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Female Long-Term Mating Strategies

Female Long-Term Mating Strategies. Sex in the Village. Female Mate Choice. Minimum parental investment Women invest more minimally in offspring and bear greater cost Hence, they are choosier regarding their partners

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Female Long-Term Mating Strategies

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  1. Female Long-Term Mating Strategies Sex in the Village

  2. Female Mate Choice • Minimum parental investment • Women invest more minimally in offspring and bear greater cost • Hence, they are choosier regarding their partners • "A man on a date wonders if he'll get lucky. The woman already knows." - Monica Piper

  3. Resourceful Men (1) • For women to evolve preferences for long-term, resourceful mates, men needed to • Acquire, control, & defend resources • Vary in resources & willingness to invest • Be superior at investing in a mate, above and beyond other men

  4. Resourceful Men (2) • In long-term mates, women tend to prefer • Economic resources • Prestige & status • Slightly older men • Ambition • Dependable, stable men

  5. Healthy as a Horse • Athletic, strong • Aggressive, competitive traits • Tall • Runaway sexual selection constrained… by cancer? • Low fluctuating asymmetry • The scent of symmetry

  6. Love & Commitment • Love requires some commitment • This commitment may have been a signal of a man’s willingness • To invest resources • To invest in offspring

  7. Preference for Good Fathers • A man capable of investing in offspring would have been desirable in ancestral environment • Male parental investment varies based on • Mating strategy (e.g., short- vs. long-term) • Paternity uncertainty

  8. Interlude: Similarity • For the most part, we tend to mate with people who are similar • In appearance • In values • In personality traits • This is known as assortative mating

  9. Who Wears the Pants (1)? • Structural powerlessness hypothesis • Women seek mates who have power & resources so that they can gain them by proxy • EP theory • Women seek mates who have power & resources so that there will be greater investment in offspring

  10. Who Wears the Pants (2)? • When women control large share of resources • Still prefer men with high status and resource control • Supports EP • Contradicts structural powerlessness hypothesis

  11. Marriage vs. Fling • Women, as well as men, set high standards when looking for a long-term partner • Physical attractiveness is not as important as character traits • However, in the short term, attractiveness counts a great deal more than otherwise

  12. Interlude: Incest Avoidance (1) • Freud proposed that humans construct norms regarding incest in order to avoid unraveling of family • Incest in humans often has deleterious effects • Recessive lethal alleles

  13. Interlude: Incest Avoidance (2) • Westermarck hypothesis • People are naturally averse to mating with others that they were reared with • “Deviant” behaviour will be codified within cultural norms • Contrary to Freud • Example: Israeli kibbutzim • Of 2,767 marriages, only 13 from same kibbutz

  14. The Wrap-Up • Females tend to be choosier due to greater minimum investment • For long-term partners, women prefer men who are • Resourceful • Healthy • Committed and loving • Good fathers

  15. Things to Come • Long-term male preferences • Minimum investment • Youth cues • Health cues • Concealed ovulation & paternity uncertainty

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