ANTH 332 Assignment 3_Hawks

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Apr 3, 2024

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ANTH 332 Assignment 3 This worksheet does double-duty as a study guide for next week’s quiz. It focuses on key studies presented in lectures 22-24 on WHR (which summarize and build upon week 5 readings), and is aimed at helping you see how science is a process of continually testing and revising hypotheses. Each question is worth 20 points. Make sure you answer all parts of each question. Type your answers into this sheet after the question you are answering. 1). List the reasons Singh (1993) gave for why he hypothesized that selection produced adaptations for male preference for low WHR. Describe the stimuli Singh used to test his hypothesis. What WHR did men in his study find most attractive? The reasons Singh gave that the males would have an adaptive preference for low WHR all concluded that low WHR would provide a reliable cue to mate value. Singh also hypothesized and found that high WHR in females is associated with a risk for primary infertility, Cardiovascular disorders, and female carcinoma. However, Sugiyama found that the number of females suffering from conditions would have been relatively low compared to infectious diseases and other health problems under evolutionary conditions. The stimuli used in Singh's test were estrogen and testosterone. Estrogen affects a female's WHR because, at puberty, it stimulates fat deposition on the thighs, hips, and buttocks and inhibits deposition around the abdomen. On the other hand, testosterone in males leads to fat deposition in the stomach. Singh's overall conclusion in the study was that men found females with WHR of about 0.7 most attractive. 2) According to Lassek & Gaulin (2005), what is the function of gluteal femoral fat? What was the relationship between female WHR and cognitive performance? What was the relationship between female WHR and offspring cognitive performance? According to Lassek and Gaulin, the function of gluteal femoral fat showed a relationship between the mother's WHR and the offspring's cognitive scores. Hence, women with a lower WHR had children with higher cognitive performance. Gluteal femoral fat is significant in the uptake of fatty acids in circulation and acts as a reservoir for excess fats. The fat layer is crucial as it regulates the number of fatty acids to keep it balanced. Essentially, Gluteal femoral fat is composed of high levels of essential fatty acids (like omega-3 fatty acids) that are rare in food but necessary for brain growth) and this fat is conserved except when mobilized during the last trimester of pregnancy and breastfeeding. 3) What was the “weight” and WHR of the line drawings Yu & Shepard (1999) presented to Machiguenga men? Which stimuli did more remote Machiguenga prefer? Which

stimuli did more acculturated Machiguenga prefer? How do Yu & Shepard explain this pattern of results? Yu and Shepard used a subset of the Singh images that consisted of high, medium/moderate, and low body weight and the WHR of 0.9 and 0.7 for the Machiguenga men. The stimuli that more remote Machiguenga preferred showed evidence of no WHR preferences, but the more acculturated Machiguenga preferred women with heavy figures or with low WHR. Yu and Shepard explained these patterns due to acculturation which had the men more assimilated to new trends and values instead of what is genuinely preferred in the culture. 4) According to Sugiyama, what is the problem with Yu & Shepard’s explanation for the differences between remote and acculturated Machiguenga men’s preferences in their study? According to Sugiyama, acculturation drove the problem with Yu and Shepard's explanation for the difference between remote and acculturated Machiguenga men's preferences. Machiguenga men are attracted to thick-waisted women, contrary to the assumption that low WHR attracts males. In their culture, higher WHR symbolizes a healthy and fit woman. However, what they consider fat or thick-waisted is quite different from what we in western society would consider being. The Machiguenga men have never seen someone immobilized by their weight and therefore do not have that stigma surrounding heavier women. Western media may have played a role in influencing the perception of beauty, but certain cultures remained adamant in their perception of body attractiveness. 5) Sugiyama (1996, 2004) hypothesized that WHR preference would be calibrated to the range of variation in the local population. What was the mean female WHR in his Shiwiar sample? When presented with all 12 of Singh’s original stimuli, which figures did Shiwiar men prefer? When Sugiyama presented only line drawings of women within a weight class, what did Shiwiar men prefer? The mean female WHR cited from Sugiyama’s Shiwiar sample was 0.87, “removing five women known or reported pregnant during the study, as well as one woman who may be infertile, leaves mean adult female WHR of 0.87” (Sugiyama 56). When presented with 12 figures, Shiwiar men preferred high-weight figures to low-weight figures. But, when only presented line drawings of women within a weight class, the men preferred low WHR compared to the average population. 6) What were the basic results of both Marlowe & Wetsman’s (1999) study of WHR preference among the Hadza? Did Marlowe, Apicella & Reed’s (2005) study of WHR preference among the Hadza come to the same basic conclusions regarding whether or

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