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The Evolution of Human Mating

The Evolution of Human Mating It may seem obvious to some why people mate, however there are many facets to human mating. Psychology has shown that reasons for mating have gone beyond the scope of love and physical attractiveness. People may search for mates who resemble archetypical images of the opposite-sex parent, mates with characteristics that are either complementary or similar to one’s own qualities, or mates with whom to make an exchange of valuable resources (Buss 238). Although these theories play a key role in understanding patterns in human mating preferences, evolutionary psychology and sexual selection theory provide more concrete frameworks for explaining human mating. Evolutionary framework for human mating is based on three elements. First, strategies for mating developed to solve specific problems in human evolutionary history. Second, people behave differently depending on the type of mating involved. There are two types of mating, short term and long term mating. Short term mating is defined as casual sex (i.e. one-night stands and brief affairs). Long term mating is seen as a committed relationship (i.e. dating, going steady, and marriage). Third, males and females developed different strategies due to the difference in problems they have had over the course of human evolution (Buss 241). This paper will examine those strategies specific to males. Men have developed different mating strategies to solve problems in both long term and short term mating. In pursuing a short-term sexual strategy men face four man problems: partner number (variety), identifying women who are sexually accessible, identifying women who are fertile, and avoiding commitment and investment. Men evolved over evolutionary history a desire to have access to a large number of partners because it is a direct measurement of a man’s reproductive success. Consequently, in short term relationships it has become an active part of a man’s repertoire. One strategy that has evolved as a result of this problem is for males to lower their standards in looking for an acceptable mate. Such standards include age, intelligence, personality traits, and status (whether or not she is involved in another relationship). Another strategy that has evolved is to limit the time it takes to seek sexual intercourse from a woman. More time spent on seeking sexual involvement from one female, the less time that can be spent on making another effort for sexual intercourse from another. Men prefer to spend the least time, energy, and resources in making a short-term relationship successful. It is for this reason that they look for sexual accessibility. A man’s strategy for solving the problem of sexual accessibility is to look for sexual experienced women. Often men concur promiscuity to be one sign of experience. They steer away from women who seem prude, conservative, or have a low sex drive. Fertility and reproductive value are high on the list of important qualities in a short-term mate. Fertility is the probability of present reproduction. Reproductive value refers to expected future reproduction. Therefore, a younger women would have higher reproductive value that an older female because her reproductive future is longer whereas the older women has a higher fertility value than the younger women because she may be in her peak years compared to a teen who typically has low fertility. A man, however, would prefer to mate with a woman with higher reproductive value. Reproductive value is related to age and health. An old, unhealthy woman has a lower reproductive value than a young, healthy woman. A woman’s age and health status is typically given away by physical appearance (i.e. fullness of lips and smooth skin), behavior (i.e. high activity level), and reputation (i.e. information from others about past health history and age). It is not surprising that men tend to go after younger women (Buss, Schmitt 208). As mentioned before, the larger the investment a man puts into one short-term relationship the fewer resources that he has to put in other short-term relationships. An evolved solution for this problem is for a man to avoid women who seek commitment or a large amount of their resources (Buss, Schmitt 208). In long-term relationships, men face two main problems for which they have evolved strategies. These two problems are certainty in paternity and reproductive value. Due to internal conception there is never about a woman’s parenthood. Men can not be 100% sure that the child they are supporting is their own. Men want to make sure that their investments are directed towards their children not those of another man. One strategy or adaptation to this problem is sexual jealousy. Sexual jealousy functions to protect a mate and dissuade intrasexual competitors, which lessens the likelihood of impregnation by another male. It is no surprise that faithfulness is the most valued characteristic in a long-term relationship. The characteristics of faithfulness and sexual loyalty, although not particularly valued in a short-term relationship, are important for males in a long-term relationship. Chastity is also more valued in long-term relationships than in short-term relationships. Another strategy in solving the problem of certainty relies on seeking clues to future sexual conduct (signs of fidelity) rather than absolute sexual abstinence before making a mate selection. This may include abandoning the desire for a woman with a promiscuous nature. Males find that one advantage of a long-term relationship is possibility of monopolizing a woman’s reproductive value for her lifetime. Due to this possibility, men have evolved the preference for women who have high reproductive capacity. This is one reason why men value physical appearance. Age (youthfulness) and healthiness of a woman is linked to her attractiveness. In short, men value physical attractiveness in long-term mates because it provides a powerful clue to age and health, which has evolved as strong clues for reproductive value. Studies show that men have preferred long-term mates to be on average 3-7 years younger than them. Men have also been known to marry on the average, women who are 3 years younger than them in the first marriage, 5 years younger in the second, and 8 years younger in the third marriage (Buss, Schmitt 216). In human evolutionary history, both men and women have evolved mechanisms that have functioned to solve adaptive problems that they encounter in pursuing successful long-term and short-term mating. These mechanisms along with behavior constitute the evolved sexual strategies of men and women. “Strategies are defined as evolved solutions to adaptive problems, with no consciousness or awareness on the part of the strategist implied (Buss, Schmitt 206).” Bibliography: Bibliography Buss, David M. The Strategies of Human Mating. Psychological Review. pp. 238-249 (1994). Buss, David M. and Schmitt, David P. Sexual Strategies Theory: An Evolutionary Perspective on Human Mating. Psychological Review. Vol 100(2): 204-203. (1993). Ellis, Lee. Social stratification and socioeconomic inequality. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. Vol 1: 111-137. (1993)

Word Count: 1075