Transcript Chapter4 - CSOPPsocialbases

Women’s Long Term Mating
Strategies
CHAPTER 4
Theoretical Background
 Parental Investment Theory
 Females are a valuable reproductive asset
 Gametes
 Pregnancy
 Lactation
 Nurturing
 How is sex more risky for women?
 Is this still true today?
Predictions From Parental Investment Theory
1.
The more investing sex (females) will be more
selective about mating than the less investing sex
2. The less investing sex (males) will be more
competitive for sexual access to the high investing
sex (females).
Problems Women Face
 Selecting men who possess attributes that confer
benefits
 Avoiding men who possess liabilities
 Detecting deception in potential mates
 Integrating various inputs into a weighted decision
about whether to accept or reject a potential mate
What Women Want in a Long term Mate: Resources
 Resources- is he willing and able to invest?
 Financial prospects
 Status
 Age
 Ambition
 Dependable and stable
Protection
 Athletic prowess
 Height
 Strength
 Build
Health
 Symmetry: developmental stability
 Facial features; masculinity
 May signal healthier immune system
Bad Boy or Baby Face?
Love and Commitment
 Expressions of commitment
 Fidelity
 Resource sharing
 Emotional support
Willingness to Invest in Children
 Men’s desire for sexual variety may lead them to
channel resources elsewhere
 Men withhold investment when they are less sure of
paternity
 Women prefer long term partners
who show interest in children
 Women can detect men’s interest in
children by looking at their faces
Brief Summary- What do Women Want?
 Character traits
 Signal ability and willingness to invest
 Signal ability to protect
 Signal long-term cooperation
 Health
 Symmetry and masculinity may be cues to health
 Looks less important than character in long-term mates
Similarity
 Long-term relationships require long term
cooperation
 Similarity is important in
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Values
Political orientation
Worldview
Intelligence
Personality
Humor, Incest Avoidance, and Voice
 Why do women like men who make them laugh?
 Incest avoidance: both men and women
 Voice: women prefer deeper voices, but more for
short-term mating
Context Effects on Mating Preferences: What About Women
who Have Plenty of Resources Already?
Structural powerlessness hypothesis: Do women prefer
resources simply because women lack power
 Even in societies where women have power and
resources, they still expect it from men
 More successful women place a higher premium on
resources
Menstrual Cycle Effects
 Masculine features preferred more at fertile phase
 Symmetry preferred more during fertile phase
 Women change dress and behavior during fertile
phase
 Stripper study: strippers earn more tips during
fertile phase
What About The Woman’s Mate Value?
 Women who perceive themselves to be more
attractive are more attracted to masculine features
for long-term mating
 Younger and more attractive women have more
criteria for long-term mates
Examining Actual Behaviors
 In personal advertisements, women respond more to
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Older men and taller men
More educated men
Men with higher incomes
 Physical attractiveness of wife correlates with husband’s
status
 Women marry men who are on average about 3 years
older
 Men compete on the characteristics that women prefer,
and deceive women on those characteristics
 Exposure to attractive women causes men to value things
that women prefer
The Problems with Decision Making
The evolution of love (Helen Fisher)
testosterone- lust
dopamine- romance
oxytocin-attachment
 Sex and romance feed each other- both suppress critical
areas of brain
 General arousal can accelerate feelings of romantic
attraction
 Birth control pills may inhibit evaluation mechanisms
early in a relationship