Evolutionary Psych

1. Evolutionary Psych Ch. 3 - WBPHMD Barbie – Manufactured by Mattel, Designed by Evolution: The Evolutionary Psych of Sex & Mating

2. Etic Attraction? • Buss (1989) – 10k Ppl from 37 cultures asked for ideal characteristics in a mate • The men wanted the same things, the women wanted the same things, but they didn’t want the same things as each other • Your genes are looking for ideal reproductive traits in a mate • Most evolutionary psych comes down to sex & mating

3. Why do Men like Blonde Bombshells(and Why do Women Want to Look Like Them)

4. Question… • How many of you have heard something like this – the media imposes arbitrary, harsh beauty standards on women…that the only reason women want to look like models and pop stars is because they are bombarded with these images? • Presumably if the media stopped portraying women this way, then women wouldn’t aspire to those standards • The problem with this is that Evolution can actually explain it – with evidence

5. Evidence • Women have been dying their hair blonde for at least 500 and possibly 2000 years Titian – Woman with Mirror

6. Evidence • Iranian women (unexposed to Western culture and often covered by loose fitting form hiding clothing) are more concerned with body image and want to lose more weight than their American counterparts • (Abdollahi & Mann, 2001)

7. So…why DO women want to look like blonde bombshells? • Probably b/c men want to mate with them • Ok, wise guy, why do men want to mate w/ them? • Because they have higher reproductive value and fertility and a higher rate of reproductive success on average • There’s nothing arbitrary about the ideal female look

8. So, what makes a blonde bombshell? • Youth • Long hair • Small waist • Large breasts • Blonde hair • Blue eyes • i.e. Barbie

9. Youth The goal! Teen pregnancy Barbie • Reproductive value (# of kids potentially producible over the course of her remaining reproductive years) is at its height at menstruation & steadily declines – hits zero at menopause • Fertility (avg. # of kids capable of having at any given time) peaks in her twenties

10. Modern world connection • Male teachers and professors (but not females) have higher divorce rates and lower remarriage rates – why? • Constantly exposed to women (students) with higher reproductive value than any woman they’d marry. • Possibly why Hollywood marriages never last – male actors constantly working with young starlets • Also remember – no laws or statutory rape on Savanna so creepy old men have a defense-ish http://ourwayit.com/Multicultural/MPj04225810000[1].jpg

11. Long Hair • Health is essential for reproductive success • Her hair tells her health history – a “hairstory” if you will • Body conserves essential nutrients during crisis – diverts from hair which loses luster • Hair grows ~6in/yr so shoulder length hair gives 3-4 years of a woman’s health history

12. Also… • Young women tend to be healthier • Young women tend to have longer hair • Ergo older women cut hair shorter to disguise their declining health • Try it – discreetly observe a woman’s hair and take nothing else into account guess her age, then discreetly observe her face and see if you were right

13. Thin waist • Healthier, more fertile, easier to impregnate (fecundity) at earlier ages b/c of higher sex hormone count • Women already pregnant w/ another man’s child cannot maintain low waist to hip ratio • Ideal etic waist to hip is .7 in women and .9 in men • 36-24-36

14. Real world connection • Corsets • Midriff baring shirts • Again, it’s a young woman’s game • Britney Spears didn’t cause young girls to want to bare their stomachs, she was a consequence of it

15. Large Breasts • Long a mystery – it has nothing to do w/ lactation – small & large breasts produce the same – so what is it? • (Marlowe, 1998) Large breasts are heavier and thus sag more with age thus it’s easier to ID a woman in an ancestral environment with no birth certificates, drivers licenses or calendars

16. Or… • Competing theory – large breast + tight waist = higher fecundity due to high 17-B-estradiol and progesterone – more empirical research necessary (Jasienka et. al., 2004)

17. Real world connection • Waists, hips, and breasts are easily concealable if one dons clothing – especially in Northern, colder climates so what do men do to determine someone’s age?

18. Blonde • Women were dying their hair blonde during the Renaissance & the Roman Empire long before peroxide was discovered in 1812. • Initially thought it was due to blondes having light skin tone (which men prefer as pregnant women and women on the Pill have darker skin) • Problem with this line of reasoning? • Lightest skin tone is assoc. w/ red hair

19. Turns out… • Blonde hair is an indication of youth • Blonde is unique among hair colors – young girls with really light blonde hair rarely keep throughout life. It changes dramatically – usually light blonde girls become brunettes. • No coincidence it developed in Scandinavia/North Europe – it’s how you tell youth without seeing a body

20. So why the dumb blonde stereotype? • What’s the avg. age of a light blonde in the ancestral environment of N. Eur. sans dye? 15? • What’s the avg. age of a brunette in N. Eur. at the same time? 35? • I’m not sure about you, but most 15 year olds I know are pretty dumb compared to the 35 year olds I know.

21. Blue Eyes • Why blue eyes? This one does seem arbitrary but it is universal & undeniable • Also the only trait of those mentioned above that applies to men and women • A mystery until undergrad Lee Ann Turney suggested that since pupils dilate when we see something we like and most pupils are dark it’s easier to gauge whether they like us in a blue eyed person.

22. Appeal of this theory • It explains why blue eyes are attractive to men and women. Both sexes need to gauge interest from a potential partner. • Also helps explain the stereotype that dark eyes are mysterious.

23. Ahhh the irony… 57 57 64 44 71 • As you have all been pointing out – the irony is that in the modern world none of this matters • Anyone can use the plethora of modern options to stay looking young – bras, makeup, surgery, wigs, dyes, contacts etc. so men can cognitively know women who look 15 aren’t but that doesn’t stop them from thinking they look hot 47

24. Why is Beauty NOT in the Eye of the Beholder or Skin Deep • It is innate – cross culturally there is great agreement on what faces are considered attractive (including obscure indigenous tribes) even when controlling for exposure to western media • Even 2-3 month old babies stare at what adults deem attractive faces longer than unattractive faces, they play with attractive dolls more and exhibit more comfort etc. when playing near strangers in attractive vs. unattractive weddings

25. What features are “attractive” and why are they so – based on Evolution • Bilateral Symmetry • Affected by parasites, pathogens and pre-natal toxins – also thrown off due to mutations and inbreeding • Huge emphasis on facial symmetry in societies afflicted with parasites

26. Facial Averageness • Faces closer to the population average are preferred over the extremes • Not as clear why – heterogeneity rather homogeneity of genes? • Two dif. copies of alleles lead to increased parasite resistance and less likelihood of deleterious genes

27. The face deemed most attractive to men and women world wide

28. Why is Prostitution the World’s Oldest Profession and Why is Porn a Billion Dollar Industry • Men have a high genetic incentive to have sex with as many women as possible (1000 sex partners yields ~30 births – 3% chance of pregnancy per sex act) whereas women don’t (sex with 1 man 100 times in 1 yr = 95% chance of pregnancy) • Prostitution exists to cater to men’s “needs” to have sex a lot

29. Soooo….porn? • Same concept as prostitution b/c men’s brains can’t really tell the difference b/w actual sex and porn. • Every naked and sexually receptive woman was a potential sex partner in the ancestral environment so now they get aroused by porn • Women’s brains work w/ the same limitations – hence they don’t consume porn as much as they don’t seek sexual variety the way men do and their brains don’t realize they can’t get pregnant form the naked, sexually receptive pornstar

30. Gender Differences in Receptivity to Sexual Offers (Clark & Hatfield, 1989) • 2 trials at FSU in ‘78 & ‘82 – average attractive male/female approach college students • Solicit them with 3 questions: • Date? • My place? • Sex? • Males: Yes – 50%, Yes – 69%, Yes ~ 72% • Female: Yes ~ 53% , Yes ~ 3%, Yes – 0%

31. Why Sean Connery & Catherine Zeta-Jones but not Brad Pitt & Lauren Bacall?

32. Why? • Two way street – men prefer younger women and women prefer older men • Greater reproductive value & fertility and greater security, resources, & status • Exception that proves the rule are teenage boys want older women – why? • For teens, older not younger women offer greater reproductive value

33. He Said, She Said – Why do Men & Women Perceive the Same Situation Differently

34. Despite being the plot of a zillion romantic comedies – misinterpreting the same situation is common for men and women. • Study: 5 min conversation b/w male & female while an unseen male and female observe • Both males rated the female conversationalist as more promiscuous and seductive than either female did

35. Safeway Corporate Policy - FAIL • Look customers in the eye, smile and call them by name while thanking them when they are checking out • What went wrong?

36. Misreading Signs - Men • False Positive – you think she’s interested but she’s not • Cost? Turned down, laughed at, slapped? • False Negative – you think she’s not interested but she is • Cost? Missed sexual opportunity, failure to reproduce http://www.buzzhunt.co.uk/wp-content/2012/05/I-love-cats.jpg

37. Misreading Signs - Women • False Positive – you think he’s interested but he’s not • Cost? Pregnant, abandoned, cheated on • False Negative – you think he’s not interested but he is • Cost? Missed opportunity for a committed romantic relationship http://global3.memecdn.com/the-best-misread-ever_fb_880829.jpg

38. Therefore – Error Management Theory (Haselton & Buss, 2000) • It is men’s best interest to overestimate how interested women are and in women’s best interest to underestimate how interested men are • If a man misses a sexual opportunity then he may fail to pass on his genes. If a woman fails she can always have another • Conversely, if a man thinks she’s into him and fails he is embarrassed but not too put out. But, one mistake by a woman can burden her with a child and ruin her future male prospects

39. Secondly… • Men’s overestimation of women’s sexual interest should not apply to their sisters as they need to protect them from unwanted male advances. • In other words, overestimation of interest is not blind. • Haselton and Bass’ research confirms this as well http://images4.fanpop.com/image/answers/2010000/2010289_1316684920816.7res_468_359.jpg

40. Other applications of attribution • Freeload or Not – If dependent on a group for survival etc. freeloading behaviors highly reduced • Something happens to you – is it random luck or a purposeful act? Far better to be wrong in thinking that it’s purposeful when it’s not. Origin of religion? • Paschal’s Wager