Discuss the relationship between sexual selection and human

reproductive behaviour-24 marks

Darwin (1874) came up with idea of sexual selection. It's where we attract
the mate with the greatest fitness to reproduce healthy offspring. It
maximises our own chances of being selected as fit. There's two processes
within this theory that Darwin came up with; intersexual and intra sexual
selection. With intra selection members of one sex (usually males) compete
against each other for the other sex. The ones who win are able to mate and
pass on their genes, to the next generation. Where as intersexual is between
sexes who compete for certain qualities. The preference of one sex
determines areas the other has to compete for. It could be in terms of
economic factors or visual factors such as appearance. These genes will be
passed onto offspring and can most importantly feed and supply for their
child.
There are differences in short term mating preferences; men want to
impregnate as many females as possible. For example if over one year men
could impregnate a large amount of women, where as over one year a
woman could only have one child. Men also appear to lower their standards
so that they can impregnate as many women as possible, where as women
make conscious decisions about whether their partner can supply for her and
their child.
Where as in long term mating both sexes have to highly invest in their
offspring. Choosiness is therefore high in both sexes, as they wouldn't want to
waste valuable resources if their mate is providing poor genes or little childrearing support. Women have an obligatory biological investment in their
children so are very particular about mates. This means that being attracted
to men who are able to invest resources in their children, show promise as a
good parent. Where as, males are most likely to be attracted to females who
display fertility signals.
Supporting evidence for universal sex differences in long-term mate
preferences come from Buss, who explored what males and females looked
for in a marriage partner. It involved over 10,000 people from 37 cultures.
This found that women desired men with good financial prospects, where as
men wanted attractiveness and young women. This is because women would
want to ensure financial security so that her partner can provide for her and
their child. Whereas men would want a young, attractive woman as they
would provide better genes and are more likely to be fertile.
This piece of evidence provides strong support for Darwins theory as it
shows cross-culturally men and women seek the same qualities in a partner
providing strong support for evolution. However, this has been criticized in
the sense that just because people look for those qualities it does not mean
this necessarily happens in real life. To overcome this, Buss carried out a
follow up study which provides stronger support. In this he looked at married
couples in 29 different cultures and found exactly the same results. That
women were generally married to older men with security and resources and

conversely males were with women younger. In addition, those that had
divorced tended to marry someone on average 5 years younger.
Although these pieces of evidence suggest innate preferences for signals of
fertility critiques have argued that this is in fact due to social power.
According to this the reason men always seek younger females is because
they are easier to control and the reason that women seek older men with
resources is traditionally women have been the lower earner and therefore
need these qualities in a male. However, this has also been criticized by
Kendrick who said it does not explain why teenage boys are attracted to
women on average 5 years older than themselves. This again would be better
explain by Darwins theory of sexual selection as they are more likely to be
responding to signs of fertility rather than power and control
Supporting evidence is also shown from Clark and Hatfield who got
experimenters to approach males and females on a college campus. They
asked various college students if they would have sex, go back to their
apartment or go on a date with the experimenter. This found that the 50%
females would go on a date, but none would go back to their apartment or
have sex. Where as 50% of males would go on a date, 69% would go back to
the apartment, and 75% would have sex. The fact that only 50% of women
said they would go on a date shows that they wish for the security and
financial support a man could provide, not just his sperm. They would want
commitment not just casual sex. With 75% of males stating that they would
have sex shows that they want to impregnate her then move on. An issue
with this study is that there would be individual differences, as some
participants may not have taken the study seriously, or they may not have
found the experimenter attractive and so may have said no due to this. This
study shows that men aim to make more offspring but women just want
commitment and security. The answers may not be representative as the
study is historically biased due to it being carried out in 1989. Sex now occurs
more casually and is now accepted a lot more.
As you can see the theory and evidence suggests a strong gender alpha bias.
This is because it suggests that all males are concerned with partaking in
casual sex whereas women are not as it presents no adaptive benefits and
women are much choosier. This is clearly not true as it ignores that fact that
without willing females men would be unable to partake in such behaviours.
Greiling and Buss suggest that short term mating can also be beneficial for
woman as it helps them to seek out the strongest genes, gain a variety of
genes and also possibly leave a poor quality long term mate. Furthermore,
evidence via self-reports has also suggested that 14% of the population are
the result of an extra-marital affair (Baker and Bellis). The theory clearly
needs to be extended to fully account for the short term sexual behaviour of
women.
An further issue with sexual selection is that its reductionist, as it is stating
that everyones choice in mate is based on innate factors. There could be
other factors, which could cause someone to like their partner, as it is not all
down to appearance and wealth. Similarly it is heterosexual bias, as it does
not take into account homosexual couples. This would be a weakness, as it
does not provide an explanation for people to be in a relationship with the

same sex person. This also would not offer a reason for people who are
infertile, or couples who do not want to have children. This theory suggests
you are only in the relationship to find the best possible partner, to parent
your children.
This theory is also deterministic as it suggests that all men and women are
going to cheat on their partner at some point in the relationship. Not all
couples cheat on each other so this would not be true. This theory also offers
an excuse for people to cheat on their partner. According to this, we would
mate with someone who is physically attractive. However, this ignores the
role of free will. Rather there are other possible factors for choosing a mate,
such as personality. The social learning theory has a major role in shaping
human reproductive behaviour as the media, for instance, portrays males as
sexually promiscuous, and so it is likely that this behaviour is imitated.