sources of evidence 1. universality 2. unique predictions
TRANSCRIPT
SOURCES OF EVIDENCE
1. Universality2. Unique predictions
sex differences in reproductive behavior are universal
Implies that they are built into the genetic code of our species
E.g. mating style differences(Clark & Hatfield study)
<catch Figure 11.3>
Only EP makes certain predictions about sex differences
No prediction from other psychological theories
Class survey
“I HAVE BAD NEWS”
Which is worse ?
-studies of personal ads
Men – ask for younger
Women – ask for older
Men tend to agree with each other and are not influenced by other factors
Women’s judgments of attractiveness are influenced by other features (eg a man’s personality, wealth)
Fact: Women say they want nice guys
Q: Do they really?
In the pretest, women subjects said that their main criterion for a partner was “a nice guy”
Then they were asked to observe videos of men in discussion groups
They rated the attractiveness of a certain guy
Kenrick’s Videotape Study
Dominant & nasty Dominant & nice
Submissive & nasty Submissive & nice
Dominant men were rated as more attractive
Niceness did not make a difference
BUT -- depends on expected length of relationship (one date vs. lifetime relationship)
Why would it be important?
EP predicts that males should care a lot
•Took photos of subjects
•Morphed some of them into baby pictures
STEP 1
Took photos of student subjects
Morphed some of them into baby pictures
Brought the same subjects back to rate baby pictures
One picture is a morph of the subject & baby face
Subjects were asked to rate: Which baby is more attractive ? Which baby would you adopt ? Which baby would you spend money on
?
MALESShowed strong preference for child
resembling them
FEMALESShowed no preference by
resemblance
T.V. remote?
Bath or shower?
Shoes?
1. PARENTAL INVESTMENT
The sex that contributes more to raising offspring
– is more discriminating in sexual mate choice.
Females are more certain that a baby is theirs
But Males are not sure and so have to be more concerned
They need to avoid wasting their resources on unrelated offspring
e.g. Maury Povich T.V. show
!
Unique form of emotional attachment to sexual partners
Adaptive for sustaining the relationship
Otherwise the offspring won’t survive
Parental investment sex vs. relationship focus casual sex age preferences
Parental certainty Jealousy Self-similarity of baby
Pair-bonding attachment & love