Transcript EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY, SESSION 6: MALE MATE …

Evolutionary Psychology Lecture 7:
Male Mate Preferences.
Learning Outcomes.
 At the end of this session you should be able to:
 1. Discuss evolutionary explanations for male
mate preferences.
 2. Evaluate experimental and survey evidence
concerning male mate preferences.
Thoughts for the Day.
 "Beauty is not judged objectively, but according to the
beholder’s estimation". Theocritus.
 “Judge not according to the appearance” John 7:24.
 “All the beauty of the world, ‘tis but skin deep” Ralph
Venning.
 “Beauty is a greater recommendation than any letter of
introduction”. Aristotle.
 “Why may I not speak of your beauty, since without that I
could never have loved you”. John Keats to Fanny Browne.
 “Beauty is in the adaptations of the beholder”. Don Symons.
Male Mating Strategies
 Males would prefer numerous sexual contacts with no
commitment, but female choice forces males to adopt more
long-term mating strategies. There are several advantages
to this:
 1. Males who provide clear evidence of commitment will be
able to attract a better quality female.
 2. The male can increase his odds of paternity certainty as
he will engage in mate-guarding behaviours to reduce the
possibility of cuckoldry.
 3. The children of a stable relationship are much more likely
to survive.
What Do Men Find Attractive In
Women?
 Buss (1999) points out that be reproductively successful a
male needs to mate with a female who has the capacity to
produce children.
 Human female reproductive value cannot be assessed
directly as ovulation is concealed (unlike most other
mammals).
 However, there are several clues to a woman's reproductive
value and ancestral males would have been selected for to
detect and respond accordingly to these signals.
 Such signals would be 'honest' signals as they would be an
accurate reflection of developmental and hormonal health.
1. Youth.
 This is a powerful cue to reproductive potential as women
reach their reproductive peak around the age of twenty
which declines rapidly thereafter.
Diagram from Buss (1999) p134
Male Age Preferences
(Kenrick & Keefe, 1992) p80
 In studies of mate
preferences, males desire
females who are at their
peak of reproductive
potential.
 Eg, in every one of 37
societies males preferred
younger wives, on average
around 2 ½ years younger
than the male (Buss,
1989).
 As males age, they prefer
mates who are
increasingly younger
(Kenrick & Keefe, 1992).
What About Teenagers?
 If teenage males prefer younger partners then these
females may not be old enough to bear children.
 We would therefore predict that teenage males would
prefer slightly older females.
 Kenrick et al., (1996) asked teenage males and females
(aged between 12-19) the ideal age of a dating partner,
and the age limits that would be acceptable.
 Teenage males (unlike older males) preferred mates who
were slightly older than themselves
 However, they are unlikely to be successful in this because
females at all ages prefer older males!
Age Preference Changes at
Different Relationship Levels.
 Buunk et al., (2001) examined minimum and maximum age
preferences for mates across 5 different levels of
relationship involvement in people aged 20-60.
 Women preferred partners around their own age regardless
of the relationship involvement.
 However, irrespective of their own age, males preferred
mates at the peak of reproductive capability (18-30) for
short-term relationships or sexual fantasies.
 For long-term relationships however, males preferred
mates who although younger than themselves, were
sometimes above the age of maximum fertility.
 This may be because males realise that very young women
would not find them attractive.
Female Minimum Age Preferences.
Casual affair
Falling in love
marriage
relationship
Buunk et al., 2001) p246
Sexual fantasy
Male Minimum Age Preferences.
Sexual fantasy
Casual affair
Falling in love
relationship
marriage
Buunk et al., 2001) p246
2. Beauty.
 Attractiveness provides a reliable cue to reproductive value,
especially of youth:
 Unwrinkled skin.
 Bright eyes.
 Full red lips.
 Glossy hair.
 Lack of facial blemishes and facial hair.
 Males evolved the tendency to become sexually interested
in such stimuli because selection favoured those who
assessed their partner's acceptability for mating on the
basis of such fertility cues.
 Males assign far greater significance to physical
attractiveness than do females (Buss & Schmitt 1993).
Importance of Physical Attraction
Buss & Schmitt (1993) p219
Power of Attractiveness.
 Physical attractiveness is a strong predictor of whether a
woman will marry, and of the socioeconomic status of their
spouse.
 Townsend & Wasserman (1998) used photographs of
individuals varying in attractiveness which were presented
with a brief description varying in social status; degree of
generosity and ambition.
 Students were asked to answer a series of questions
concerning the individuals dating / sexual / marital
desirability.
 Males were willing to date and have sex with the most
attractive individuals irrespective of their social status.
Is Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder?
 It used to be thought that standards of beauty were
culturally determined, and individuals perceptions of
beauty had to be learned.
 Darwin noted differing cultural preferences involving
beauty (grooming, body shape, adornments, hair style,
cosmetics, clothing etc) and stated "It is certainly not true
that there is in the mind of man any universal standard of
beauty with respect to the human body".
 However, Langlois et al., (1990) studied infants responses
to faces differing in attractiveness.
 Both groups gazed longer at the faces that had been judged
as being attractive than those judged as being unattractive.
 In another experiment, infants played longer with dolls
with attractive faces than ones with unattractive faces.
Cross-Cultural Agreement.
 Cunningham et al., (1995) proposed a 'multiple fitness
model' emphasising that beauty reflects a combination of
desirable neonate, sexually mature, expressive, and
grooming qualities.
 Within and between cultures, individuals may display
variance in response to specific features, but will respond in
a similar manner to the features as a whole.
 They presented males from 4 ethnic-cultural groups with
Asian, black, Hispanic, and white female faces.
 The average correlation between racial groups in their
rating of attractiveness was r = .93, exposure to Western
media had no influence on the ratings.
 All males were attracted to large eyes, small noses, high
cheekbones, small chin and a large smile.
Contrast Effects.
 Kenrick et al., (1989) examined the effects of exposure to
attractive nude females on male sexual attraction
judgements.
 Participants currently in a relationship viewed 16 pictures of
attractive nude females or 16 art slides.
 They then rated their current relationship and stated the
extent to which they loved their partner and found them
sexually attractive.
 Males exposed to attractive female nudes showed a
significant reduction in ratings for their partner.
 Kanazawa & Still (2000) found that male secondary school
teacher/college lecturers were statistically more likely to
divorce.
a) Skin Condition.
 Skin condition may be a reliable signal of female health and
fertility and flawless skin is one of the most universally
desired female features (Etcoff, 1999).
 Skin condition is an 'honest' signal because it reflects the
ratio of sex hormones (estrogen and testosterone), e.g
women with higher than average levels of testosterone
have more acne and facial hair (Lucky, 1995).
 Skin tone may also be an honest sign of youthfulness, as
skin darkens with age, skin tone also alters with fertility
becoming darker during the non-fertile phase of the cycle,
during pregnancy, and in women who use the contraceptive
pill (Fink et al., 2001).
 Van den Berghe & Frost (1986) proposed that changes in
female skin colour may enable males to distinguish more
fertile females from less fertile ones.
b) Symmetry.
2-face composite
 Faces created by combining individual
faces into composites are viewed as
being more attractive than the
individual faces themselves.
 This was initially thought to reflect a
preference for averageness.
 However, in making composites,
symmetry is increased and facial
blemishes are reduced.
 Grammer & Thornhill (1994) found
that female composite faces were
judged as being more attractive and
sexy than the individual photos.
32-face composite
c) Neoteny.
 A key feature of female
facial attractiveness is the
extent of babyish features
that the face displays:
 large eyes; high cheek
bones; small nose; small
chin; full lips; short eyechin distance.
Angelina Jolie’s
bee-sting lips are
an ‘honest’ signal
of youth and
fertility
 Such features are created by
a
high
estrogen/low
testosterone ratio.
 Any cues to illness or
advanced age (wrinkles, grey
hair, poor complexion, poor
teeth etc) are universally
rated as being unattractive.
 Johnson & Franklin (1993)
used a computer program,
which allowed participants to
morph faces until they had
achieved an ‘ideal’ face. The
final face had proportions
indicative of a 14-year-old
3. Body Size and Shape.
 Standards for body size preferences vary between cultures.
 In Western societies, males currently prefer average-slim
body sizes and such preferences have changed:
 Playboy centrefolds have declined in body size from the
1950's.
 Winners of beauty pageants and competitions are several
body sizes smaller than average.
 In cultures where food is scare, plumpness is a sign of
adequate nutrition, health and good social standing.
Distribution of Body Fat.
 Body fat distribution may be an honest
signal of reproductive status.
 Differences in body fat distribution are
minimal in infancy, childhood and old
age, and maximal in early
reproductive life.
 At puberty, males deposit tissue on
the upper body, females deposit tissue
on the thighs, breasts and buttocks.
 Differences in fat distribution can be
assessed by measuring waist-to-hip
ratio.
 WHR = waist circumference divided by
hip circumferance).
WHR, Health and Fertility.
 After puberty the female WHR becomes significantly lower
than that of the male due to the presence of estrogens.
 the typical female WHR is between 0.67-0.80.
 the typical male WHR is between 0.85 - 0.95.
 According to Singh (1993) WHR is unique to humans and
may be an adaptation signalling fertility.
 In girls of the same body weight, those with lower WHR’s
(feminised) exhibit earlier pubertal endocrine activity.
 Women with a higher WHR (masculinised) have greater
difficulty in becoming pregnant.
 A high WHR indicates proneness to diabetes, hypertension,
heart problems and strokes.
WHR and Attraction.
 Singh (1993) presented participants with line drawings
representing four levels of WHR at three levels of body
weight.
 In all weight categories, males and females rated the figure
with the lowest WHR as being more youthful, healthy,
reproductively capable and attractive.
 The normal weight figure with a WHR of 0.7 was rated as
most attractive.
 The underweight figure with a WHR of 0.7 was rated as
most youthful but not as attractive or reproductively
capable.
 Singh & Young (1995) found that figures with large breasts
and small hips were rated as most attractive. Figures with
large hips were rated as being the least attractive
irrespective of breast size.
The Perfect Female Body?
4. Behavioural Characteristics:
Paternity Certainty.
 As males lack paternity certainty, those males that were
able to reduce the risk of cuckoldry would have had greater
reproductive fitness.
 Males should have developed adaptations to seek partners
(particularly for long-term relationships) who would remain
faithful.
 Chastity is valued highly in most cultures but there are
large differences in its extent (Buss & Schmitt, 1993).
 Males in all cultures view promiscuity and unfaithfulness as
being particularly undesirable in a potential long-term
partner.
Preference for Chastity.
Buss & Schmitt (1993) p218
To attract a male as a long-term
mating partner, a female should..
 1. Be younger than the male.
 2. Have bright eyes, full red lips, and glossy hair.
 3. Have clear, unwrinkled, unblemished and
hairless skin.
 4. Possess symmetrical facial features combined
with neoteny (e.g. small nose, large eyes).
 5. Have a slim waist, large breasts, and a WHR
around 0.7.
 6. Have a 'good' reputation, i.e. chastity and
faithfulness.