Describe one evolutionary explanation of one behavior.

Evolution is a biological principal proposed by Charles Darwin, which refers to the

change in the inherited characteristics of a species over generations due to survival
needs. Specifically, this change occurs when processes such as natural selection and
sexual selection act on genetic variation. Evolutionary psychologists seek to
understand human behavior through this lens as they believe our they must have
helped human survival and reproduction in the past. Major Histocompatibility
Complex is a group of genes that play an important role in the immune system. A
diverse MHC gene of the parents led to a stronger immune system of the offspring,
making it beneficial to have evolved systems of recognizing individuals with different
MHC. Therefore, evolutionary psychologists argue that our “smell” is a sign of our
MHC.

Wedekind (1995) conducted a study that aims to determine whether one's MHC would
affect mate choice. The sample was made up of 49 female and 44 male students who
did not know each other and with a wide variance of MHC. The men were asked to
wear a T-shirt for two nights and to keep the T-shirt in an open plastic bag during the
day. They were asked to avoid the use any product or food that may change
participants' smell. Two days later, the women were asked to rank the smell of 7 t-
shirts, each in a cardboard box with a “smelling hole.” Three contained T-shirts from
men with MHC similar to the woman's own, three contained T-shirts from MHC
dissimilar men; and one contained an unworn T-shirt as a control. Alone in a room,
every woman scored the odors of the T-shirts for intensity and for pleasantness and
sexiness. The results showed that women found the scents of men with differing MHC
profiles more pleasant than those with similar MHC compositions.

This research corroborates the evolutionary explanation of human behavior—in this

case, the mating choices of women. Choosing a partner with a different MHC profile
would likely result in offspring with a stronger immune system, contributing to the
overall survival and reproductive success of the human species.