An Evolutionary Psychology Approach to Female Mate Choice

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An Evolutionary Psychology Approach to Female
Mate Choice

• By Eleanor

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What is Evolutionary Psychology?

• Evolutionary psychology tries to explain the mind
  and CURRENT behaviors by considering the
  obstacles that faced our species and natural
  selection
• Good mental traits survived
• Ex. Humans are afraid of snakes, but not cars
• Three main assumptions
• Mind has specialized adaptations
• Mind has been developed by natural selection over
  hundreds of thousands of years
• Reproductive success is paramount

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Discrepancies in Parental Investment

• VERY long gestation period for infant
• Requires caloric intake increase and places many
  other demands on the female body
• Even after birth, human infant requires great
  care
• Female must invest greater time in child
• Therefore, female must be more selective about
  mate choice

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Pressures for a Mate

• Infants are less likely to survive with only one
  parent
• VERY likely to die without mother
• Father absence still affects outcome
• Require a lot of resources
• Mothers often caring for more than one
  high-demand offspring requires food
• Long-term mates reduce the risk of disease during
  pregnancy
• Preeclampsia

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Ideal Mate Qualities

• Ability to PROVIDE- now and in future
• Higher social status
• Ability to provide considered necessity other
  traits a luxury
• Good, compatible, and diverse genes
• Certain face and body features
• Sometimes several different (secret) partner
• Ability to cooperate
• Indicates possibility for functional partnership
  in child raising

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Female Psychological Adaptations

• Commitment skepticism
• HIGHLY dangerous for a woman to falsely identify
  commitment qualities
• Jealousy
• Biggest threat mate taken by another woman
• Secret cheating
• Form a social relationship with one male, but has
  secret sexual encounters with higher-quality
  males
• Social Partners more loyal
• Sexual Partners Better genes (therefore in
  higher demand, less reliable)

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Works Cited

• Pillsworth, Elizabeth G., and Martie G. Haselton.
  "Women's Sexual Strategies the Evolution of
  Long-Term Bonds and Extrapair Sex." Annual Review
  of Sex Research 2006. Wilson Web. New Orleans
  Public Library, New Orleans. 13 May 2008.
• Evolutionary Psychology. Wikipedia. Wikipedia.
  13 May 2008.