Evolutionary Psychology and Human Mate Preferences Quiz
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Questions and Answers

What is the adaptive problem that ancestral men faced in identifying a woman’s fertility?

  • Dealing with the challenge of paternity uncertainty
  • Distinguishing between physical attractiveness and fertility (correct)
  • Recognizing emotional cues related to fertility
  • Understanding the impact of ecological contexts on fertility

    • Why is it reasonable to assume that there were adaptive advantages to long-term mating under some circumstances?

  • Theoretical background for the evolution of men’s mate preferences
  • The impact of testosterone on men’s mating behavior
  • Selection for psychological mechanisms in men to seek marriage and commitment (correct)
  • Social and ecological influences on men’s long-term mating strategies

    • What does the final section of the chapter explore regarding men’s long-term mating strategies?

  • The evolutionary theory of men’s evolved standards of female beauty
  • The sources of evidence that men’s evolved mate preferences influence actual mating behavior
  • The effects of different social and ecological contexts (correct)
  • The adaptive problem of identifying a woman’s fertility

    • What is one explanation for men's desire for young women?

    <p>Young women are easier to control and less dominant than older women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does evolutionary psychology suggest about men's preference for younger women?

    <p>Men desire young women because youth has consistently been linked with fertility</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Why do older men's age preferences for long-term mates differ from the age of maximum fertility?

    <p>Older men may have difficulty in attracting dramatically younger women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the evolutionary model predict about men's preferences for mates?

    <p>They desire features associated with reproductive value</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In which mating system do men prefer larger age differences in mates?

    <p>Polygynous mating systems</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do the findings of the eye-tracking study indicate about men's attention?

    <p>They show attentional adhesion to young female faces</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What potential benefit does marriage bring to men, according to the text?

    <p>Increased social status and potential access to more mates</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How does human mating differ from chimpanzee mating, as mentioned in the text?

    <p>Women's ovulation in humans is relatively concealed compared to female chimpanzees' pronounced signs of estrus.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a motivating factor for men to seek marriage, as mentioned in the text?

    <p>Ancestral women required reliable signs of male commitment before consenting to sex, motivating men to seek marriage for reproductive success.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is reproductive value and how does it differ from fertility?

    <p>Reproductive value refers to the expected future reproduction of a person, while fertility refers to the ability to conceive a child.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What are some observable cues of a woman's youth and health that were correlated with reproductive value?

    <p>Facial attractiveness and clear skin</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How do standards of beauty develop according to the text?

    <p>Standards of beauty emerge early in life, infants show preferences for attractive faces and dolls.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What are some observable cues of a woman's youth and health that are universally regarded as attractive?

    <p>Clear, smooth skin and absence of sores and lesions</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What are some key components of male standards of female beauty as per the evolutionary theory?

    <p>Physical cues to youth, health, fertility, and reproductive value</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What evidence supports the link between physical attractiveness and objective measures of health?

    <p>Empirical support in a sample of roughly 15,000 Americans between the ages of 25 and 34</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which cue is universally evaluated as attractive and a key cue to health?

    <p>Super-white sclera</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is linked with perceived facial attractiveness and is a cue to developmental stability?

    <p>Facial symmetry</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which cue is viewed as maximally attractive in women, with legs roughly 5 percent longer than average being maximally attractive?

    <p>Leg length</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the neuroimaging study show about men's brain activity when looking at attractive female faces?

    <p>Increased activation in the nucleus accumbens area</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the evolutionary significance of women's spinal structure evolving to accommodate the strain of pregnancy?

    <p>Facilitating easier childbirth</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did Devendra Singh's research suggest about men's preference for a particular ratio between the size of a woman's waist and the size of her hips?

    <p>It indicates a universal preference for a specific waist-to-hip ratio</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the range of waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) for healthy, reproductively capable women after puberty?

    <p>0.67 to 0.80</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What hormone is a good predictor of fertility and pregnancy success in women?

    <p>Oestradiol (E2)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did Singh's analysis of Playboy centerfolds and winners of U.S. beauty contests confirm?

    <p>Preference for a relatively low WHR</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In which countries has a preference for a low WHR been found, according to the text?

    <p>United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, India, Guinea-Bissau</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study of Venus figurines covering 20,000 years of human history in Europe support?

    <p>Preference for a low WHR</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did men blind from birth prefer when assessing female body shape through touch?

    <p>Low WHR mannequin models</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a key factor contributing to the cultural variability in the preference for chastity?

    <p>The economic independence of women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one of the best predictors of extramarital sex according to the text?

    <p>Premarital sexual permissiveness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the U.S. men evaluate as the most highly valued traits for a committed mateship?

    <p>Faithfulness and sexual loyalty</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study of Hadza in Tanzania reveal about men's preference for women's waist-to-hip ratio (WHR)?

    <p>Men preferred somewhat heavier women with a higher WHR.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the failure to replicate the study among the Hadza in Tanzania reveal when stimuli included profile views of buttocks rather than frontal views?

    <p>Men's preferences for women's WHR aligned more closely with American preferences.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the studies in Peru and among the Hadza in Tanzania reveal about the complexity of WHR assessment?

    <p>All of the above</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did eye-tracking studies show about men's attention?

    <p>They found that eye fixations clustered around the waist and breasts, supporting the importance of WHR in attractiveness judgments.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In which mating system do men prefer larger age differences in mates?

    <p>Polygynous mating system</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did a study examining multiple attributes identify as the two strongest predictors of women’s bodily attractiveness?

    <p>Small waist and relatively long legs</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study by Buss and Schmitt (1993) find about men's preference for physically attractive mates?

    <p>Men's desire for physical attractiveness in long-term mates across 37 cultures</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the evidence suggest about men's ability to detect when women ovulate?

    <p>Men might be able to detect when women ovulate</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study find about ovulating women's behavior in gentlemen's clubs?

    <p>Ovulating women received significantly higher tips than non-ovulating women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the potential evolutionary significance of concealed ovulation as mentioned in the text?

    <p>To facilitate long-term committed mating and promote marriage as a social tradition</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a potential reason for the decline in the value of chastity over time according to the text?

    <p>The availability of birth control</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which countries are mentioned as valuing chastity highly, while others do not, according to the text?

    <p>China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Taiwan, and Palestinian Arab areas; Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, and France</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a common trend observed in modern examples of high-status older males' mating behavior?

    <p>Selecting much younger women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a consequence of men viewing pictures of highly attractive women, as mentioned in the text?

    <p>Judging their actual partners to be less attractive</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a significant impact of modern advertisement-saturated culture on men's mating behaviors?

    <p>Influencing men's perceptions of their partners' attractiveness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What percentage of men and women have a primary orientation toward heterosexuality?

    <p>98 to 99 percent of men and 94 to 98 percent of women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the evolutionary explanation for male homosexuality mentioned in the text?

    <p>Homosexual orientation could have evolved to invest heavily in genetic relatives</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did early tests of the kin altruism theory reveal about gay men and their likelihood of funneling resources toward kin?

    <p>Gay men did not differ from heterosexual men in their likelihood of funneling resources toward kin</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the strongest evolutionary theory of homosexuality, according to the text?

    <p>The female fertility hypothesis</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study in Samoa find about male homosexuals (fa’afafne) in comparison to heterosexual men?

    <p>They exhibited greater avuncular tendencies</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What empirical difficulties have been encountered by the alliance formation theory?

    <p>It explains the majority of cultures where homoerotic behavior is not used as a strategy of alliance formation</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the role of testosterone (T) in male mating effort?

    <p>Higher T levels facilitate male pursuit of females</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did one study find about the relationship between testosterone (T) levels and men's relationship status?

    <p>Men in committed relationships have lower T levels than single men</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study by McIntyre and colleagues reveal about men in relationships who pursue additional matings?

    <p>They have higher T levels than men who remain monogamous</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the field experiments of skateboarders find about the presence of an attractive woman?

    <p>It produced an increase in risk-taking by young men</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the potential cost of maintaining high levels of testosterone (T) for men?

    <p>Compromised immune functioning</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the longitudinal study find about divorced men who remarry?

    <p>They experience a subsequent drop in testosterone levels</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What effect does makeup have on women's faces, according to the text?

    <p>Enhances facial contrast, making women’s faces more feminine and attractive</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How do men tend to alter their voice when speaking with women they find attractive, as per the text?

    <p>Lower their voice pitch</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What effect do men's mate preferences have on women's competition tactics, according to the text?

    <p>Influence appearance enhancement and intersexual deception</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the impact of men's mating budgets on their preferences?

    <p>They spend more on kindness, creativity, and liveliness as their mating budgets increase</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is confirmed about men's preference for younger women?

    <p>Men's preference for younger women is a global trend, with men marrying women significantly younger in various cultures</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What impact does marrying younger women have on men's reproductive output?

    <p>Men who marry younger women tend to have greater reproductive output, with a study showing higher average number of children</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the effect of calling a competitor promiscuous for women?

    <p>It is more effective than for men in intrasexual competition</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do men's long-term mate-selection decisions revolve around?

    <p>Identifying women of high fertility and dealing with paternity uncertainty</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What are women more likely to do when primed with cues of economic hardship?

    <p>Spend more on beauty-enhancement products</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one potential consequence of interacting with attractive women, according to the text?

    <p>It decreases men's commitment to their regular partner</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a factor that affects men’s mate preferences as a function of their 'mating budget'?

    <p>Physical attractiveness and creativity</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study by Buss and Schmitt (1993) find about men's preference for physically attractive mates?

    <p>Men respond more frequently to personal ads of women who claim or appear to be young and physically attractive</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In the study by Norman Li and colleagues using the budget allocation method, what did participants allocate a relatively large proportion of their budget to when given a low budget?

    <p>Physical attractiveness for men and resources for women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the key hormone involved in mating effort, as mentioned in the text?

    <p>Testosterone</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What effect did the mere presence of an attractive woman have on men, according to the text?

    <p>Increased their level of risk-taking and their level of testosterone</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Study Notes

    Evolutionary Psychology and Human Mate Preferences

    • Transition from advertised estrus to concealed ovulation posed a problem for ancestral males
    • Concealment of ovulation shifted the problem to determining women's reproductive value and fertility
    • Reproductive value refers to the expected future reproduction of a person, differs from fertility
    • Women in mid-20s tend to produce the most viable children, fertility peaks in mid-20s
    • Detecting fertility or reproductive value was a difficult problem for ancestral men
    • Observable cues of a woman's youth and health were correlated with reproductive value
    • Men's long-term mate preferences include intelligence, kindness, understanding, and health
    • Men also seek partners who share their values and are similar to them in attitudes and personality
    • Standards of beauty emerge early in life, infants show preferences for attractive faces and dolls
    • Standards of beauty are consistent across cultures, with high consensus on attractiveness
    • Attractiveness standards are not learned gradually through cultural transmission
    • Exposure to Western media does not affect judgments of attractiveness in different cultures

    Evolutionary Psychology of Female Attractiveness

    • Study of 9,998 Chinese women found that those with longer legs had more offspring, especially in lower socioeconomic backgrounds
    • Women's spinal structure has evolved differently to accommodate the strain of pregnancy, with a wedge-shaped lumbar vertebra
    • Men find the optimal degree of lumbar curvature in women maximally attractive, as supported by empirical evidence
    • Cue-based judgments of women's attractiveness correlate nearly perfectly with assessments of their reproductive value
    • Neuroimaging study showed that the nucleus accumbens area of the brain becomes activated when men look at attractive female faces
    • Body cues, such as body fat distribution and waist-to-hip ratio, provide cues to a woman's reproductive capacity
    • Standards for female bodily attractiveness vary across cultures, with plumpness signaling wealth and health in some cultures
    • Men's preference for heavier women is influenced by food availability and economic conditions
    • Women's perception of men's ideal female body size is slimmer than men's actual preference, as revealed in a study across 26 cultures
    • Devendra Singh's research suggests a universal preference for a particular ratio between the size of a woman's waist and the size of her hips
    • Dramatic changes in fat distribution occur at puberty, with women depositing fat in the lower trunk, primarily on their hips and upper thighs
    • The volume of body fat in the lower trunk region is 40 percent greater for women than for men after puberty

    Evolutionary Strategies for Paternity Certainty

    • Female primates have concealed ovulation, making it difficult for males to ascertain paternity.
    • Cryptic ovulation expanded the window of female attractiveness, posing a unique paternity problem for men.
    • Marriage potentially provided a solution by increasing paternity certainty through repeated sexual contact.
    • Concealed ovulation may have evolved to facilitate long-term committed mating, promoting marriage as a social tradition.
    • Marriage serves as a public signal of mating, reducing conflict within male coalitions.
    • Men had to seek assurances of their wife’s sexual fidelity to reap the reproductive benefits of marriage.
    • Men sought qualities in a mate that could increase the odds of securing paternity, such as premarital chastity and postmarital fidelity.
    • The value of chastity has declined over time, coinciding with the availability of birth control.
    • Men globally value chastity more than women as an important trait in a long-term mate.
    • There are significant cultural variations in the importance placed on chastity as a desirable trait in a potential mate.
    • Countries like China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Taiwan, and Palestinian Arab areas value chastity highly, while Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, and France do not.
    • The desire for chastity in a long-term mate varies across cultures and is more valued by men than women globally.

    Evolutionary Theories of Homosexuality and Contextual Influences on Men's Mating Behavior

    • A study in Samoa found that male homosexuals (fa’afafne) exhibited greater avuncular tendencies compared to heterosexual men, investing more in nieces and nephews through babysitting, buying toys, and investing in their education.
    • Cross-cultural studies of male androphilia expressed in a transgendered form found elevated levels of kin altruism, suggesting a potential evolutionary explanation for homosexual behavior.
    • The female fertility hypothesis suggests that genes for male homosexuality can evolve if they produce an increased reproductive rate in the female relatives of male homosexuals, potentially compensating for lower rates of reproduction in gay males.
    • Evidence suggests that the maternal female relatives of gay males produce significantly more offspring than those of heterosexual men, supporting the female fertility hypothesis.
    • The alliance formation theory proposes that homoerotic behavior by young men with older men provides a strategy for gaining allies and boosting status, ultimately leading to greater sexual access to women.
    • Empirical difficulties have been encountered by the alliance formation theory, and it does not seem to explain the majority of cultures where homoerotic behavior is not used as a strategy of alliance formation.
    • The kin altruism theory has received mixed empirical support, while the female fertility hypothesis has accrued the strongest empirical support among the three evolutionary theories of homosexuality.
    • Social, ecological, and personal contexts influence men’s mating strategies, and desires may not always correspond with actual mating behavior.
    • Humans likely evolved in small groups, where a particular man would have encountered only a few dozen attractive women, but in modern environments, they are bombarded with thousands of images of attractive models.
    • Men lacking status and resources may have difficulty attracting women, as evidence from historical data suggests that wealthier and high-status men tend to marry younger brides.
    • Kings, emperors, and men of high status historically married younger brides, while men lacking wealth and lower-status counterparts married older brides.
    • The contextual influences on men's mating behavior highlight the discrepancy between modern environments and ancestral environments in which human mating strategies likely evolved.

    Men's Mate Preferences and Long-Term Mating Strategies

    • Women are sensitive to men's mate preferences and use derogation tactics to compete for mates.
    • Women in high estrogen phases are more likely to derogate a rival's physical appearance.
    • Women feel threatened by women with more feminine faces, larger breasts, and lower WHRs when they flirt with their romantic partners.
    • Women spend more on beauty-enhancement products when primed with cues of economic hardship.
    • Calling a competitor promiscuous is more effective for women than for men.
    • Women's derogation tactics are sensitive to men's long-term mate preferences.
    • Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are linked to intense intrasexual competition for mates.
    • U.S. women engaged in intense mate competition are more dissatisfied with their bodies and have a high drive for thinness.
    • Men's preferences affect behavior in the mating arena, influencing personal ads, marriage age differences, tipping behavior, and mate attraction tactics.
    • Marrying increased men's chances of attracting a mate and ensured paternity certainty.
    • Men have evolved standards of attractiveness linked to cues of a woman's reproductive capacity, such as youth and health.
    • Men's long-term mate-selection decisions revolve around identifying women of high fertility and dealing with the problem of paternity uncertainty.

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    Description

    Test your knowledge of evolutionary psychology and human mate preferences with this quiz. Explore how the transition from advertised estrus to concealed ovulation posed challenges for ancestral males and how men's long-term mate preferences include factors such as intelligence, kindness, and health. Delve into the concept of reproductive value and fertility, and discover the impact of standards of beauty on mate selection.

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