RELATIONSHIPS IN PSYA3

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RELATIONSHIPSIN PSYA3

• HUMAN
• REPRODUCTIVE
• BEHAVIOUR p.93

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EVOLUTIONARY BASIS FOR PHYSICAL ATTRACTION

• Cunningham studied this by altering
• the size of female facial features.
• Men found childlike features most attractive
• Bruce and Young 1998 found a preference for
  symmetrical faces
• Langlois 2000 meta-analysis of 919 studies.
  Found considerable agreement within cultures as
  to who was attractive and who was not.
• There was also some agreement between cultures

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WHICH BODY SHAPE DO YOU PREFER?
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BODY SHAPE

• Singh found a preference for waist to hip ratio
  of 0.7. This produces an hour-glass body shape
• Preference persists despite a figure being
  curvier or slimmer
• 5 longer than average legs are attractive in
  both men and women

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PARTNER SELECTION

• Dunbar used 900 personal ads from north American
  newspapers.
• 42 of men wanted a younger partner
• 25 of women wanted a younger partner
• 44 of men sought a physically attractive woman
• 22 of women sought a physically attractive man

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CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY

• BUSS studied partner preferences in 33 different
  countries
• 10,000 men and women aged 16-28 were asked about
  their preferences.
• In all cultures he found
• Men valued physical attractiveness more than
  women
• Men valued women younger than themselves
• Women valued financial success and ambition more
  than men

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HOMOSEXUALITY

• Bailey and Zucker found male preferences were
  similar to heterosexual men.
• Both groups were interested in physical
  attractiveness and uncommitted sex.
• Both types of men were uninterested in the
  financial status of the potential partners
• Kenrick found that both hetero and homosexual men
  preferred a partner /- 5 years
• if they were in their 20s, but as both
• groups aged, they preferred younger
• partners

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DIFFERENCES IN REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOUR

• Men and womens behaviour varies
• Tendency to engage in casual sex men are more
  likely to have short-term relationships and
  one-night stands
• Clark and Hatfield strangers were approached and
  offered
• a. to go out that night
• b. to go back to their house
• c. to have sex with them

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RESULTS

• Go out that night
• Go back to their house
• 3. Have sex with them

• 50 of both men and women agreed to this
• 3. 0 of women agreed
• 75 of men agreed

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RESULTS

• The unwillingness to engage in casual sex is also
  true for lesbians.
• Men desire more partners than women.
• Buss asked how many sexual partners people would
  like over the next 2 years, the next 10 years,
  and over a lifetime.
• MEN WOMEN
• 2YRS 8 1
• LIFETIME 18 4-5

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SEXUAL JEALOUSY

• Buss asked male and female students ot imagine
  their current partner
• A. having sex with someone else
• B. in love with someone else
• Stress responses were measured
• Men more distressed by A
• Women more distressed by B

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SEXUAL JEALOUSY

• Schutzwohl replicated the study asking students
  to make a choice between a partners sexual or
  emotional infidelity
• Measured response time. Those who selected the
  adaptive response took less time to do so.

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SEXUAL FANTASIES AND DREAMS

• Men are more likely to have these- with strangers

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ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS

• What issues may have arisen in Clark and
  Hatfields study?
• What issues might Buss have encountered?
• How truthful do you think people are when their
  sexual habits are being investigated by
  psychologists?

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EVOLUTIONARY THEORY

• Based on evolution
• An adaptive behaviour is one which promotes
  survival.
• This is apparent in terms of reproductive
  success.
• This theory implies that we seek out healthy
  people with whom to reproduce.
• BUSS proposed that men prefer younger women
  because they are more fertile.
• Because we share 50 of our genes with our
  parents, they have a strong interest in ensuring
  our survival.

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NATURAL AND SEXUAL SELECTION

• NATURAL each member of a species varies
  slightly from one another.
• If a variation produces a reproductive advantage
  which enables its owner to leave more offspring,
  then these characteristics will increase in the
  gene pool.
• In time,most members of the species will possess
  this feature

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NATURAL AND SEXUAL SELECTION

• SEXUAL Darwin was puzzled by some
  characteristics which offered no survival value,
  e.g. a peacocks tail.
• This HAMPERS the peacocks survival because it is
  heavy
• He proposed that the opposite sex values these
  traits and selects a mate
• who possesses them.
• So the trait is passed on

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INTRA-SEXUAL SELECTIONANDINTER-SEXUAL SELECTION

• Intra one sex (males usually) compete for access
  to females, e.g. stags, walruses
• Inter one sex (females usually) choose a mate on
  the basis of favourable characteristics.
• The female stickleback chooses a mate according
  to his nest building abilities and his zig-zag
  dance

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PARENTAL INVESTMENT THEORY P. 96

• Trivers proposed that differences between males
  and females exist because they make different
  amounts of investment in the offspring

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MALES

• Males have a large amount of sperm and remain
  fertile throughout life.
• The best way to increase his reproductive success
  is to have many matings with multiple partners

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FEMALES

• Human females invest much more in each offspring.
• Eggs are 100x larger than a sperm, and she only
  produces one per month.
• Her reproductive life is shorter than a males
  (30 years)
• Her pre- and post natal investment is large
  (carrying the foetus for 40 weeks, suing
  thousands of calories from her body)
• She gives birth and carries on investing in the
  So her best strategy is to ensure survival of
  each offspring

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EVALUATION OF PARENTAL INVESTMENT THEORY

• It helps to understand mate preferences. Women
  seek men with good genes and who show commitment
  to help raise the offspring.
• This is explained by Busss findings. Men prefer
  younger women because they are more fertile
• It also explains why men engage more in
  short-term matings, and women are reluctant

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EVALUATION OF PARENTAL INVESTMENT THEORY

• 4.It explains the difference in sexual jealousy.
• Why would a man feel more threatened by his
  partners sexual infidelity?
• Why would a woman feel more threatened by her
  partners emotional infidelity?
• 5. But it does not explain why some women have
  one night stands and some men are faithful.
• 6. It does not explain the existence of
  homosexual and other relationships which are
  non-reproductive

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SEXUAL STRATEGIES THEORY P.97

• Buss and Schmidt proposed that mating is
  strategic
• Humans have a range of possible strategies,
  depending on the situation
• These vary when an individual is seeking a
  one-night stand or a long term partner

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MALE AND FEMALE STRATEGIES

• Women may engage in short-term relationships or
  extra-marital affairs as an insurance in case her
  actual partner deserts
• Men need to pick a woman with good parenting
  skills and faithfulness for the long-term
• Women need commitment to ensure her offspring are
  protected

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RESEARCH STUDY P.98

• Women are less likely to engage in one night
  stands because there is no reproductive
  advantage.
• But there are for men. What are they?
• NORMAN AND KENNICK investigated what the
  desirable traits were for men and women seeking a
  one night stand

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RESEARCH STUDY

• Thank you for taking part in this study.
• If you were to have a one night stand, which of
  these characteristics would be most important?
  You may only choose 1
• Kindness
• Physical attractiveness
• Vitality
• Generosity
• Humour

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PROCEDURE

• Norman and Kennick asked men and women to design
  a short-term partner using a mate budget.
• Ps were forced to choose among certain
  characteristics
• They then asked if they would sleep with them

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FINDINGS

• Norman and Kennick found that both men and women
  rated physical attractiveness the most
• They concluded that men choose this because it
  indicates fertility, and women choose it because
  it indicates good genes for their offspring

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LONELY HEARTS STUDY

• McIntosh and Dawson analysed 151 internet
  personal ads.
• They found that those who advertised good looks
  and material resources (adaptive
• features) mentioned fewer socially based
  characteristics.
• Those who are weaker in these qualities point out
  their socially based characteristics ,
• Bald, short, fat and ugly male, 53, seeks
  short-sighted woman with tremendous sexual
  appetite

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EVALUATION OF SEXUAL STRATEGIES THEORY

• The above experiment used the self-report method,
  which may be subject to social desirability
• It explains why males and females engage in
  different strategies
• Reproductive strategies can also be explained at
  a cultural level. Social norms and morality also
  govern human behaviour