
mothers do, except nurse them.

• This experience-dependent behavior does not require hormonal

changes and occurs even in rats that had their ovaries removed
(Mayer & Rosenblatt, 1979; Rosenblatt, 1967).

• That is, humans are not the only species in which a mother can adopt
young without rst going through pregnancy.
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• We might imagine that evolution would have equipped infants with pheromones
that elicit maternal behavior, but actually, their pheromones stimulate
aggressive behaviors that interfere with maternal behavior (Sheehan, Cirrito,
Numan, & Numan, 2000).

• For a mother that has just gone through pregnancy, this interference does not
matter because her hormones primed her medial preoptic area so strongly that
it overrides competing impulses.

• A female without hormonal priming, however, rejects the young until she has
become familiar with their smell (Del Cerro et al., 1995).

• In the early phase, hormones compensate for the mother’s lack of familiarity
with the young. In the later phase, experience maintains the maternal behavior
even though the hormones start to decline (Rosenblatt, 1970).

Evolutionary Interpretations of
Mating Behavior
• Part of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was
that individuals whose genes help them survive will produce more
offspring, and therefore the next generation will resemble those with
these favorable genes.

• Sexual selection: Genes that make an individual more appealing to

the other sex will increase the probability of reproduction, and
therefore the next generation will resemble those who had these
favorable genes.

 Interest in Multiple Mates

• More men than women seek opportunities for casual sexual relationships
with many partners.

• From the evolutionary standpoint of spreading one’s genes, men can

succeed by either of two strategies (Gangestad & Simpson, 2000): Be
loyal to one woman and devote your energies to helping her and her
babies, or mate with many women and hope that some of them can raise
your babies without your help.

• The idea is that men who acted these ways in the past propagated their
genes, and today’s men might have inherited genes that promote these
behaviors.

• In contrast, a woman can have no more than one pregnancy per 9 months,
regardless of her number of sex partners.

• A woman does sometimes gain from having multiple sex partners (Hrdy,
2000).

• If her husband is infertile, mating with another man could be her only way
of reproducing.

• Also, another sexual partner may provide aid of various sorts to her and
her children.

• In addition, she has the possibility of “trading up,” abandoning her rst
mate for a better one.

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 What Men and Women Seek in a
Mate?
• Almost all people seeking a romantic partner prefer someone who is healthy,
intelligent, honest, and physically attractive.

• Typically, women have some additional interests that are less common for men.

• In particular, women are more likely than men are to prefer a mate who is likely to
be a good provider (Buss, 2000).

• According to evolutionary theorists, the reason is this: While a woman is pregnant

or taking care of a small child, she needs help getting food and other requirements.

• Evolution would have favored any gene that caused women to seek good
providers.

• A woman is also much more likely to reject a man because of his smell
than a man is to reject a woman because of her smell (Herz & Inzlicht,
2002).

• One possible reason is that body odor relates to some of the same
genes that control the immune system, known as the major
histocompatibility complex.

• Research has found that a woman tends to be less sexually responsive

to a man whose immune genes, and therefore body odor, are too similar
to her own (Garver-Apgar, Gangestad, Thornhill, Miller, & Olp, 2006).

• Avoiding a man of similar odor may be a way to avoid inbreeding.

• Men tend to have a stronger preference for a young partner.

• An evolutionary explanation is that young women are likely to remain fertile

longer than older women are, so a man can have more children by pairing
with a young woman.

• Male chimps usually prefer older (but still fertile) females, who tend to have a
higher social rank than younger females do (Muller, Thompson, &
Wrangham, 2006).

• Men remain fertile into old age, so a woman has less need to insist on youth.

• Women do prefer young partners when possible, but in many societies, only
older men have enough nancial resources to get married.

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 Differences in Jealousy
• Traditionally, in most cultures, men have been more jealous of women’s in delities than
women have been of men’s in delities.

• If a man is to pass on his genes— the key point in evolution—he needs to be sure that
the children he supports are his own. An unfaithful wife threatens that certainty.

• A woman knows that any children she bears are her own, so she does not have the
same worry.

• Some cultures consider sexual in delity acceptable for both husband and wife; some
prohibit it completely for both; and some consider it more acceptable for the husband
than for the wife.

• However, no known society considers it more acceptable for the wife.

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• According to several studies, men say they would be more upset by

the sexual in delity, whereas women would be more upset by the
emotional in delity (Shakelford, Buss, & Bennett, 2002).

• However, those studies dealt with hypothetical situations.

• Most men and women who have actually dealt with an unfaithful
partner say they were more upset by their partner’s becoming
emotionally close to someone else than by the sexual affair (C. H.
Harris, 2002).
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 Evolved or Learned?
• The brain evolved, just like any other organ, and our behavioral
tendencies are a product of evolution.

• Cross-cultural similarity is not necessarily good evidence for an evolved

tendency.

• To establish that we evolved a tendency to act in some way, the most

decisive evidence would be to demonstrate genes that affect the relevant
behaviors.

• We need to be cautious about inferring what is a product of our evolution

and what is learned.

 Conclusion

• No gene forces men or women to behave in any particular way.

• Even leaving aside the social implications as far as we can, no rm

scienti c consensus emerges.

• We need more data, especially about the effects of particular

genes, before we draw a rm conclusion.
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