The Evolutionary Advantage of Commitment
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Questions and Answers

What is the main focus of Chapter 5 in the text?

  • Evolution of men's mate preferences (correct)
  • Psychological mechanisms in women for seeking marriage
  • Historical perspectives on marriage and commitment
  • Comparison of mating strategies between men and women

    • What is the adaptive problem that ancestral men faced in relation to women's fertility?

  • Understanding women's emotional needs
  • Ensuring women's reproductive rights
  • Balancing work and family life
  • Identifying a woman’s fertility (correct)

    • What does the chapter analyze regarding men's evolved standards of female beauty?

  • Evolutionary theory of men’s evolved standards of female beauty (correct)
  • Women's perceptions of male beauty
  • Cultural influences on beauty standards
  • Historical changes in beauty ideals

    • What does reproductive value refer to?

    <p>The expected future reproduction of a person</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Why do men face the problem of “paternity uncertainty”?

    <p>Uncertainty about their biological offspring</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the chapter compare and contrast in relation to men's testosterone and their mating strategies?

    <p>Two theories for the links between men’s testosterone and their mating strategies</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the peak age for female fertility?

    <p>Mid-20s</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What are men's long-term mate preferences focused on?

    <p>Intelligence, kindness, understanding, and health</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the chapter identify in terms of evidence for men’s evolved mate preferences influencing actual mating behavior?

    <p>Four sources of evidence that men’s evolved mate preferences influence actual mating behavior</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do infants show preferences for early in life?

    <p>Attractive faces and dolls</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Are attractiveness standards consistent across cultures?

    <p>Yes, with high consensus on attractiveness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Does exposure to Western media affect judgments of attractiveness in different cultures?

    <p>No, it does not affect judgments of attractiveness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do men's preferences for younger mates across cultures indicate?

    <p>Consensus on beauty standards</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do men from 37 cultures desire in terms of age difference with their wives?

    <p>Approximately 2.5 years younger</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do men in polygynous mating systems prefer in terms of age differences?

    <p>Larger age differences</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How does men's age affect their preferences for mates?

    <p>Older men desire younger women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the evolutionary model predict about men's desires in mates?

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

    What does the study show about teenage males' preferences for dates?

    <p>They prefer women slightly older than themselves</p> Signup and view all the answers

    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

    Why do teenage males not prefer younger women according to the text?

    <p>They have different preferences than older men</p> Signup and view all the answers

    According to evolutionary psychology, why do men desire young women?

    <p>Youth has consistently been linked with fertility</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one anomaly unexplained by the evolutionary hypothesis?

    <p>The actual age preferences of older men being beyond maximum fertility</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one possible explanation for older men preferring women in their mid-30s despite being beyond maximum fertility?

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

    What does the text suggest about modern marriage compared to ancestral marriage?

    <p>Modern marriage likely differs from ancestral marriage</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a potential reason motivating men to seek marriage for reproductive success?

    <p>To provide long-term resources and protection</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In ancestral environments, how did marriage impact a man's likelihood of being the father of his children?

    <p>It increased the odds of being the father</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a potential benefit of marriage for men's lifespan?

    <p>Married men live longer, especially if married to younger women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How does human mating differ from chimpanzee mating?

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

    What could potentially motivate men to marry women?

    <p>The capacity of women to bear children</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How does sexual activity differ between humans and chimpanzees?

    <p>Sexual activity among humans occurs throughout a woman's ovulation cycle</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which cue to female attractiveness 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 positively correlated with judgments of attractiveness?

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

    Which of the following is a strong cue to youth and health, with younger women having longer and higher-rated quality?

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

    What 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

    Which cue to female attractiveness is linked to estrogen levels and fertility, and is a marker of reproductive value and health?

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

    What is positively correlated with judgments of attractiveness and is a cue to developmental stability?

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

    Which cue to female attractiveness is judged to be more feminine and attractive?

    <p>Women who wear high heels</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What are some of the observable cues to a woman's reproductive value mentioned in the text?

    <p>Clear skin and lustrous hair</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did psychologists Clelland Ford and Frank Beach discover about cues to attractiveness?

    <p>Signs of youth and health are universally regarded as attractive</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the link between physical attractiveness and health, based on empirical support mentioned in the text?

    <p>Strong empirical support exists for the link between physical attractiveness and objective measures of health</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did our ancestors have access to as observable evidence of a woman’s reproductive value?

    <p>Physical appearance and behavior</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the psychologists Clelland Ford and Frank Beach discover about cues to ill health and older age?

    <p>They are universally regarded as less attractive</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is universally regarded as unattractive, according to the text?

    <p>Poor complexion</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the main focus of the text in Figure 5.2 regarding the evolution of standards of attractiveness?

    <p>Standards of female attractiveness evolved to embody observable cues to fertility or reproductive value</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did a study of 9,998 Chinese women find regarding the relationship between leg length and offspring?

    <p>Women with longer legs had more offspring, especially in lower socioeconomic backgrounds</p> Signup and view all the answers

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

    <p>The nucleus accumbens area of the brain becomes activated when men look at attractive female faces</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>There is a universal preference for a particular ratio between the size of a woman's waist and the size of her hips</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the main focus of women's spinal structure evolution, as mentioned in the text?

    <p>To accommodate the strain of pregnancy, with a wedge-shaped lumbar vertebra</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do body cues, such as body fat distribution and waist-to-hip ratio, provide cues to in women?

    <p>Reproductive capacity</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do standards for female bodily attractiveness do across cultures, as mentioned in the text?

    <p>Vary, with plumpness signaling wealth and health in some cultures</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did a study across 26 cultures reveal about women's perception of men's ideal female body size?

    <p>Women's perception of men's ideal female body size is slimmer than men's actual preference</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the range of healthy, reproductively capable women's WHR after puberty?

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

    What is the range of healthy men's WHR after puberty?

    <p>0.85 to 0.95</p> Signup and view all the answers

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

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

    What is the WHR of women seen as more attractive than women with a WHR of 0.80?

    <p>0.70</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the average WHR of Playboy centerfolds and winners of U.S. beauty contests over 30 years?

    <p>0.70</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Where has a preference for a relatively low WHR been found?

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

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

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

    In which part of the world did online escorts with a lower WHR and a younger age charge higher prices for their sexual services?

    <p>Europe</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 did the study of the Hadza in Tanzania reveal about men's preference for women's waist-hip ratio (WHR)?

    <p>Men were found to prefer somewhat heavier women with a higher WHR.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study involving stimuli that accurately characterized the local cultural range of WHR reveal about men's preferences?

    <p>Men tend to find attractive a WHR that is lower than the local average.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What was the outcome of the study involving profle views of buttocks rather than frontal views among the Hadza?

    <p>There was less disparity between American and Hadza preferences for the actual WHR of real women.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study in Peru and among the Hadza in Tanzania fail to replicate?

    <p>The invariant preference for a specific WHR such as 0.70.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study suggest about WHR assessment in foraging societies compared to Western populations?

    <p>The normal range of women’s WHR is higher in foraging societies than in Western populations.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study reveal about men's preferences for WHR when stimuli accurately characterized the local cultural range of WHR?

    <p>Men tend to find attractive a WHR that is lower than the local average.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In the international study on choosing a mate, what percentage of cultures placed a significantly different value by gender on chastity?

    <p>62 percent</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a more important cue than virginity to paternity certainty from a man’s reproductive perspective?

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

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

    <p>Faithfulness and sexual loyalty</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 study of Venus figurines covering 20,000 years of human history in Europe support?

    <p>The consistency of male preferences for youth and physical attractiveness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did psychologists Clelland Ford and Frank Beach discover about cues to attractiveness?

    <p>The relationship between physical attractiveness and fertility</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the potential reason concealed ovulation may have evolved?

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

    What potential benefit did marriage offer in terms of paternity certainty?

    <p>Increased paternity certainty through repeated sexual contact</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did men seek in a mate to increase the odds of securing paternity?

    <p>Premarital chastity and postmarital fidelity</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What has declined over time, coinciding with the availability of birth control?

    <p>The value of chastity</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is true about the global value of chastity as an important trait in a long-term mate?

    <p>Men globally value chastity more than women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is true about the cultural variations in the importance placed on chastity as a desirable trait in a potential mate?

    <p>There are significant cultural variations</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study by Buss and Schmitt (1993) find regarding men's desire for physical attractiveness in long-term mates across 37 cultures?

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

    What are some of the physical changes in women during ovulation that are mentioned in the text?

    <p>Skin, face, body, voice, and behavior</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study find about ovulating women's behavior in singles bars?

    <p>Ovulating women are touched more often by men in singles bars</p> Signup and view all the answers

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

    <p>Ovulating women received significantly higher tips than non-ovulating women in gentlemen's clubs</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, despite conventional wisdom</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study find about women's reported desire for sexual contact as ovulation approaches?

    <p>Women's reported desire for sexual contact increases steadily as ovulation approaches</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did eye-tracking studies find about male gaze in attractiveness judgments?

    <p>Men fixated on the waist and breasts, supporting the importance of Waist-to-Hip Ratio (WHR)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did a cross-generational mating study in the United States reveal about mate preferences?

    <p>Men consistently rated physical attractiveness as more important in mate preferences than women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did a study across 26 cultures reveal about women's perception of men's ideal female body size?

    <p>Women's perception of ideal female body size varied widely across cultures</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did a study of 9,998 Chinese women find regarding the relationship between leg length and offspring?

    <p>Longer leg length was positively correlated with the number of offspring</p> Signup and view all the answers

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

    <p>The evolution of standards of attractiveness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did men in all 37 cultures included in a study on choosing a mate value in a potential mate more than women?

    <p>Physical appearance</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the approximate percentage of men with a primary orientation toward heterosexuality?

    <p>99%</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the modest heritable component of sexual orientation according to the text?

    <p>60%</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one evolutionary explanation of male homosexuality discussed in the text?

    <p>The kin altruism theory</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did early tests of the kin altruism theory find about the likelihood of gay men funneling resources toward kin compared to heterosexual men?

    <p>No difference</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the kin altruism theory propose about the investment of homosexuals in their genetic relatives?

    <p>To offset the costs of forgoing direct reproduction</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the approximate percentage of primarily or exclusively homosexual men as mentioned in the text?

    <p>1 to 2%</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the kin altruism theory propose about the evolution of genes for homosexual orientation?

    <p>Investing in genetic relatives</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did sociological studies show about men with high occupational status?

    <p>They tend to marry more physically attractive women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did a study show about the impact of men's income on their partner preferences?

    <p>As men’s income increases, they seek younger partners</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did a study find about the impact of media images on men's perceptions of their partners' attractiveness?

    <p>Men viewing pictures of highly attractive women judged their actual partners to be less attractive</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the consequence of advertisers exploiting the universal appeal of beautiful, youthful women?

    <p>Negative consequences of media images on men's perceptions of their partners' attractiveness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do men high in mate value express a stronger preference for?

    <p>Facially feminine women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a modern example of high-status older males' mating behavior?

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

    What is a historical example of men's long-term mating strategies?

    <p>Kings and emperors with large harems and numerous offspring</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What role does testosterone (T) play in male mating effort?

    <p>Facilitates male pursuit of females and increases after interacting with an attractive woman</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the relationship between testosterone (T) levels and men's relationship status?

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

    What is the impact of high testosterone (T) levels on men's parenting effort?

    <p>High T levels compromise immune functioning and may interfere with parenting effort</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did McIntyre and colleagues discover about men in relationships who pursue additional matings?

    <p>Men who pursue additional matings have higher T levels than men who remain monogamous</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the evidence regarding the relationship between testosterone (T) levels and men's likelihood of pursuing extra-pair sex?

    <p>Men who consider having an affair behind their partner's back have higher T levels</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the impact of forming a committed relationship on men's testosterone (T) levels?

    <p>T levels drop after forming a committed relationship</p> Signup and view all the answers

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

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

    What does exposure to potential mates trigger in terms of testosterone (T) levels?

    <p>Exposure to potential mates triggers rapid rises in T levels</p> Signup and view all the answers

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

    <p>The presence of an attractive woman produced an increase in risk-taking and elevated T levels</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What evolutionary explanation is suggested for homosexual behavior?

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

    What did a 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

    Which theory has accrued the strongest empirical support among the three evolutionary theories of homosexuality?

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

    What does the alliance formation theory propose regarding homoerotic behavior by young men with older men?

    <p>It provides a strategy for gaining allies and boosting status</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What have empirical difficulties been encountered by, and what does not seem to explain the majority of cultures?

    <p>Alliance formation theory; Homoerotic behavior as a strategy of alliance formation</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do social, ecological, and personal contexts influence, according to the text?

    <p>Men’s mating strategies</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In what type of environments are men bombarded with thousands of images of attractive models, as mentioned in the text?

    <p>Modern environments</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did Norman Li and colleagues use to determine which mate qualities are 'necessities' and which are 'luxuries'?

    <p>The budget allocation method</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In the skateboarding study, what effect did the mere presence of an attractive woman have on men?

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

    What did men allocate a relatively large proportion of their budget to when given a low budget in the mating dollars study?

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

    What did women allocate a relatively large proportion of their budget to when given a low budget in the mating dollars study?

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

    What did the budget allocation method used by Norman Li and colleagues correspond to in terms of mate value?

    <p>Mating dollars</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the mere presence of an attractive woman cause men to increase?

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

    What effect does makeup have on women's faces?

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

    What deceptive appearance enhancement tactics do women use to attract mates?

    <p>Wearing padded clothing and colored contact lenses</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How do men behave towards attractive women pursuing short-term mating strategies?

    <p>They have difficulty disengaging their attention</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do men do when speaking with women they believe to be attractive?

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

    What do men spend more on for younger women?

    <p>Engagement rings</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do men's mate preferences influence in women's behavior?

    <p>Competition tactics, including appearance enhancement and intersexual deception</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary focus of men's long-term mate-selection decisions?

    <p>Identifying women of high fertility</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a key factor linked to women's derogation tactics when competing for mates?

    <p>Men's short-term mate preferences</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a behavior linked to women when primed with cues of economic hardship?

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

    What is a consequence of marrying for men in terms of mate attraction?

    <p>Increased chances of attracting a mate</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a factor linked to men's standards of attractiveness in potential mates?

    <p>Cues of a woman's reproductive capacity</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a characteristic linked to women that threatens other women when flirting with their romantic partners?

    <p>More feminine faces</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Why might men choose a long-term mating strategy over a short-term mating strategy from an evolutionary perspective?

    <p>Long-term commitment may offer greater paternity certainty, ensuring investment in genetically related offspring.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How does the fact of internal fertilization in women create adaptive problems for men?

    <p>Men face the risk of investing in offspring that may not be genetically related to them.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Why do many men fail to fulfill their mating desires for youth and physical attractiveness?

    <p>Limited mating budgets lead men to prioritize necessities over luxuries in mate selection.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the impact of men marrying women younger than themselves on reproductive success?

    <p>Men married to younger women have higher reproductive success.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do men's mate preferences shifting as a function of their 'mating budget' indicate?

    <p>Men prioritize physical attractiveness as a necessity before considering other traits.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do women's derogatory tactics towards rivals suggest about men's mate preferences?

    <p>Derogatory tactics are effective in rendering rivals less attractive to men, aligning with men's mate preferences.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What impact do men's long-term mate preferences have on their mating behavior and decisions?

    <p>They heavily influence their behavior in personal ads, responses to personal ads, actual marriages, vocal patterns, tips in restaurants, money spent on engagement rings, and intrasexual competition.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study find about men's preference for younger women in polygynous cultures?

    <p>Men in polygynous cultures prefer women significantly younger than themselves.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the impact of men marrying younger women on their reproductive output?

    <p>Men marrying younger women tend to have greater reproductive output.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the text suggest about the impact of modern environments on men's evolved mate preferences?

    <p>Men's evolved mate preferences continue to be activated and acted upon in modern environments.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the data presented in the text support regarding men's long-term mate preferences?

    <p>The data supports the idea that men's long-term mate preferences heavily influence their mating behavior and decisions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the text reveal about men's marriage decisions in relation to the age of their spouses?

    <p>Men's marriage decisions confirm a preference for increasingly younger women as they age.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Study Notes

    Adaptive Benefits of Commitment and Marriage for Men

    • Ancestral women required reliable signs of male commitment before consenting to sex, motivating men to seek marriage for reproductive success.
    • Men willing to promise long-term resources, protection, and investment are appealing to women, broadening their range of potential partners.
    • Marriage increases the odds of a man being the father of his children and improves their survival in ancestral environments.
    • Fathers in many cultures have a strong influence in arranging beneficial marriages for their children.
    • Marriage increases a man's status, bringing potential benefits such as better resources and additional mates.
    • Married men live longer than single men, especially if married to younger women, potentially due to marriage itself having a causal effect on men's health.
    • There are potentially nine powerful adaptive benefits for men willing to commit to marriage, including increased reproductive success, social status, and lifespan.
    • Ancestral men would benefit from marrying women with the capacity to bear children for reproductive success.
    • Men cannot observe a woman's reproductive value directly, so selection could only fashion preferences in men for observable qualities correlated with reproductive value.
    • Human mating differs from chimpanzee mating, as women's ovulation is relatively concealed, unlike the pronounced signs of estrus in female chimpanzees.
    • Sexual activity among humans occurs throughout a woman's ovulation cycle, unlike the concentrated activity during the estrus phase in chimpanzees.
    • Women's ovulation in humans is not accompanied by pronounced genital swelling or clearly detectable scents, unlike the female chimpanzee's estrus phase.

    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

    The Importance of Physical Appearance in Mate Preferences

    • A study examined the link between Waist-to-Hip Ratio (WHR) and the number of children women had in seven traditional societies, finding that the fewer children a woman had, the lower her WHR, indicating a reliable sign of a woman’s reproductive history.
    • Men pursuing a short-term sexual strategy have a stronger preference for low WHR than those pursuing a long-term mating strategy.
    • WHR is an important bodily cue to female attractiveness and is linked to female fertility, with preferences varying based on the actual values of WHR in the local culture and sexual strategy pursued.
    • Body Mass Index (BMI) is positively correlated with WHR, and a low BMI was found to be a better predictor of attractiveness judgments than WHR.
    • Eye-tracking studies found that eye fixations clustered around the waist and breasts, supporting the importance of WHR in attractiveness judgments.
    • Brain imaging studies found that male brain reward centers were activated in response to naked female bodies with a low WHR.
    • Waist circumference was found to be a stronger predictor of attractiveness judgments than either WHR or BMI in some studies.
    • Small waist and relatively long legs were identified as the two strongest predictors of women’s bodily attractiveness in a study examining multiple attributes.
    • A cross-generational mating study in the United States found that men consistently rated physical attractiveness as more important in mate preferences than women, with the importance of attractiveness increasing dramatically in the 20th century.
    • Regardless of location or cultural living arrangement, men in all 37 cultures included in a study on choosing a mate valued physical appearance in a potential mate more than women.
    • China typifies the average difference in importance attached to beauty, with men consistently valuing physical appearance in a potential mate more than women.
    • Among the Hadza, men placed great importance on the fertility of a potential spouse, indicating awareness that physical appearance conveys vital information about fertility.

    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.

    Evolutionary Psychology of Mate Preferences

    • As people's mating budgets increase, they spend more on "luxuries" like kindness, creativity, and liveliness, with kindness and intelligence being close to necessities.
    • Low, medium, and high budgets likely parallel individual differences in mate value, with lower mate value individuals focusing on necessary mating traits, and higher mate value individuals being choosier.
    • Men's long-term mate preferences impact their behavior in personal ads, responses to personal ads, actual marriages, vocal patterns, tips in restaurants, money spent on engagement rings, and intrasexual competition.
    • Men respond more to women's personal ads than vice versa, with younger women receiving more responses, and mentioning physical attractiveness generating more responses for women than for men.
    • Actual marriage decisions confirm men's preference for increasingly younger women as they age, with American grooms being 3 years older at first marriage, 5 years at second, and 8 years at third marriage.
    • Men's preference for younger women is a global trend, with men marrying women 10.6 years younger in 1800s Sweden, and average age differences of 3 years in Poland to 5 years in Greece.
    • In polygynous cultures, the age difference between brides and grooms is even larger, with high-status men marrying women two decades younger.
    • Men who marry younger women tend to have greater reproductive output, with a study showing that men married to women 6 years younger had an average of 2.3 children, while those married to women 6 years older had 1.7 children.
    • Physically attractive women, historically, had higher fertility rates, with modern birth control potentially severing the link between female beauty and reproductive output.
    • Men's evolved mate preferences for young and attractive women continue to be activated and acted upon in modern environments, regardless of their current reproductive outcomes.
    • The data presented in the text supports the idea that men's long-term mate preferences heavily influence their mating behavior and decisions.
    • The text provides evidence that men's preference for younger women is a global phenomenon with significant impact on reproductive outcomes.

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    Test your knowledge of the adaptive benefits of commitment and marriage for men with this insightful quiz. Explore the evolutionary and biological factors that have shaped men's willingness to commit to long-term relationships and the potential advantages it brings in terms of reproductive success, social status, and overall well-being.

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