What can evolutionary psychology tell us about who we find attractive and why?

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What can evolutionary psychology tell us about who we find attractive and why?

         Evolutionary psychology is a relatively new discipline that applies the principles of evolutionary theory to the study of human behaviour. Evolutionary psychology assumes that the human mind is the product of evolution just like any other bodily organ. In one of his early note books written in 1838, Darwin speculated that ‘Experience shows the problem of the mind cannot be solved by attacking the citadel itself, the mind is the function of the body, we must bring some stable foundation to argue from’, stated by Workman and Reader 2004, p.7.

         A great bulk of research in Evolutionary psychology has focused on human mating behaviour, i.e. who we find attractive. Whether evolution has shaped humans with preferences for particular characteristics in the opposite sex, which influence their choice of mating partners, is a question that has received considerable attention. Two main claims made by evolutionary psychologists are that there is human nature and that ecological and social pressures of the past were responsible for the evolution of that nature. If so it can be argued that mate preferences today reflect decisions made in the past by human ancestors.

There are two ways in which to study the evolution mate preferences. One way is to compare humans with primate relatives that share a common ancestor with them. Given that humans share an evolutionary past and hence a large proportion of their genes with other primates, perhaps an understanding of their social and sexual behaviour will give some insight into how human mate preference has evolved. This is known as the comparative method. A second way is to examine the degree to mate preferences are common to separate human cultures. If they are the product of evolution then mate preference should be similar across a variety of cultures.

Men and women may have evolved ways of detecting characteristics in each other that predict good short-term and long-term mates. Short term mates are selected on the basis of physical characteristics and long term mates are selected on the basis of psychological characteristics .Evolutionary psychology views this decision making process as being unconscious.

        Buss (1989) carried out a cross-cultural study to determine whether human mate choices show consistent patterns the world over. From which he concluded that humans show the distinct patterns in mate preference predicted by evolutionary reasoning. Buss found that women across all cultures highly favoured men with good financial prospects. Females placed more value on this characteristic than men. Buss suggested this supports the notion that, since ancestral females invested so highly in their offspring, they would have greatly benefited from choosing mates that were able to provide for them and their offspring. This could explain why this characteristic has evolved.

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        As human females are smaller than and not as strong as males, they and their offspring are prone to being the victims of predators, and violence. Surveys consistently show that females prefer males who are socially dominant and have the respect of their peers. Forming a relationship with a socially dominant male would confer greater direct access to resources and also raise the social status of the female that would indirectly confer resource acquisition. Women pay close attention to how men interact with, and are treated by other men, Sadella et al., (1987)

        Grammer & Thornhill (1994) argued that males ...

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