Biological anthropology - human behavioural ecology and evolutionary psychology. Still part of my cramming journey for archaeology.
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Anisogamy
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Differential gamete size as a result of disruptive selection e.g. human egg = big and full of resources, human sperm = small and speedy.
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WEIRD societies
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Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich and Democratic people. Used for a lot of psychological and anthropological research, which is definitely controversial and unrepresentative of overall populations in the world.
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Males
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- undiscriminating eagerness.
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Females
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- discriminating passivity.
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Sex with the largest parental investment (usually the female) will become a limited resource to compete for.
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1. Males = higher variance in numbers of offsprings > females (higher reprod. success).
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2. Males = higher variance in sexual partners > females (higher mating success).
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3. Males = stronger rship b/w RS and MS > females.
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Hrdy
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female primate research - females are not universally coy + choosy.
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There are advantages for females to have multiple male mates (polyandry) e.g. lower infanticide + higher fertilisation.
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Females = choosy if population contains high variability in male quality and/or lower paternal investment.
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Males = choosy if above is true for females.
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Both = choosy if encounter rate is high = parental investment = similar for both sexes, similar and high variation in mate quality in both sexes.
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Neither = choosy if low population density with low encounter rates.
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Brown et al.
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Sex roles are not universal, inter-population variation in reprod success b/w human males and females.
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WEIRD societies show higher mating success in males > females, but most modern societies involve institutionalised monogamous rships (so similar mating success).
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Rship b/w MS and RS varies b/w populations e.g. if paternal investment is high, then MS and RS = low.
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Sexual reprod leads to the evolution of anisogamy and sex-specific reprod processes and associated strategies.
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Sex biases in behaviour:
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Mate choice, parental investment...
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Leads to competition b/w members of same sex (e.g. stag antlers only in males, so not useful for survival generally) and intersexual competition (e.g. peacocks = costly tails, so must be fit to survive w/ tail, compete for female attention).
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Sweat signals compatibility
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Hybrid vigour: sweat from someone w/ immune system most different to your own (i.e. variation) = most attractive.
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Beauty
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Cultural? Babies stare more at "attractive faces". Symmetry signals fitness (although symmetry is also selected for if only half the face is shown?). Averageness is preferred - familiarity = safer, no genetic anomalies.
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Testosterone
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High testosterone = major costs e.g. reduce immunity. Testosterone + male jaw -> sharp jaw signals high testosterone, therefore must be fit to survive with sharp jaw.
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Beh. = predetermined by genes. -> universality of behaviours because evolutionary behaviours are part of our shared human nature.
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Mate choice: Focus on sex differences, with recognition to a minimal role played by social learning.
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EP evaluates attractiveness of traits based on parental investment, reprod value and paternity certainty.
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Parental investment
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Effort + resources required to maintain offspring.
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Leads to trade-off b/w mating + parenting efforts - looking after offsprings requires energy, so less energy is put towards mating.
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Humans: males usually invest through provision of resources, so cues to attractiveness related to provision = attractive to females (e.g. wealth + status + ambition).
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Socioecological context impacts beh. + most valued traits in potential mate.
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Beh. = result of adaptations toward optimum reprod success.
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Beh. = flexible + adaptive w/ underlying genetic mechanisms.
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37 cultures tested.
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Males
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Preferred young + attractive females.
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Females
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Valued financial resources - women = less economically independent?
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High cultural variation b/w sexes.
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e.g. Hadza hunter-gatherers: men aren't the only providers, so woman's work ethic was an important factor of attractiveness.
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Sex differences:
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Female attractiveness
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Full lips, sprightly gait, luscious hair and clear skin.
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Male attractiveness
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Wealth + status.
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Study w/ attractiveness rating of males by females in nice v. average car = most attractive in nice car.
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Cheatography n. The art of mapping complex subjects into clear, instantly navigable reference guides.
