chapter 4

1. Women’s Long Term Mating Strategies chapter 4

2. Non-human Species • Weaverbird Evolutionary History • Problem of selecting a man who would be willing to commit long-term • Over thousands of generations, preference for men who showed signs of being willing and able to commit evolved in women • This preference solved key reproductive problems

3. 3 Important issues that are key to understanding the evolution of mate preferences: 1- Why has sexual reproduction evolved? 2- the definition of the 2 distinct types that exist in sexually reproducing species-males and females- and the related issue of influence of parental investment on the nature of mating 3- mate preferences as evolved psychological mechanisms

4. 1- Why has sexual reproduction evolved?Asexual vs. Sexual Reproduction • Asexual • Advantages • Avoid problem of selecting a mate • All genes are passed on: offspring are identical copies of parents • These advantages of asexual reproduction are the precise disadvantages of sexual reproduction • Big ??:What advantages could sexual reproduction provide that would be so large that it would outweigh all the costs?

5. Sexual Reproduction - Consequences • Problems in mate selection and courting (can be costly in time and resources) • *Genetically Diverse Offspring – offspring are genetically different from parents and each other (siblings genetically related by only 50%) • Diff individuals have different survival requirements, which allows them to inhabit a broader array of niches and cuts down on competition • Parasite Theory of the origins of sex – genetically different offspring provide a different host environment for parasites compared w/original host – parasites are thus thwarted • Sexual reproduction may have helped host organisms and their offspring combat parasites- providing such a benefit that it outweighs the costs **Serious adaptive problem posed by sexual reproduction** = finding a mate

6. Males - Small gametes - Greater mobility - Produce millions of sperm (replenished at a rate of 12 million per hour) - Sexual intercourse requires minimal male investment Females - Large gametes - Stationary - Loaded with nutrients - Produce a fixed and unreplenishable lifetime supply of about 400 ova *Women have a greater initial investment* Parental Investment and sexual selection • Gametes – mature reproductive cells • Zygote – a fertilized gamete • This investment continues into the nine-month pregnancy term and breastfeeding

7. Parental Investment and sexual selection * The large initial parental investment of women makes them a valuable reproductive resource * • Women in evolutionary past risked investing enormously as a consequence of sex, evolution favored women who were highly selective about their mates ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Birth Control – suggestion that women can now have short-term sexual encounters with less fear of pregnancy discussion?? – do you think birth control has had an effect on the way women view casual sex? (are women less selective?) - Do you think this possible change is a good or bad thing? (for women? for men? for reproduction in general?)

8. Trivers’s Theory of Parental Investmentand Sexual Selection • Two profound predictions: (1) The sex that invests more in offspring (typically) women) will be more discriminating or selective about mating (2) The sex that invests less will be more competitive for sexual access to the high- investing sex

9. Mate Preferences as Evolved Psychological Mechanisms • From among the thousands of ways in which men differ, selection over hundreds of thousands of years focused women’s preferences on the most adaptively valuable characteristics • Gauging a man’s mating value requires looking beyond his current situation and evaluating his potential (medical student) • Evolution has favored women who prefer men possessing attributes that confer benefits • Selecting a mate: • Women must identify and correctly evaluate the cues that signal whether a man indeed possesses a particular resource (deceive women about status, etc…) • Women must integrate their knowledge about a prospective mate • * Selecting a mate requires psychological mechanisms that make it possible to add up the relevant attributes and give each its appropriate weight in the whole *

10. The Content of Women’s Mate Preferences

11. Women’s mate preferences are played out in our popular culture… • Older men: “Something’s Gotta Give” • High social status, attractive men: Sex and the City

12. What characteristics did you rate as indispensable? • What is it about those characteristics that makes them so • important to you? • Do you think your preference for these characteristics is an • innate preference, or a preference you learned from • somewhere else (possibly experience)? • What characteristics did you rate as not important or irrelevant? • Why are these characteristics less important to you in a • mate? Discussion of the characteristics scale

13. Women’s and Men’s Mate Preferences Link: http://faculty.oxy.edu/clint/evolution/notes/12/matepreferenceranking.htm

14. Preference for Economic Resources • Gray Shrike bird • Wherever females show a mating preference, the male’s resources are often the key criterion • The evolution of this preference requires 3 preconditions: 1- resources must be accruable, defensible, and controllable by men throughout history 2- men must differ in their holdings and willingness to invest them in a woman 3- advantages of being w/1 man must outweigh those of being with several • these are easily met in humans: Tools, Territory • Primates • Women needed cues to signal a man’s possession of resources (personality, physical ability, reputation): economic resources is the most obvious cue

15. Preferencefor Good Financial Prospects • Study in 1939, 1956, 1967, and mid-1980’s (Hill; Hudson & Henze; McGinnis) • Women valued good financial prospects in a mate twice as much as did men • In personal ads and magazines, female advertisers seek financial resources 11 times as often as men • Cross-Cultural Study(Buss, Abbott, Angleitner, et al., 1990) : 37 cultures, monogamous and polygamous, various religious groups, political systems • Women from all of the cultures placed more value than men on good financial prospects • Women valued financial resources twice as much • These findings provided the first cross-cultural evidence supporting the evolutionary basis for the psychology of human mating • Link to figure on financial preference: http://faculty.oxy.edu/clint/evolution/notes/12/fig4_3.html Clip: Sex and the City ?? – What about poor men? Do they have any hope of marrying up in society? What is society’s reaction when a woman marries below her “class”?

16. Preference for High Social Status • Proof that historical cultures had words/phrases to describe men who were in high social status • Social status is a universal cue to the possession of resources* • Status implies better food, abundant territory, health care • More social opportunities for children • Study by Buss and Schmitt (1993), examining short- and long-term mating: test which characteristics people valued in potential spouses vs potential sex partners • Likelihood of success in a profession and Possession of a promising career were both highly desirable (higher in a spouse than sex partner) • For the majority of the 37 cultures in the study, it was found that women valued social status in a possible mate more than men (both in Communist and Socialist countries Ancestral Women -- appear to have solved the adaptive problem of acquiring resources in part by preferring men who are high in status • Link to the table of results from study: http://faculty.oxy.edu/clint/evolution/notes/12/fig4_4.html

17. Preference for Older Men • Age is a clue to resources (they command respect, status, position) • In all 37 cultures in study, women preferred older men (3 1/2 yrs older) • Actual average age difference b/w brides and grooms • Older age, resources, and status are coupled across cultures • Tiwi people • Traditional societies – age may be related to physical strength and hunting prowess (strength increases with age, peaking in early 30’s) • After 30’s, decline is compensated for by increased knowledge, skill, wisdom • Much older men – higher risk of dying, less likely to be around to continue providing for and protecting children Link to table of results: http://faculty.oxy.edu/clint/evolution/notes/12/fig4_5.html

18. - Economic Resources -- Financial Prospects - - Social Status -- Older men - These preferences add up to the ability of a man to acquire and control resources that ancestral women could use for themselves and children Women also need men who posses traits that are likely to lead to the sustainedacquisition of resources over time…

19. Preference for Ambition and Industriousness • Industrious and ambitious men secure a higher occupational status • In a study, women regard men who lack ambition as extremely undesirable, whereas men view lack of ambition as neither desirable nor undesirable • Rated b/w important and indispensable • Excellent signal of the continuation of present resources Ancestral Women -- helped solve the critical adaptive problem of securing resources -- helped them gauge the likelihood of future resources when direct and easily observable signs of resources were absent

20. Preference for Dependability and Stability • Second and third most highly valued characteristics (after love) are a dependable character and emotional stability* • These characteristics possess great value to women: 1- they are reliable signals that resources will be provided consistently over time 2- men who lack these provide erratically and inflict heavy emotional and other costs on their mate These are qualities that signal increased likelihood that a woman’s resources will not be drained by the man • Ancestral Women: erratic supply of resources could wreak havoc with accomplishing the goals required for survival and reproduction

21. Preference for Athletic Prowess • A cue for physical protection • BarbaraSmuts - during evolutionary history, physical protection was one of the most important things a man could offer a woman • Aggressive men wishing to physically dominate and circumvent women’s sexual choices may have exerted a selection pressure on ancestral women • Current number of rape incidences today help support this preference • A preference for men 5’11” is ideal for a marriage partner • In personal ads where women mentioned height, 80% wanted a man taller than 6’ • Seeking:I am seeking a man with above average height (5'11"" and above). I WILL NOT date anyone less than that. I'm not superficial -- just honest and I know what I like and want and will settle for nothing less. (www.singlesonline.com) • Height: I am extremely attracted to but not limited to tall men (6'2 and up). (www.yahoopersonals.com) • Tall men received more responses to their personal ads than did short men • “traits of male body structure such as height, shoulder width, and upper-body musculature are sexually attractive to women and intimidating to other men” (Barber, 1995, p. 406)

22. Preference for Good Health and Physical Appearance • Unhealthy Mates -- Higher risk of becoming debilitated (fail to provide resources) -- Increased risk of dying (cut off resources, must find a new mate) -- Transfer diseases or viruses to the woman (impair her survival) -- Risk passing on unhealthy genes or poor health to children • Men and Women both place a high value on health in a mate • Peacocks • Their bright plumage serves as a signal of a low load of parasites • One cue for the health of a mate is Symmetry(Thornhill, Gangestad, Grammer, Schackelford, Larsen, and others) • The degree to which the face and the body are symmetrical • Various events and genetic stressors produced deviations from bilateral symm. • Symmetry reflects the ability to withstand environmental and genetic stressors

23. Symmetry in the Human FaceMarquardt Beauty Analysis (MBA)www.beautyanalysis.com • “the form of beauty is composed of 2 things: symmetry, harmony” 1- Symmetry: the mirror image of parts or components about an axis. By all accounts a beautiful face is symmetric along the y-axis. 2- Harmony: a recurring theme • With the use of mathematics, computers, and databases full of “attractive” faces, MBA has been able to quantify facial attractiveness in a consistent computer model The “Golden Facial Mask” – based on a series of ratios and geometric shapes -- From this mask comes the “archetypal human face” Link to MBA: http://www.beautyanalysis.com/index2_mba.htm

24. As you can see, these “archetypal” faces are symmetrical and made up of a series of recurrent geometric shapes and patterns.

25. An example of how a (beautiful) person’s face fits this “Golden Facial Mask”

26. The “average” face deviates from the “Archetypal Human Face”

27. The “ugly” face does not fit into the mask at all – the nose is too wide, eyes are too far apart, cheekbones too rounded, etc…

28. Preference for Good Health and Physical Appearance • Another cue stems from Masculine Features • Men have longer and broader lower jaws, stronger brow ridges, and more pronounced cheekbones – (consequence of testosterone) • Women preferred men’s faces that were more masculine-looking than avg. • Masculine features are a sign of good health(Johnston) • Production of high levels of testosterone compromises the immune system • Only men who are healthy can “afford” to produce high levels • QuickTime movie study supports this • The benefits of a healthy mate: • longer life • More reliable provisioning • Lower likelihood of communicable diseases • Better genes that can be passed on to children

29. Love andCommitment • Gauging commitment requires looking for cues that signal the likelihood of future fidelity in channeling resources • LOVE may be one of the key cues to commitment • Found the presence of romantic love in 88.5% of cultures • Study examined acts of love(Buss, 1988a) • Acts of commitment were viewed as most central to love • Giving up romantic relations with others, talking of marriage, expressing a desire to have children • When performed by a man, these acts signal intent to commit resources

30. Commitment • Fidelity – remaining faithful • Channeling of resources to the loved one – giving expensive gifts • Emotional support – being available, listening to problems • Channeling of time, energy, and effort to the partner’s needs at the expense of fulfilling one’s own needs • Acts of reproduction • All of these signal the commitment of sexual, economic, emotional, and genetic resources to one person • “Sex and the City” – Why do some women want men who refuse to commit? Why do some women only like to “chase” men?

31. Love • Seen as indispensable for marriage • 89% of American women, 82% of Japanese women, and 59% of Russian women said that they require love for marriage, even if all other important qualities were met (Sprecher et al., 1994) • In the international study (rating the 18 characteristics), LOVE WAS GIVEN THE TOP RATING (most highly valued in a potential mate)

32. Preference for Willingness to Invest in Children • This adaptive problem is important for 2 reasons: 1- Men sometimes seek sexual variety and so may channel their efforts toward other women (mating) rather than toward children 2- Men evaluate the likelihood that they are the actual genetic father of a child and tend to withhold investment from the child when they know or think the child is not theirs • Study by La Cerra • Slide images of men in 5 different contexts -- women rated each image on how attractive they found the man in each slide as a date, sexual partner, marriage partner, friend, and neighbor • Results: women’s ratings of the attractiveness of men as potential mates are increased by cues of their affection toward a child and decreased by cues of their indifference toward a child in distress • Replicated same study with images of women for men to rate • Results: Men’s attractiveness judgments were the same across all contexts

33. Recap from Tuesday • 3 Issues that are key to the evolution of mate preferences: 1- Evolution of Sexual Reproduction – genetically diverse offspring help combat parasites 2- Parental investment – females have greater investment, choosier about mates 3- Mate preferences as evolved psychological mechanisms • The Content of Women’s Mate Preferences • Economic Resources • Good Financial Prospects • High social status – cue to the possession of resources • Older men – coupled with resources and status • Ambition and Industriousness – likelihood of future resources • Dependability and Stability – (rated 2nd and 3rd) • Athletic Prowess – physical protection • Good Health and Physical Appearance – live longer, continuation of resources • Love and Commitment – ranked first of all the characteristics desired in a mate • Willingness to Invest in Children - reproduction

34. Context Effects on Women’s Mate Preferences Women’s preferences in a mate should depend in part on relevant contexts • Women’s personal resources • Temporal context(committed vs casual mating) • Menstrual cycle • Women’s mate value • Geographical Location

35. Effects of Women’s Personal Resources • Structural Powerlessness Hypothesis(Buss & Barnes, 1986; Eagly & Wood, 1999) • Because women are typically excluded from power and access to resources, women seek mates who have power, status, and earning capacity • Men do not value economic resources in a mate because they already have control over these resources • Problems with this hypothesis • Bakweri women – despite their access to money and mates, they still prefer mates with resources • College women – prefer intelligent men with signs of ambition • *Successful women with resources - place an even greater value on mates who have professional degrees, high status, and greater intelligence, and who are tall, independent, and self-confident  These directly contradict the Structural Powerlessness hypothesis • ?? – Why do you think successful women place an even greater value on successful men with resources than less successful women?

36. Effects of Temporal Context • Study by Buss and Schmitt (1993) • Women’s preferences shift depending on whether a marriage partner or casual sex partner is sought • Study by Scheib (1997) • In long-term marital context, women chose character over looks • Women emphasize character traits over attractiveness when evaluating a potential husband

37. Effects of Menstrual Cycle • Chance of becoming pregnant increases in late follicular phase as women approach ovulation and is lowest in the postovulation phase • Preferences that occur in late follicular phase could reflect mate choice for “good genes” • “Good genes” hypothesis seems to find support in research findings • Sense of smell increases at or just before ovulation • Study on smelly T-shirts (Thornhill & Gangestead, 1999) • Link to study: (Blackboard – External Links)http://courses.creighton.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_50199_1 • Ovulatory-Shift Hypothesis: When women are likely to conceive, their preference shifts toward more masculine-looking male faces and the scents from men who are more symmetrical • The attractiveness of traits that are supposed to make good life partners-kindness, intelligence, potential for wealth-are unchanged across the monthly cycle (Gangestead, 2006) • These might reflect adaptations in women to become fertilized by the healthiest men

38. Ovulatory-Shift HypothesisAdaptations to ovulation: Implications for sexual and social behaviorGangestead, S. W., Thornhill, R., & Garver-Apgar, C.E when fertile, women prefer… • The scent of a symmetrical man: women preferred the scent of symmetrical men • Masculine features: women prefer more masculine faces, particularly when they rate men’s sexiness, not attractiveness, as long-term mates • Behavioral displays of social presence and intrasexual competitiveness: women found men who were confident and who acted condescending toward their male competitors (in a video tape interview) as more sexy • Vocal masculinity: when rating men’s short-term attractiveness, women find masculine (deep) voices more attractive • Talent versus wealth: when faced with trade-offs between talent (creativity) and wealth, women choose talent more often, but only when evaluating men’s short-term mating attractiveness  Men judged to be faithful were rated as less sexy mid-cycle than at other times women’s preference for men other than their current partners also rises

39. Male Counterstrategies to the Ovulatory-Shift Hypothesis • If women’s interest in their current partners is lowered during fertility, men should have been under selection to take additional steps to prevent them from seeking extra-pair sex at this time… • Cues of women’s fertility status: • Men find the scent of ovulating women particularly attractive • Men also judge women’s faces as more attractive mid-cycle • Women’s behavior may also change too • Gangestead et al. (2002) found that male vigilance of partners mid-cycle was predicted by enhanced female interest in extra-pair men and not their partners • Men may be particularly vigilant of their partners mid-cycle, when their partners least want them to be

40. Effects of Women’s Mate Value • Mate value = one’s overall desirability to men • physical attractiveness and youth • Women’s self-rated attractiveness was significantly linked to attraction to masculine faces • PersonalAds (Canada, America, and Poland) • Women with higher mate value specified a longer list of traits that they sought or required in a potential mate • They also tended to impose higher minimum standards in their mate requirements– specifically on social status, intelligence, and family orientation • Women who are higher in mate value prefer and seek men who are higher in mate value: masculinity, symmetry, and the number of qualities that contribute to men’s desirability

41. Geographical Location • In personal ads, women who live in more densely populated cities or cities where there is a higher cost of living make greater demands for resources in a mate

42. How Women’s Mate Preferences Affect Actual Mating Behavior • For preferences to evolve, they must affect actual mating • decisions at least some of the time • Sources of evidence that preferences do affect mating decision: • Women’s responses to men’s personal ads • Women’s marriages to men high in occupational status • Women’s marriages to older men

43. Women’s Responses to Men’s Personal Ads • Study by Baize and Schroeder (1995), found several variables that significantly predicted the number of responses men received • 1 – Age: women responded more often to older men • 2 – Income and Education: responded more to men with ads indicating higher income and more years of education • Study in Poland received similar results: men with higher levels of education, men who were somewhat older, men who were taller, and men who offered more resources all received a larger number of responses from women

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45. Women’s Marriages to Men High in Occupational Status • Physically attractive women marry men who are higher in social status and financial holdings • Women’s physical attractiveness correlated more strongly with her husband’s status than did other women’s variables such as class of origin • Attractive women are in a position to get what they want • They appear to select the qualities that most women desire—men with status and resources Women’s Marriages to Men Are Older • In every country from the international study, grooms were older on average than brides • Men’s preferences for younger women may also affect the actual age differences b/w brides and grooms

46. Lesbian Sexual Orientation • Occurs in 1-2% of women (Bailey et al., 1997) • Female sexuality appears to be far more flexible over the lifespan than male sexual orientation (Baumeister, 2000) • Variability within those classified as “lesbian” or “gay”  mate preferences vary across lesbians who describe themselves as “butch” as opposed to “femme” -Butchlesbians are more masculine, dominant, assertive - have higher levels of testosterone, more permissive attitudes towards casual sex, more masculine waist-to-hip ratios, less desire for kids - place less value on financial resources when seeking partners but experience more jealousy over rivals who are more financially successful -Femmelesbians are more sensitive, cheerful, and feminine - place greater importance on financial resources when seeking partners and experience sexual jealousy over more attractive rivals  These imply that “butch” and “femme” are not simply labels, but rather reflect genuine differences • Their origins still remain a mystery

47. Discussion Questions • Not very many individuals meet all the criteria set by mate preferences. They may have the physical characteristics (healthy, attractive) but lack in resources or financial prospects… so which of the preferences are most important: • For a typical relationship to survive (love vs. resources?) • For successful reproduction and offspring • What about romance? Does anyone have a list of things (mental or on paper) that they “must have” in a mate? (things like must be romantic, must be willing to dance with me, etc…) What OTHER qualities do you look for in a partner?

48. Polygamy • “The Masai of Kenya” video • The women view multiple wives as a good thing • Women have many jobs – more co-wives means a greater divide of the work • “Polygamy: A True Story of 1 Husband and 8 Wives” • Link to video: Polygamy 1- A True Story of 1 Husband and 8 Wives Questions for discussion • In the search for a mate who is willing to commit, why would a woman choose a partner that she has to share with other women? • Although these women say they like their polygamist lifestyle, do you think they would choose a monogamous relationship if given the option? • What do you think about polygamy in today’s society? What might be the advantages of being in a polygamist relationship?

49. The Evolution of Human Mate Choice • Mate Choice in Non-Human Species • OSR (operational sex ratio) – the ratio of sexually active males to sexually active females in a given breeding population; related to rate of reproduction • One result of female mate choice is the evolution of exaggerated male traits • Related to immunocompetence – the ability to resist infection by parasites • Mate Choice in Humans • Reproductive potential – the individual’s ability invest in the growth, development, and later social and reproductive competencies of offspring • Reproductive investment – the expenditure of this potential offspring • Divorce – a woman’s decision to stay married or not is influenced by the quality and quantity of resources provided by her husband • Cross-cultural study, “inadequate support is reported as the cause for divorce in 21 societies and ascribed exclusively to the husband in all but 1 case (Betzing, as cited in Geary D.C., Vigil, J., Byrd-Craven, J., 2004) • Across age, ethnic status, and socioeconomic status, women preferred husbands who were better educated than they were and who earned more money than they did • Found this pattern for women ranging in age fro 20s to 60s • When women are forced to make trade-offs b/w a marriage partner’s cultural success and other important traits such as physical attractiveness, a prospective marriage partner’s cultural success is rated as a necessity and other characteristics as a luxury

50. Cont… • Preference for culturally successful men is found in studies of singles ads and fiction novels • 1,000 “lonely hearts” ads, found that British women were 3x more likely than British men to seek financial security in prospective partner (McGrew, 1994) • Japanese women were 31x more likely than Japanese men to seek financial security and social status (9.4% of women sought, .3% of men) (Oda, 2001) • Same themes were found across 25 contemporary romance novels and 6 classic novels that have appealed to women more than men (2 stories from Old T.) • In these stories, the male protagonist is almost always an older, socially dominant, and wealthy man • Study of more than 1,800 Hungarian men and women (35 yrs or older) found that women who had married older and better educated men on avg. had more children, were less likely to get divorced, and reported higher levels of marital satisfaction • Many women prefer men with whom they can develop an intimate and emotionally satisfying relationship with • More common in middle- and upper-class Western cultures than in any other cultures • In many non-Western contexts, women are more focused on keeping their children alive than on developing intimacy with their husbands (Masai women)