Evolution of Human Mate Selection - Report Example

Introduction

Who mates or corresponds with who has been an intriguing subject among many scientists from varied fields, including geneticists, sociologists, psychologists, and biologists. One of the parts that makes mate selection an interesting discipline is the range of impact caused by the human mating patterns. The range of impact has been observed to transcend across disciplinary boundaries. The fact that over 90 percent of all people get married or engage in intimate relationships makes mate selection a subject of interest for sociologists. These marriages and relationships affects the trends in people’s social lives, for instance, wealth distribution. On the other hand, cultural historians are intrigued by the subject following the emergence of new concerns in it that are learned in contemporary universities and colleges, including assortative mating (Geary, 2004). For a long time, the social psychologists have been largely concerned with attraction, a prerequisite for mating. The enduring dispositions of persons that greatly affect mate selection form the interest of personality psychologists on the subject. Moreover, it is important to note that biologists are mostly concerned with the evolutionary change generated by mating patterns whereas geneticists are concerned with assortative mating. Geneticists believe that assortative mating creates correlation of traits, initially unrelated. This paper seeks to examine the subject of mate selection on psychologists' point of view. The document will first analyze how the concept first evolved through evolutionary psychology then evaluate some of the preferences in mate selection among humans. Further, the article will make an analysis of some of the factors that influence mate section. To be precise, the discussion will narrow down to human mate selection.

Evolution of Human Mate Selection

Since the dawn of a dangerous idea by Darwin in 1859, evolutionary science has greatly transformed. The natural selection theory revolutionized non-human behavior understanding fairly early, but its application to understanding the behaviors of humans had been established long ago. Understanding human behavior can be termed as an arduous journey that begun with misunderstandings of adaptations by Darwin (Geary, 2004).

Sexual Selection Concept by Darwin

The evolutionary mate choice descriptions can be dated back to the works of Darwin in 1871. He was not satisfied with natural selection as a primary methodology of describing evolutionary change, especially he completed On the Origin of Species. From his viewpoint, peacocks’ plumage occurred to have no value of survival and eluded natural selection “in the sense of survival for the fittest” (Geary, p27, 2004). To prove his assertion, he introduced the ‘sexual selection’ concept. He believed that the concept would account for results that could not be described by natural selection singly. The sexual selection concept by Darwin subsumed two processes that were closely related: intrasexual selection and intersexual selection. He defined Intrasexual selection as “the tendency of members of one sex to compete with one another for access to members of the opposite sex” (Dixson, p57, 2009). On the other hand, intersexual selection that was also referred to as “epigamic selection” was explained as the tendency of one sex members to choose out of their own will certain mates to be their opposite sex partners. Darwin extensively observed Epigamic selection as “female choice” since females were more discriminating and selective throughout the kingdom of animals than their male counterparts.

Darwin further asserted that sexual selection can be explained by interactions or behaviors of species, but not prevailing ecological demands. Intrasexual selection, as Dixson (2009) postulated happen to indirectly operate through social hierarchies and not direct competition. Elevation in hierarchies is mostly favored by men while women tend to compete highly for high-status men. Dixson (2009) drew from Darwin’s understanding of mate selection and asserted that the significance of sexual selection depends on the nature of the system of mating. Sexual selection cannot cause much difference in gene frequencies if there exists a monogamous mating system or if all persons within the age of mating become coupled.

Understanding Human Mate Selection through Evolutionary Psychology

Sexual selection theories have recently been incorporated into the Evolutionary Psychology rubric. This has consequently produced an essential framework that forms the basis on which human mating behavior is examined. In the recent years, a torrent of research seeking to study human behavior drawing from genetics, sociology, psychology, evolutionary biology, and anthropology have been established. Most scientists seek to examine the psychological adaptations with human nature aspects, as well as their evolutionary origins. These scientists mostly apply two primary tenets from the theory of natural selection: stabilizing selection and inclusive fitness theory. However, the most recent group of scientists have involved signaling theory and sexual selection in the research on mate selection. This has led to a flavored twist of the concept of adaptationism by Darwin. The contemporary scientists suggest that the proliferation of genes will occur based on the genes’ power to impress other genes through signals. They also reject that ecological utility does not play a role in sexual selection (Dixson, 2009).

Preferences for Mate Selection in Humans

Psychologists have identified some of the personal characteristics that figure out what mates want out of others. However, little research has been conducted to define the most important personal characteristics considered as preferences in mate selection. Despite the differences among men and women in what they want, they usually, in the end, get the real mates that fit their interests. There are several preferences perceived by both men and women as important (Geary, 2004).

Mate Selection Preferences among Women

The logical knowledge obtained from evolutionary psychology indicates that a woman perceives to be in her best situation when she has a long-term partner with a reproductive potential and good genes. Furthermore, the partner is needed to willingly invest the reproductive potential in a woman as well as her children. Most women determine men's reproductive potential through their abilities to invest material and social resources in parenting responsibilities. Men's resources are conceptualized regarding the cultural success, material resource control, and social status. Women prefer culturally successful men. They also develop a preference for physical and behavioral traits in their prospective partners (Geary, 2004).

• Preference for Culturally Successful Men

Long-term relationships mostly develop in primate species and females, fundamentally, prefer dominant males to be their mates. While making their choices especially for marriage partners, females importantly consider the social status of men. Although the things that define social status differ from culture to culture, the position remains the same. Men who are culturally successful are highly considered by women as marriage partners and mating. This kind of men control resources that wield social influence over women and their children. In other words, culturally successful men cannot be compared with other men because they have a higher reproductive potential. Women look forward to utilizing this potential with a sole purpose of fulfilling their reproductive ends. A study conducted by Geary (2004) revealed more reasons for women’s preference in culturally successful men. Findings of the study revealed that among the children of men who culturally successful, a lower rate of mortality is observed compared to children of other men. In cultures where there are low rates of mortality, culturally successful men's children benefit more regarding physical and psychological health, as well as adulthood longevity (Geary, 2004).

In another study conducted by Geary (2004) that included 37 cultures with 10,000 persons in six continents, "good financial prospect" was rated by women higher as an influential preference when selecting a partner. In 29 cultures, "industriousness and ambition" of respective mate were considered as important by women than men. These traits are markers for reproductive potential (ability for a man to reach cultural success).

• Behavioral and Personal Attributes

Women’s most successful strategy is not only constituted by the preference for culturally successful men. According to Geary (2004) men who are culturally successful are self-serving, arrogant, and often pursue their reproductive interests easily. Mostly, the preferred reproductive interests of these men are vested in multiple mating partners and not a single woman. Therefore, behavioral and personal characteristics of mating partners come in as an important preference for women. These characteristics vitally determine the willingness and ability of a man to invest in a single woman and her children for a long period. In simpler words, women want mating partners who are culturally successful, but at the same time, these men should be allowed a room to get influenced by the women.

From Geary’s analysis, it is evident that with the exception of physical attractiveness and age, women are more ‘choosy’ for mating partners than men. With consideration of social dominance, industriousness, and ambition, women also tend to rate the family orientation and emotional stability of their potential mating and marriage partners. Geary (2004) found out that a prospective mating mate or husband was rated highly by women as intelligent, understanding and with good genes. They prefer husbands with resources, as well as social and personal attributes that will enable them to invest the resources in the family. Moreover, the mating mates need to be physically capable of protecting their women should any harm arise. Furthermore, women want mates that will emotionally and intimately satisfy them in their relationship.

Mate Selection Preferences among Men

The choice of men for their mates vary with a relationship’s anticipated length. Given the fact that pregnancy can occur in the course of a relationship hence increasing a man’s investment in a relationship, it is predicted that men desire short-term sexual relationships. However, they still possess same preferences with women, including physical attractiveness, behavioral and personal attributes, fertility, and sexually active.

Both men and women prefer physically attractive partners regarding their appearance and sexual attractiveness. However, Geary (2004) perceives that preference to be a luxury and not a necessity in relationships. Men identify several bodily features like waist-to-hip ratio, facial features (Relatively young and sexually mature), age, and body symmetry. For long-term relationships, intelligent, cooperative and compatible partners are preferred by men. Geary (2004) found out that men rated sense of humor, friendliness, and personality highly in selecting their mates. Jealousy is a manifestation of psychological and social need exemplified among men, although it is a universal influence on relationships. It is an indicator that both men and women require well-behaved partners who will maintain having only a single mate.

Factors that Influence Mate Selection

The choice of having a mate or marriage partner is among the serious decisions that people have to make in their lives. There many factors that come into play when selecting a mate. They range from social to economic factors. Social factors include the influence of family and cultures. On the other hand, financial instability has proven to be an influential factor when it comes to mates selecting their prospective mates.

• Social Factors

The dynamics of families and varied cultures across the world greatly influence a mate’s choice. In the U.S, young adults are freely left to determine their mates on the basis of love. On the contrary, in some cases in other countries, mostly in Africa, parents of the mates initiate the process for courtship on behalf of the mates. Both prospective men and women are kept in secret until the both families of a couple make substantive progress on how the two will join. Despite the increasing diffusion of cultures and globalization, some families still dictate mate selection process.

Additionally, in Asian cultures, mates are unionized through marriage. Marriage between two partners occurs as a result of an organized social arrangement between two families. Traditional values play a central role in mate selection in the Asian cultures. The same scenario is observed in South-west Nigeria among the Yoruba. According to the Yoruba’s culture, a young man or woman know little about mating and, therefore, the community does everything possible to ensure that the best mates are joined. In the two cases, it is evident that the cultural aspect fundamentally influences the partner selection process among humans.

• Economic Factors

As previously seen in mate selection preferences among the women, industriousness and resourcefulness are critical elements considered as important by women in choosing their partners. Today, the resourcefulness of men is measured by financial prospects. Men are anticipated to be economically stable to get a mate. Most relationships are reported to break when a man becomes broke, or no longer has a financial source. As perceived by many cultures across the world, a man must be in a position to provide for his family. Women are controllers of the men's resources, and when can no longer be reproductive, then they lose interest.

Conclusion

The behavior of humans regarding mating can be traced back from the works of Darwin in 1859. He developed the idea of natural selection that later foresaw the development of sexual selection. Most of the contemporary scientists echo some of Darwin's tenets, such as stabilizing selection and inclusive fitness theory. In his understanding of sexual selection, Darwin postulated that the selection process of a mate would only be influenced by the nature of the mating system and not ecological factors. The nature of mating system can be described by factors identified by psychologists as preferences. They include behavioral and personal attributes among the mates. Also, women prefer mates who are culturally successful to meet their reproductive needs. Some of the factors that influence mate selection include family and culture, as well as financial stability. Economic prospects in a relationship mostly tend to affect men in the society.