Men's Mating Preferences II: Influences of Context - PowerPoint Presentation

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Men's Mating Preferences II: Influences of Context

Evolutionary PsychologySpring 2020Dr Chapman

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Context Effects of Men

’s Mating BehaviorMen in positions of powerViewing attractive modelsTestosterone levelsThe Necessities and Luxuries of Mate Preferences

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Men in Positions of Power (high social status)

Men with high mate value just as was true for women with high mate value they are more likely to get the mates they prefer men with more income:

seek younger women in personal ads

marry younger brides, true historically and across cultures

marry more physically attractive women

Men

with low mate value

mate choice does not match mate preference marry older women marry women with less mate value

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Men in Positions of Power (high social status)

Effects of social status have been documented historically across cultures Kings with haremsA royal haremHarem is used to describe the separate living quarters of women

Polygyny so some men have no mates

Celebrities with young partners

An exception to the typical small age difference

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Viewing Attractive Women

Reduces perceptions of partners attractiveness Contrast Effects and Judgments of Physical Attractiveness: When Beauty Becomes a Social Problem Kenrick (1980) used a field study of male dormitory residents

watching

"Charlie's Angels"

TV program

asked to rate a photo of an average female

compared to similar male dormitory residents not watching TV

Dubbed the "Farah Fawcett Effect" Reduces self-perceptions of:

commitment

satisfaction

seriousness

closeness

This is a shift in "mating effort"

What effect does this have on competition between women?

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Testosterone and Men's Mating Strategies

Organizational-activational characteristics of steroid hormones Organizational during early fetal development influencing reproductive anatomy including brain circuits

Activational

effects of steroid hormones in adult animals i.e. Reproductively mature animals post puberty reproductive behavior

including attraction courtship behavior and copulation

Some studies on cognition which we will not cover here

Other studies on aggressive behavior and empathy that will be covered later

in adult animals steroid hormones modify the functions of brain circuits receptors for steroid hormones are found throughout the nervous system These steroid effects do not directly cause behavior they modulate behavior

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Testosterone and Men's Mating Strategies

Influences male mating effort the time and energy devoted to pursuing mates besting same-sex competitors

testosterone levels are responsive to social context

competition

levels of testosterone go up in anticipation of competition

the levels remain high for the winners

attractive women

levels increase after interacting with an attractive woman presence of attractive women increases risky behavior

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Testosterone and Men's Mating Strategies

Relationship status testosterone levels dropped after forming a committed relationship Testosterone and men's Mating Strategies Figure 5.6

21% lower testosterone levels for men in a committed relationship

men who pursue short-term mating while in a long-term relationship have higher levels of testosterone

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ncreased

levels of testosterone produce cognitive and emotional effects

feel like a winner increased self-confidence mild euphoria reduced social anxiety

act like a winner

increased motivation

increased risky behavior

increased aggression

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The Necessities and Luxuries of Mate

PreferencesThe Budget Allocation Method Li (2002)

Mate

dollars:

participants given a budget (low, medium and high

)

Similar to mate value

to be allocated across a set of preferences for an ideal long-term mates With a low budget (low mate value)women allocated more to economic status and

intelligence

women

trade off physical attractiveness for resources

men

allocated more to physical attractiveness and intelligence.

With

a higher budget

(high mate value)

women and men allocated more to kindness, creativity and intelligence

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Impact of the modern environment on mate value and mate preferences

Hunter gatherer groups living in groups of 50 - 300 individuals Small number of possible mates So finding somebody with all of your mate preferences is very unlikely In the modern urban environment

there are large numbers of people that you can meet face-to-face

as well as an enormous number of images in the media

and the ability to contact people easily with computers and cell phones

The economics of the hunting and gathering lifestyle

Status would be determined by their ability to hunt and to gather

There was very little in the way of holding resources (possession of material goods) and there was no currency It is now possible for individuals to hold enormous resources and economic wealthMate preferences have been shaped by selection and can adapt to a changing environment especially in humans

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Effects of Men's Preferences on Actual Mating Behavior

Men's responses to women's personal ads younger women received more responses women mentioning physical attractiveness had more responses Marital decisions and reproductive outcomes

on average

American husbands

are three years older than their wives for the first marriage five years older for a second marriage and eight years older for a third marriage

Age Differences in Marriage on the Island of Poro (1913-1939)

as men get older they age difference between husband and wife gets

largerSimilar across cultures, Brazil, Poland, GreeceHistorical records from Sweden show

age

difference between husband and wife is related to the number of

children

F

emale attractiveness is also related to fertility, i.e. number of children

Cross-cultural evidence from

Hunter

gatherer societies

Historical records from Wisconsin

But not in contemporary Poland

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Effects of Men's Preferences on Actual Mating Behavior

How men respond to attractive women Using a visual cueing taskpresented images of attractive individuals on a computer screen instructed to shift attention to a different point on the screen

when viewing an attractive woman men had greater difficulty shifting attention "attentional adhesion"

When men think they are speaking to an attractive woman they lower their voice pitch probably because of anxiety

In restaurants attractive waitresses receive larger tips

Man proposing to younger women buy more expensive rings

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Effect of Men's Mate Preferences on Women's Competition Tactics

Enhance Physical Attraction Dieting Cosmetics Clothing

Deception of Appearance

colored contact lenses

hair color

plastic surgery

Derogation of competitor

Physical appearance Sexual promiscuity 13

Summary of Men's and Women's Long-Term Mate Preferences

Similarities with regard to Love, Commitment, Dependability and Stability For men this is connected to fidelity because of paternity uncertainty For women this is connected to fidelity because of long-term provisioning for children

Similarities with regards to attractiveness as a cue to health

Women with stronger preferences for resources related characteristics

Age

Ambition

Social Status

Men with stronger and specific preferences for body shape as cues to fertility 14

Chapter Six:

Short-Term

Sexual Strategies

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Clarke and Hatfield (1989)

Imagine an attractive individual walks up to you on campus and says:“Hi, I’ve been noticing you around town lately, and I find you very attractive. Would you have sex with me?”Women: 100

percent NO

Men: 75

percent YES

Of the 25 percent that said no, they were apologetic, citing previous commitments for their declination

.

Additional studies indicate thatmodulated by attractiveness for menmodulated by

social status, attractiveness, emotional connection for women

Similar findings cross culturally

Large gender difference for casual sex

What underlies these differences?

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Human mating strategies

Sexual Strategies Theory: An evolutionary perspective on human mating. (Buss 1993) Men and women have evolved distinct psychological short and long-term mating strategies Men and women face different mating problems in both short and long-term mating

Relationship are of varying duration; short-term and long-term are end points for the temporal dimension of relationships

Human mating is strategic to solve mating problems

Strategic does not refer to consciously planned just goal direct

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Human mating strategies

Human mating strategies; see (Buss, 2006)Strategies are context sensitive mostly to temporal aspects of the relationship Long-term mating: love, commitment, pair-bonding, investment in offspring

Short-term mating

: less commitment and investment and places a greater emphasis on sexual behavior

A combination of mating strategies

alternate between long-term and short-term mating

a dual mating strategy of maintaining a long-term relationship while seeking extra-pair copulations

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Possible benefits and costs of short term mating: to men

BenefitsIncreased reproductive successAssuming children surviveCosts

Sexually transmitted disease

Reputation could decrease attractiveness to highly desirable women

Decreased survival/prospering of their children

Violence from other men

Retaliatory affairs and divorce

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Adaptive Problems for Men

Increased number of partners Motivation (desire) to have sex with a variety of women Relaxation of standards for a number of characteristics Finding women whom are willing to have sex

Avoid:

Prudishness

Inexperience

Low Sex Drive

Cues:

Clothing Behavior 20

Adaptive Problems for Men

Identifying fertile women Younger women preferred for L-T because of greater reproductive value Somewhat older women preferred for S-T because of greater fertility

Avoiding commitment

avoid women who want commitment before consenting to sex

Increased investment in one woman decreases opportunity

Hookups: A cultural revolution?

See American Hookup by Lisa Wade“A hookup culture is an environment that idealizes and promotes casual sexual encounters over other kinds, regardless of what students actually want or are doing.”Beginning in the 1920s with increased freedom

1960s, widespread availability of birth control and feminism

60 -80 % of North American college students have had some sort of hook-up experience

14% “enthusiasts”, 42% “abstainer”, 45% “dabblers”

Affective reactions

26 % of women and 50 % of men reported feeling positive after a hookup

49 % of women and 26 % of men reported a negative reaction

See (

Owen et al., 2010

).

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Physiological Evidence for S-T Mating

Testicular size in Primates generally related to risk of sperm competition testes size is correlated with the specific mating strategies Human male testes size is in between that of gorillas and chimpanzees

implies both sexes engaged in S-T strategies

Variation in sperm count:

increases with partner separation time because of increased chance of extramarital affair

independent of time since last ejaculation

sperm count adjusted to replace number lost since last insemination

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