Sexual Selection Is A Powerful Evolutionary Process

Sexual selection was an idea proposed by Darwin and refers to the process in which males and females attempt to maximize their chances of reproductive success. Within a species there are certain characteristics that make individuals attractive to potential mates. An example of this is in peacocks, female peacocks are attracted to males with long brightly colored tails, even though this makes them easier to be spotted by predators. This characteristic then evolves within the species due to how males with this characteristic have a higher chance of reproductive success and their characteristics being passed on to surviving offspring.

In his article, The Strategies of Finding a Mate, David M. Buss discusses the act of finding a mate and the characteristics that people are drawn to in a mate. He begins the article with a brief look at the history of mating and the theories that have previously been proposed. In particular he addressed Charles Darwin’s theory of sexual evolution and belief in preferential mate choice. Buss proposes that there are three components to human mating. He states that “human mating is inherently strategic… mating strategies are context-dependent… [and that] men and women have faced different mating problems over the course of human evolution and, as a consequence, have evolved different strategies” (Buss, 1994, p. 241). He uses this theory to propose nine different hypotheses to prove that despite humans being varied and different from each other, all humans look for similar characteristics when trying to find a mate (Buss, 1994).

This essay aims to show a comparison between the differences between both female short-term mating strategies and female long-term mating strategies. It will explore the evolution of psychology that has shown reasons for human mating and how these reasons go above and beyond the general idea of physical attractiveness and love. This essay will identify how mate preferences have evolved and further identify psychological mechanisms that women have used to select their mates over the past. This essay will compare and critically discuss the differences and outline them between female short-term mating strategies and female long-term mating

During the evolutionary adaptation time period, between 10-40 thousand years ago, our ancestors were hunter-gatherers. This created a division between men and women. The men would hunt for food and the women would be in charge of the domestic duties such as cleaning and cooking. Doing the domestic chores would have kept women more protected, as it is less strenuous and would have guarded the camp whilst the men were out hunting therefore increasing the chances of reproductive success. This division of labour would have made them less likely to sustain injuries and so the evolutionary approach would suggest that the groups who divided the labour were been more likely to

Albeit, the sexual selection theory is presumed force of natural selection causing individuals to develop reproductive strategies which maximize the like hood of their producing the fittest possible offspring. Otherwise, suggested a competition between males and competition for females as the two most likely mechanism of sexual selection theory.

“If no such variations exist, the population rapidly goes extinct because it cannot adapt to a changing environment” (O’Neil, 1998-2013). Scientists call this reproductive success. “Within a specific environment context, one genotype will be better than another genotype in survival or reproduction for certain reasons having to do with the way its particular features relate to the environment or relate to other organisms within the population” (Futuyma, 2000-2014). The theory of evolution is explicable through various kinds of scientific research.

Researchers have developed a mathematical model that made made a shocking prediction. Animals with ornamentation, males with evolve out of the tension between natural selection and sexual selection into two distinct subspecies. The first is with flashy and costly ornaments but it attracts mates better and the second low cost ornaments. In many animals they separate into two subgroups, one showy and one subdued, with very few in the middle. The contrast gives the more ostentatious individual's physical distinction, helping wow mates and promote themselves.

Intersexual selection describes one sex (commonly females) choosing male partners for copulation. Females tend to choose the males based on secondary sexual characteristics. Intrasexual selection, on the other hand, is competition within the same sex, in the hope of gaining access to the other sex for reproduction (Eberhard, 1996). It is commonly male species competing against each other for female partners. These two forms of sexual selection results in more developed offspring, as the fitter male will out-compete other males and also is more likely to be chosen be

Sexual reproduction is costly. As a result, both sexes often use a variety of mating tactics to reduce their reproductive costs (Arnqvist and Rowe 2005). Research, to date, has traditionally centered on how females attempt to mitigate the cost of mating, due to their often comparatively higher gametic and parental investments (e.g., McNamara et al. 2008; Nilsen et al. 2010). However, male strategies that reduce mating costs have received far less attention. To minimize such costs, male reproductive effort should be directed toward females that will provide the greatest fitness payoffs (Wedell et al. 2002). However, accurate mate evaluation is often difficult

Many researchers believe that certain human traits act as a signpost, advertising the fact that the individual has good genes, or is healthy, or just generally great. As such, finding these traits attractive will result in mating with healthy individuals with good genes. Then evolution kicks in, and the advantages of being attracted to these traits (and possessing them) spread throughout our population until it’s a ubiquitous characteristic of humanity. This is sexual selection. The current study set out firstly to investigate whether the optimum level of men’s facial hair growth and vocal pitch might differ depending on whether we assess attractiveness or dominance. Second, the investigate whether the 2 traits might interact in their effects on attractiveness ratings, such that, for example, higher levels of masculinity in one trait might offset lower levels in the other

This hypothesis focuses on the idea that there is a mismatch between psychological and environmental adaptations. (Abed 6) Sexual competition hypothesis suggests that “desirable female shape, often named “nubile”, is an indicator of youth and reproductive potential and therefore acts as a sign of attraction to males and competition to other females.” (Kardum 257). In this hypothesis, it uses the facts of mating preferences and the female ideal body shape. The female hour-glass figure with a low waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is a sign of fertility and is also a sign that a woman is not pregnant. Women with a lower WHR are seen as more attractive and are therefore more likely to find a high quality long-term mate. On the African Savanna, it was necessary for survival to find a long-term mate for protection, but also to help combine

This research article explores the genetic variation of attractiveness traits when strong sexual selection led to the dissemination of the rival’s phenotype (Janif et al. 2014). Preference for an uncommon secondary sexual trait can bring negative frequency-dependent selection to bear the genetic variation among species. Previous studies have shown that rare traits have an advantage over other individuals from the same species, because it does intensify and promote the mating process.

Another evolutionary explanation of gender development is mate choice, which suggests that gender role behaviours are related to reproductive strategies. It is thought that men will look for women who are young whereas women are usually more interested in the resources of a mate. This can be explained from an evolutionary perspective as mating with a physically attractive woman

The first few chapters discuss in depth both the general rules for mate selection and the differences in mate selection and varying preferences for male and female genders. As explained in the intro the author theorizes that the current behavior of humans in relation to mating behavior can be linked to our evolutionary past. He references Charles Darwin 's theory of evolution and his idea of natural selection, which is the the process through which organisms adapt to their environment and in doing so tend to

Sexual conflict, the conflict between the evolutionary interests of individuals of the two sexes, is recognized as a pertinent factor for adaptation. Traits of one sex that reduce the fitness of the other sex ultimately inflicts antagonistic selection on that sex to evolve to counteract this cost. For example, sexual conflicts can arise over traits like mating duration, where the two sexes adapt and counter-adapt in order for each sex to achieve its ideal fitness levels. However, the fact that adaptations have effects on other fitness components suggests that the detection of sexual conflicts on individual traits can be complicated.