evolutionary flashcards

Question 1

What is parental investment theory? Who came up with the theory ?

Answer 1

• Trivers (1972)
• states there is a sex difference in mating strategies because females are the sex that physiologically has to invest more
• females choose their mate, and males compete because females have to invest more
• for example, womens have a limited amount of eggs and time to reproduce compare to mens sperm
• a mating error ( choosing a low quality mate) is more detrimental to women because they have limited resources and more time invest e.g pregnancy and location.
• ## both long term and short term strategies can be successful for reproduction

Question 2

what is sexual strategies theory? who was it by?

Answer 2

• Buss & Schmitt (1993)
  -based off sexual selection theory- we have different mating strategies based on the culture, social context, personal mating value, parental influence
• theory states there is not one universal mating system, different strategies are associated with different mate preference and different mating psychology
• there are different adaptive problems that come with both long term and short term strategies, e.g avoiding investiment, good genetics, faithfulness
• as parental investment theory states, women are risking more if they choice a poor mate and there they tend to want a long term thing and men want short term
• men are less choosy, want more causal sex, want to have sex with multiple strangers, can deceive a women saying they want a long term but don’t
  -both men and women want long-term eventually as child rearing is easier with biparental care

Question 3

what is Strategic pluralism theory? by who?

Answer 3

• Gangestad & Simpson (2000)
  -both sexes use both long and short term mating strategies in different environmental context and situation
  -selection pressure means there is a mix mating strategies for certain conditions
• men tend to use short term strategies
• all about the when and the context
• a man might want to have lots of causal sex and invest no time or effect, but that man is very unattractive, that man maybe more success using a long -term strategy to try and reproduce
• there can be environmental influences as well, for example is a women is rich, she say not need a man to help raise a child and she to have causal sex
• for very rich countries, short term stategies are common because single parents are more common, then it decreases with low economics because 2 parents are needing for child rearing, then it increases again in the worst economical countries because the babies survival rate is so low

Question 4

what is error management theory? by who?

Answer 4

• Haelton & Buss (2000)
  -there are two types of errors we can make, type 1, thinking something is there when it isn’t, or type 2, thinking nothing is there when there isn’t
• both errors are not equal, both come with different levels of cost but type 2 has the biggest cost
• men would rather make a type 1 error and think a women is interested in them, instead of making a type 2 error and think they are not when they are. this is because it means they have missed an opportunity to potential reproduce.

Question 5

what evolutionary miss match theory? who is it by?

Answer 5

• Li et al (2017)
• millions of years ago our brain changed massive very rapidly, they got a lot bigger, and then they stoned grow, this was around the Stone Age
• this theory state we have a stone age brain in a modern environment with modern stimuli
• millions of years ago the standard human environment did not change for a long time and human psychology was based off these environmental stimli
• major change happened rapidly ( e.g industrial revolution) and are psychology is not set up for

Question 6

Link parental investment to mate preference to attractiveness

Answer 6

-Facial attractiveness – we are born with a relatively symmetrical face, if our faces become less symmetrical it signals are harder development trajectory, our background, potentially less healthy or worse immune system. An attractive face (average and symmetrical) signals development stability, health and fertility. We want to mate with attractive people because it increases our chance of having healthy offspring. ( critism- we have a cognitive dispostion of prototypcial stuff, e.g averageness)
- women like masculine features, its the handcap principle which states only the fittest of a species can have an ornament ( physical element the oppsite sex find attractive), can redcues are survial. A lot of testorone is needed for masucline facial features, but Testosterone is an immunosuppressant, there only the fittest (healthiness) men can risk producin so much to loook mscline. e.g strong jaw, but this requires a lot of testerone, and having this much testerone can be harmful to the immune system, indicates high levels of fitness
-Physical features- waist-to –hip ratio across time and culture has found to be attractive in women, this is because it can signal fertility. Back in day If a woman has lost her hip-waist ratio it could signal to men that she is pregnant and therefore not someone to choose to try and to reproduce with! Women find shoulder-to- waist ratio attractive in men, this could be because it shows a good upper body strength, this could signally fitness, good genes, and means he could protect her and her offspring. Back in the day it also meant he could go out and ger resources for the family. ( example of miss-match, we not longer need a big strong man to survive)

Question 7

mate preference and sexual strategies theory

Answer 7

• sexual strategy theory would argue that we have different mate preferences depending wether we want something long term or short term.
  age - long term strategies, a man wants someone younger and a women wants an older man. short-term strategies age matters less.
  inteligence- does not matter in a short term stategies, however very important for a long term relationship
  -

Question 8

explain age mate preference

Answer 8

Age- Men tend to go for younger women because women have a short fertile period of life compared to men, therefore dating a young woman increases the time period where she is fertile and therefore the man’s chance of reproducing with her. Women usual go for old men because it’s given them more time to develop a strong social status - parental investment theory – a women want a high-quality man due to the amount she is investing in mating with him

Question 9

explain intelligence mate preference

Answer 9

Age- Men tend to go for younger women because women have a short fertile period of life compared to men, therefore dating a young woman increases the time period where she is fertile and therefore the man’s chance of reproducing with her. Women usual go for old men because it’s given them more time to develop a strong social status (Why do we want this) - parental investment theory – a women want a high-quality man due to the amount she is investing in mating with him

Question 10

explain social status mate preference

Answer 10

Social status- more opportunity that most people, increases resources. Smith et al 2003 – did research on an Island at the end of the Great Barrier Reef in a culture that are turtle hunters. He found that hunter leaders who had the highest social status also had the highest number of offspring. Hunters themselves had the second highest social status and sat in the middle with the number offspring. Men who were not hungers, therefore lower status then the hunters had the least number of offspring.

Question 11

explain sexual history mate preference

Answer 11

Sexual history- we want to mate with people that have some sexual experiences because it will likely improve our experience, however not too many people because we want to protect ourselves for STD and someone who isn’t faithful (sexual strategy theory would say people looking for a short-term partner wouldn’t care about being faithful)

Question 12

explain kindness mate preference

Answer 12

Kindness – what counts as being kind has a massive variation, and therefore the Aspect of kindness scale was created to split these down further. Top three, loyal, honest, loving. All aspects we want in a partner who will share child rearing responsibilities.

Question 13

mate preference function

Answer 13

Sexual history- we want someone that likes sex as much as we do, having a mismatch of sex preferences can causes conflict. If we want to have sex and pass on our genes but our partner doesn’t want to have sex this can be frustrating. There is also an element of protection, we don’t want someone with a massive sexual history because it puts us at risk of STD.
Good looks – being attractive signal fertility and health. We don’t want to mate with someone who will lead us to a genetic dead end, we must mate with someone attractive with will make our offspring attractive and therefore let them find a mate.
Intelligences- having an intelligent partner means they can bring in resources for the family and this increases the level of protection
Kindness- increases the compatibility we have with our partner and increases the co-operation, doing things together (parental investment theory would say increases equal rearing of child)
Social status- protection, security and resources

Question 14

sex differences in mate preference

Answer 14

-The preferences we have for what we want in a partner change depending on whether we want a short-term or a long-term partner. Sex differences are often over exaggerated because there are different, but they are small (Buss 1990). We see the biggest sex differences when the sexes are using different sexual strategies.
-Kindness- both sexes rate kindness high on the preference list, however when you look deeper into what exactly they want, men tend to wat someone who will fit well with them and his life. On the other hand, women tend to want someone to be more protective of them.
Women difference between long-term and short term – Muggleton & Finchers (2017) Short- term – we tend to want more strong genetics attributes e.g., attractive, sexy voice, funny, Long-term- we choose more material attributes e.g., good income, good social status (thinking what will benefit us if we settle down with this person and have children)

Question 15

what is mating strategy plasticity

Answer 15

within lifetime change. we can use both short term and long term strategies, we either active one or the other, and depending which one is activated the profile and mate preferences changes. someone can be open to both strategies but the level of activation in one can be stronger than the other.
- strategic pluralism and plasticity looks at why people choose or change strategies

Question 16

what was the snog marriage avoid task

Answer 16

• Thomas (2018)
• people looked at photos of others and say would you consider this person for a long term thing, short term thing or nothing.
• most said nothing, then short term, then long term
• people for different photos choice different strategies showing there is a co-activation of strategies
• they then did a baby cue, resource cue and a danger cue ( biparental care)
• men unchanged with baby cue, women increases long term choice ( biparental care)
• resource cue, both sexes increase short-term ( lots of resources means biparental is less needed).
• danger cue, men choice more long term and women choice more short and long term ( increases protection , them and family)

Question 17

what is the mate preference priority model

Answer 17

• yes we want everything in a partner, but when we are given a budget about the traits are partner can have we choose the one that will help reproduction e.g. what is a neccessity. if we have a large budget when we add luxuries.
• Thomas (2020) kindness being a necessity for both sexes. Attractiveness necessarily for both sexes but males 3 times more. Women put a stable income higher than men. Creativity was a luxury.
• does it really reflect how we make decisions about mates? kindness was rated the highest but social media puts a massive influence on looks, but is that because that is what we see first ( miss-match, online dating shows you a picture first- modern world dating)

Question 18

(effecting mate choice) what is impression management ?

Answer 18

• deception, putting your best foot forward. for example wearing fake designer clothes to sign wealth which is inauthentic. basically Lying to people. Plastic surgery! Could be culture miss-match, plastic surgery and cosmetic are very modern.

Question 19

(effecting mating choice) what is perception biases?

Answer 19

For example you see an average height guy next to lots of small guys, he seemed to be taller. The cheerleader effect, people seem more attractive when they are next to others compared to being alone.

Question 20

(effecting mating choice ) what is culture influence?

Answer 20

Thomas (2020) budget mate preference study. Both western and eastern men rate physical attractiveness and kindness as a necessity. Financial prospects is rated more as a luxury for western men compared to eastern men. but small difference
- traits around reproduction have little cross culture variation, however traits that don’t, do vary
- women find attractiveness, kindness and financial prospect a necessity across culture.
- for both sexes religious and chastity varied
-there is varation for men about attitudes towards having children. For Western cultures we have a lot more choose about whether we want children or not because we have contraception (mismatch). In Eastern cultures its the norm that if you are in a relationship you will have children. Therefore if a man wants children, its more for them to find a women that wants kids too, because its more likey in Western cultures to choose not to.

Question 21

What is mating choice copying effect?

Answer 21

• if we find someone attractive but we see that person is desired by others, it makes us act differently.
• when a male sees a female alone or with other females there desire for them doesn’t change.
• when a male sees a female with other males their desire for them decreases, this could be due to competition or they don’t know if they are in a relationship status
• women are the opposite, if they see a man with loads of women they think this means the man has value and she should desire him.
• a gay man seeing a man with lots of women decreases desirable because they might questions there sexual orientation
  but for gay women, if they are with other women that’s a good thing

Question 22

what is the Kalick-hamiltion model ??

Answer 22

• people date other people at random
• we assess the person attractiveness and if they pass our criteria we offer them a commitment
• if the feeling are reciprocated you starting a relationship, but if they are declined you start the dating process again
• if you are rejected you reduce the levels of your criteria, but if you people keep offering you commitment and you reject them, you increase your levels of criteria

Question 23

what is aspiration threshold model ?

Answer 23

• we start with a threshold we have people must meet to date but the threshold starts off very uniformed
• you go on random dates, if someone exceeds your aspiration level you offer a small level of commitment
• you carry on dating others on the side and if anyone exceeds your current match in traits you switch them
• there is time limit on switching, if no one better comes along in a certain amount of time, you temporary partner becomes permanent
  -during the data process we adjust our threshold depending on how many offers we are getting

Question 24

what is the gale- Shapley algorithm?

Answer 24

a males compete and females choose model
- men go around offering commitment to women they find attractive and start at the most attractive
- she choice who she wants
- females can swap when they want

Question 25

Comparing partner choice model research?

Answer 25

Conroy- Beam (2021) compared the aspiration threshold model, gale -shapley algorithm, resource allocation model and the kalick -hamiltion. He used 191 real couples and measure there traits and their partners and their ideal preferences. Then using the models and just the traits tried to predict which people were in couples. The resource allocation model was the most successful, then the gale- Shapley algorithm, then aspiration threshold model and lastly kalick-hamiltion model. It could be argued that maybe some of these couple are not a good match and should be together therefore results aren't to valid.

Question 26

what is sexual harassment ?

Answer 26

Unwanted common, gestures, or sexual activities due to their actual, or perceived gender, gender expression and sexual orientation. - can be broken down in the physical, verbal, and non-verbal

Question 27

who is sexual harassing?

Answer 27

- 84% of women have reported been sexually harassment ( doesn't included what is going unreported) and 60% of males have - the most common is males harassing men but men can be harassed by both men and women -young people, LGBTQ+, disabled and ethic minorities are mostly likely to be a victim - both old and young men use the same harassing tactics - modern generation females are in more likely to perform sexual assault

Question 28

what is evolutionary neuroandregenic theory?

Answer 28

-looks at our evolved biology to explain why men are more liked to perform undesirable behaviour and criminal behaviour. An ancestral environmental pressure of needing resources putted men to be more competitive because the women wanted a man to bring home resources. The men who were getting the women were the ones with high testosterone which increases risk taking behaviours and sexual aggression.

Question 29

what is error management theory?

Answer 29

- we have cognitive mechanisms that makes us bias when faced with uncertainty - we are on the side of caution when it comes to our survival and reproduction - in our ancestral environment the people who were more actively and aggressively seeking a mate would more likely get there genes passed on (miss-match) - people don't want to miss a mating opportunity- Stone Age brain

Question 30

(cognitive bias) what is sexual over perception bias ?

Answer 30

- men tend to over detecting sexual interesting in women - "she wants me" -can happen both in sexes - linked to high SO in young men

Question 31

(cognitive bias) what is stereotyping ?

Answer 31

- "she is playing hard to get" - there is a small grain of truth as research does she women play more hard to get however this is not always the case and it has been exaggerated and generalised. - another stereotype is you can't sexual harass men because they want sex all the time

Question 32

(cognitive bias) what is the similarity attraction effect and similarity bias ??

Answer 32

- "we all love a flirt" - we have a tendency to be attractive to someone similar to us - we are bias, we think people are similar to us when they are not - e.g I like flirting with them so they will flirting to me - people with high SO do this a lot

Question 33

( cognitive bias) what is positive outcome bias??

Answer 33

- "I can win her over" - people are expecting a positive outcome - they are rationalising there sexual behaviour because they think it will win someone over.

Question 34

what is miscommunication theory of sexual harassment ?

Answer 34

- women and men have difference brains, the way we communicate and our social cognitions are different - women and men perceptive communication cues differently - men see more interactions as sexual charged then women and more positive - even when a women rejects a man its seen as a "token resistance' e.g she is playing hard to get. - makes sense because there is a lot more between sex harassment that same sex because there is this miscommunication in the same gender

Question 35

what is the feminist theory of sexual harassment ?

Answer 35

- sexual harassment in a product of gender equality -toxic masculinity - supported by the fact women are more likely to be harassed by men, but men are also likely to be harassed by men - also supported by the fact that women in a male dominant career is more likely to be sexual harassed that other women - sexual harassment is being used to assert dominance over women because men are fragile about there masculinity - fragile masculinity means someone in insecure in there masculinity

Question 36

what is power theory of sexual harassment ?

Answer 36

- sexual harassment is due to power equality - power give the opportunity for sexual harassment - thought time men have had more power through history so it makes sense why men sexual harass more. however accounts for the times when women sexual harass - makes sense because low economic people have a high risk of being sexual harassed - when men are powerful they have more resources and therefore more attractive, this increase mating opportunities - issue peer on peer harassment is the most common

Question 37

what is sociocultural theory of sexual harassment ?

Answer 37

-sexual harassment is a product of socialisation and culture - different countries have different levels of sexual harassment therefore suggesting there is cultural difference, also different countries have different definitions of SH - our peers in childhood affect are adulthood attitudes -media causes slow self-esteem in people - porn watching increases SH becuase is glorifies it

Question 38

Evolutionary why do men do stay single and try to reproduce with multiple females?

Answer 38

- the goal is to get you genetic passed down, but this is only important in a person child survives and also has offspring, therefore no a genetic dead end. If the man parents the child as well as the mother, the child is more likely to have children of its owe. -also increases paternal certainity

Question 39

why would people stay single ?

Answer 39

only 2 reasons from an evolutionary perspective - 1 they don't have a choice, they have traits the opposite sex don't want 2- to increase future mating success, they think they can do well on the dating market

Question 40

pros and cons of being single ?

Answer 40

pros- more opportunity for plural mating, and less likely to have to invest or share resources cons- no alliances formed, no guarantee mating opportunities

Question 41

Mismatch of singlehood?

Answer 41

- technology like dating apps and contraception - for dating apps give the impression that there is a never ending number of options for us, which isn't true and reduces mating - dating apps increases the amount someone gets sexually rejected - its also easier to be a single parent in modern life

Question 42

criticism of parental investment theory?

Answer 42

Parental investment would predict that investment by fathers would always be greater if they know the child is biologically theirs. They would not want to spend time and resources on another mans child. However, Anderson (1999) measured the resources invested by fathers and step fathers (i.e time spent with child and financial investment). Men appeared not to discriminate between their stepchildren and their biological offspring.

Question 43

What mismatch occurs when meeting a parnter ?

Answer 43

We tradition met people through family, friends, work. In recent years there was a masssive influx of people meeting online, eg tinder, match.com. We no longer meet through family (for long term relationships). We have new problems, we are getting in relationships with random people. A danger is we get a sense of having endless options, or geting endless rejects. Dating apps as give people anonymity, and people can act harmful with this.

Question 44

what is domain mismatch? How does it influence what is avaible to us ?

Answer 44

If you want a long term relationship but going to the wrong domain. e.g nightclub or tinder. vs if you just want sex, using match.com

Question 45

what is choice overload?

Answer 45

when you have some much choice, eg on a dating apps, that you start to restirct it so you only see people with certain physical elements, hwoever this means cutting lots of potential people out. Something like spped dating is better becuase you have to evaulate the perosn as a whole.

Question 46

what is the clark and hatfield study on relationship formation and desires?

Answer 46

an attractive confredrate will approach random people and ask either do you want to go on a date with me tonight, or do you want to come back to my apartment, or do you want to go to bed. This is one of the biggest example of sex different with relationship formatio and desire. Women say yes to a date but not really the others, men are more up for just sex than a date. Some men still said yes if they were in a relationship. An element of safety will be involved when people answer the question.

Question 47

how mcuh control do the have over who we form a relationship with? does our preferences correlate to who we actually date?

Answer 47

- there is a high correlate (0.5) in peoples exs having similar traits which supports the idea that our mate preference carries to the people we actually date - alternative hypothesis is social homogamy - we choice a mate because similar people hang out in similar enviroments and that gives us the opportunity. E.g you start dating someone from uni becuase you are in the sam enviroment, and you both happen to have high levels of intelligence.

Question 48

What is voyurism and exhibitionism? (countship disorder)

Answer 48

-peeping, trying to view someone naked or doing something sexual -exposing yourself to an unexpected individual - courtship disorders are foten called male disorder because there is a massive sex difference - can be a lower levels, a non-clincal population, e.g dick pic - have high sociosexuality increases your chance of having a countship disorder -short term mating strategy gone to far

Question 49

research that shows sex difference in jealousy (buss )

Answer 49

o 'think of a serious committed romantic relationship that they have had in the past, that they currently have, or that they would like to have. Next, they were asked to imagine that they had just discovered that their partner became interested in someone else. Finally, participants were asked which of the two following options they found more distressing or upsetting: 'imagining partner forming a deep emotional attachment to that person,' or 'imagining [their] partner enjoying passionate sexual intercourse with that other person' (Buss et al. 1992). More men than women chose sexual infidelity as more distressful, while most women chose emotional infidelity (being close emotionally with another woman) as more distress

Question 50

critisms of evolutionary psychology?

Answer 50

EP argues human mating choice is based off adaptiveness, but it over looks culture and social norms. but in modern western cultures women dont need to look for a man to provide resources anymore. EP underestimates gender equality, the countries where women value the mans resources the most is when females education and work opportunities are limited- evidence for culture being an explanation. - lots of EP studied are done on undergrade population. For example in mate preference studies women are seen to want a well educated male with resources. The women is at uni therfore is educated and likely to have resources, therefore women might just have a preference to someone similar to them, instead of evolutionary drive preferences. - too reductionist,doesnt account for individual difference and there explanation of homosexual relationship is not great. -alpha bias, overestimates gender difference - determinist- claims gender determines your sexual strategy, and you are only attracted to people who can provide you offspring

Question 51

what is sexual imprinting?

Answer 51

The theory suggests that species including humans, do have an evolutionary mechanism that drives them to reproduce and have high-quality offspring. During our early childhood we have been exposed to parental phenotype which guides our sexual preference. To explain, we see our parents as models as they have successfully reproduced, therefore we use our opposite-sexed parent as a guide when choosing a mate.

Question 52

what is resource allocation model?

Answer 52

everyone has limited mating resources e.g time,attention, money and we allocate them to potential mates based on their relative mating value. at first we spread our resources thin and wide. we start to invest more in someone if they statrt to invest more in us as well. more mutal intrest,more in invested. the process contines until we are investing in one person

Question 53

Criticisms of sexual strategy theory ?

Answer 53

Women may feel pressured by society not to sleep with a random stranger in fear of being labelled as promiscuous and hurting their reputation. Therefore these results may not truthfully represent women's sexual preferences and weakens the validity of the study. --doesn't make predictions about when individuals are expected to pursue short term matings vs. long term matings -focuses only on variation between sexes, and not on variation within sexes

Question 54

name the 5 main theory?

Answer 54

-parental investment theory -sexual strategy theory -strategic pluralism theory -error management theory -mismatch theory

Question 55

what are the topics for mate preference?

Answer 55

- what preference there are, what are functions - strategy different -sex differences -sexual imprinting argument

Question 56

what topics to bring up in mate choices?

Answer 56

-strategic plastcity -snog, marry, avoid task -mating preference priority model - what effect mating choice ( impression management, perception bias, cultural influence). - mate choice coping effect -the choice models ( kalick-hamiltion model, aspiration threshold model, gale-sharpley algorithm, resource allocation model)

Question 57

what are issues in relationship formation?

Answer 57

- sexual harassment -courtship disorder (voyurism, exhibitionism) - increase in singlehood -mismatch singlehood -choice overload -clark and Hatfield desire research-shows sex differences -jealous research

Question 58

what are the theory of sexual harassment ?

Answer 58

-evolutionary neuroandregenic theory -error management theory -miscommunication theory -feminist theory -power theory -socioculture theory

Question 59

what are the cognitive bias involved in sexual harassment?

Answer 59

-sexual over perception bias -streotyping - similarity attraction effect -postive outcome bias