Evolutionary Psychology Perspective of Personality - Essay Example

The Basic Principles of the Evolutionary Psychology Perspective of Personality and Its Application to Mate Selection There are diverse factors that predispose personality and mate selection. Evolutionary, hereditary, and social influences have a considerable influence on human psychological individualities and sexual variety. Mate selection is considerably influenced by evolution and social dimensions. Evolutionary characteristics stipulate the changes in personality accrued through evolution while social dimensions are transferable through culture and social interactions. Through the study of these two dimensions, mate selection behaviour is comprehensively explored. The evolutionary perspective affirm that different sexual behaviour arises from evolution. The social perspective contrasts this view because some research studies indicate that the surroundings and cultural settings have an effect on male selection. There are some rudimentary principles of evolutionary psychology perspective of personality that determine the process of mate selection. This paper provides an overview of how these ideologies apply to mate selection. Key words: Male Selection, Sexual orientation, continuous gender identity, childhood gender nonconformity Evolutionary Psychology Perspective of Personality: Mate Selection Sexual orientation and its associated foundations are a concern to scientists both empirically and theoretically. To a great extent, this concentration arises from the notion that dissimilar etiological accounts of sexual placement present diverse social and ethical consequences along the scientific considerations. The link between sexual behaviour and genetic influences has been considerably explored by scientists. Mate selection has been largely studied through the evolutionary and social constructs. The two structures are mainly based on evolution and cultural dispositions. The principles of evolutionary psychology of personality are mainly five. All the principles are based on mate selection. The first principle is that women are naturally compelled to carefully select their male counterparts because of the aspect of pregnancy. This is because a woman has only one chance at a time to give birth to a child. According to Bagchi (2010), the nine-month epoch taken for the child to be born compels a woman to make the correct choice at first instance. This entails the selection of a man she perceives to be having the correct genes. The genes sought by women include natural intelligence and attractive physical attributes of the men. The other principle is related to the first principle. It stipulates that the introduction of pills led to a change in the manner in which women handle sex. In this respect, women started being insensitive to the aspect of pregnancy because the pills controlled pregnancy. According to Buss (2009), the pills used by the women prevent the occurrence of fertilization of the ovum. As a result, pregnancy is prevented. The pills used may also lead to death in case they are overused. This notwithstanding, women are still alive to the importance of choosing the correct life partner. The partner sought must be able to cater for the welfare of the child. The next principle is that men take the advantage of not getting pregnant to sire bastard children. This is partly because there is no cost incurred in the whole exercise. However, many men fear being blameable fathers given the standing and reverence attributed to responsible father in society. The fact that men are naturally not able to carry pregnancies makes some men irresponsible to an extent of siring children out of wedlock without recourse (Cassell, 2009). This has led to moral decadence and disregard of morals and ethical standards in society. Another principle is that men do not incur much cost in siring children. This leaves the burden of rearing children for women. This makes the women to be keen in their selection of male partners. The other principle is that men are only attracted to beautiful women. Beauty is relative given that in this case it refers to the symmetry of the facial features of the ladies. This has culminated in plastic surgery and other extreme practices for the women. These extreme practices usually have side-effects to the women who use them. This notwithstanding, women persist in using these cosmetic methods to improve on their looks. For instance, plastic surgery has long-term effects on the complexion of women. Men associate beauty wit health of a woman. This is also correlated to a woman’s future ability to survive pregnancy and eventually bear children. The other principle of evolution psychology is that men who are gay are usually focused on good looks. This is because they strive to be attractive to other men. Conversely, lesbian women are not after looking attractive. They are usually relaxed because women are concerned with relaxed women. According to Russock (2011), women are fascinated by men who are relaxed on their looks. This provides an opportunity for the women to improve their male counterparts in order to receive accolades. Women are also naturally vulnerable to low-self-esteem. The controversial thing about the gay men is that they are still men even if they improve their looks. Additionally, the fact that homosexuality is prohibited in some countries does not prohibit the gay people from practicing it. Psychology evolution has contributed to behaviour regulation mechanism whereby an individual’s behaviour is controlled by the effects of the person’s behaviour. Procrastination before examinations among students creates difficult tasks .This usually results to failure in examinations and wastage of time in remedial sessions. This pattern of behaviour compromises creativity and intellectual development because students avoid brain storming exercise and critical analysis of academic problems. Psychology evolution is one of the techniques which can be used to change the above undesirable behaviour. This can take the form of rewards whereby students are promised rewards upon achieving set targets. This kind of Psychology evolution will psychologically motivate people. This will make them unleash their potential in the process of learning without being compelled by external forces. Psychology evolution helps in the employment of unpleasant stimuli in order to change undesirable behaviour. These principles reveal that the partner selection process entails lot of consideration especially on the part of the women. This is partly because of their natural vulnerability. For instance, psychology evolution can be employed in order to eliminate the procrastination behaviour of the students. Disciplining people is effective because it is an action-reaction measure hence students will struggle to avoid infliction of pain through spanking. According to Bagchi (2010) children respond promptly to punitive disciplining than guidance and counselling. In addition, this technique will compel students to perform to the beast of their capability hence improvement in academic standards. Shaping principle can be applied in regulating behaviour. This is possible through offering of easy subjects to the students and giving them difficult tasks when they are academically mature. This gives the students sufficient time for them to grow and develop academically. Indeed, this will enable them appreciate their studying process hence development of self-drive in pursuing academics. This will increase creativity among the students. Psychology evolution is an integral part of human mate selection process. This is because behaviour determined the coexistence of personnel within an organization setting. In this regard, it is incumbent upon the management to regulate human behaviour to ensure organizational goals are prioritized. The management can apply operator conditioning. This is a behaviour regulation mechanism whereby an individual’s behaviour is controlled by the consequences of a person’s actions. The management can apply this criterion through instituting sanctions for errand staff. This pattern of behaviour regulation boosts creativity and intellectual development because staff engages in brain storming exercise and critical analysis of organizational problems. Positive reinforcement is another technique, which can be used to regulate human behaviour (Buss, 2009). This can take the form of rewards whereby staff is promised rewards upon achieving set targets. This kind of behavioural conditioning will psychologically motivate the staff. This will make them unleash their potential in the process of accomplishing tasks without being compelled by external forces. The fact that women are considered the weaker sex is evident of their dominance in the process of mate selection. In this respect, the women are the determinant of almost all successful relationships. In Bailey, Dunne, & Martin’s (2002) experiment, two twins were recruited to assess their sexual orientation, continuous gender identity, and childhood gender nonconformity. The researches conduct a significantly large exploration using an Australian populace of twins as a sample. Bailey and his fellow researchers believe that sampling areas were a problem in previous research studies. This means that there may be more genetic influence on sexual orientation than was previously recorded. In his conclusion, Bailey asserts that there is an extent to which homosexuality is hereditary. Familial influences are imperative for the two traits: continuous gender identity, and childhood gender nonconformity. However, they do not clearly discriminate shared environmental influences from genetic impacts. Another fascinating finding was that childhood gender nonconformity has a significantly higher relation to sexual orientation for males than females. In the main, this solidifies previous research findings pertaining to sexual orientations. The results of the study evidence that genetic effect has inadequate influence on one’s sexual orientation. Evolutionary selection such as cognitive and emotional processes determine the mental programs instituted in humans. Evolutionary psychologist are of the opinion that human behaviour is mostly as a result of previous psychological adaptations. According to Tamas (2000), the psychological adaptations sought to address persistent difficulties in human familial surroundings. There are some behavioural traits that occur commonly in most regions that are bound to endure evolutionary variations. In the end, this has a considerable effect on social behaviour ranging from brainpower to sexual behaviours such as promiscuity. Bereczkei Tamas’ “Evolutionary psychology: A new perspective in the behavioural Sciences” (2000) demonstrates how psychological programs characterize social conduct in diverse fields including politics, health, and economics. David Buss and Randy Larsen in their book “Personality Psychology: Domains of Knowledge about Human Nature” present six essential domains that characterize personality and provide a basis for the scrutiny and comprehension of human personality. These domains are interrelated but broadly include adjustment-adaptive, biological, dispositional, intrapsychic, phenomenological, and socio-cultural (Larsen & Buss, 2013). Buss and Larsen examine an individual based on the effects and influences of the six domains. This is incredibly beneficial in empirical and theoretical research studies pertaining to gender, evolution, and emotions. In regards to this context, human personality can be explore to understand selection of mates. The six domains have been categorized into subsections that characterize the organisation of present-day personality consciousness, according to the authors. There is considerable ecological diversity across regions, meaning that humans are likely to portray substantial behavioural variety (Brown, Dickins, Sear & Laland, 2011). Evolutionary theory can help in appreciating the diversity that happens in human actions. According to Brown Et al (2011), there are variations across different ecological backgrounds on how people choose mates and interact socially. In addition, there are human behavioural traits that are common between some populations and there are those that are widespread in all populations. For instance, drinking, talking, and mating is world-wide across all populations while college graduation or polygamous relations are a preserve of a particular population. Besides, there are differences in behaviour across dissimilar age cohorts. Conclusion Evolutionary and social acquisition remain to be the two most desirable factors in the study of male selection. The approaches directed towards personality and choice of mates is never-ending. Human sexuality stipulates that mating occurs between males and females but behavioural traits indicate that this is influenced by several factors. This is a fundamental aspect of human sexuality that is also characterized by gender equality. The human mind is often disengaged and decision-making, whether about diet or mate selection depends on past experiences. For that reason, one will always choose the most suitable mate based on what evolution stipulates. Even so, cultural diversity has a considerable influence on the predisposition of heterosexuality pertaining to mate selection. The surroundings one puts themselves into or where one receives an upbringing often determine the ensuing behavioural characteristics. A satisfactory understanding of diversity has not yet been comprehensively achieved, but further research and technological advancements present opportunities for all-inclusive deductions. References Bagchi, D. (2010).Principles of evolution psychology. Journal of Personality, 35(2), 211- 220. Bailey, J. M., Dunne, M. P., & Martin, N. G. (2000). Genetic and environmental influences on sexual orientation and its correlates in an Australian twin sample. Journal of personality and social psychology, 78 (3), 524. Bereczkei, T. (2000). Evolutionary psychology: A new perspective in the behavioural Sciences. European Psychologist, 5(3), 175. Brown, G., Dickins, T., Sear, R. & Laland, K. (2011). Evolutionary Accounts of Human Behavioural Diversity. Biological sciences. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 2011 366. Doi: 10.1098/rstb.2010.0267 Buss, D. M., Shackelford, T. K., Choe, J., Buunk, B. P., & Dijkstra, P. (2000). Distress about mating rivals. Personal Relationships, 7(3), 235-243. Cassell, G. (2009). Human Behaviour. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 34 (2), 201 – 231. Larsen, R.J., Buss, D.M. & Wismeijer, A. (2013). Personality Psychology: Domains of Knowledge about Human Nature. London: McGraw-Hill Russock, H. I. (2011). An evolutionary interpretation of the effect of gender and sexual orientation on human mate selection preferences, as indicated by an analysis of personal advertisements. Behaviour, 148 (3), 307-323. Read More