According to error management theory (EMT), when judgments are made under uncertainty, and the costs of errors are not symmetrical, humans have adapted to favor making less costly errors (Haselton, Buss, & DeKay, 1998). When judgments are made under conditions of uncertainty, there are two possible types of errors: false positives and false negatives. The costs of making these types of errors are often asymmetrical because decreasing the likelihood of making one type of error increases the likelihood of making the other type of error (Green & Swets, 1966). This principle applies to the mating paradigm for humans. In terms of judgments of sexual interest, a false positive error is committed when an individual falsely concludes that an opposite sex individual is interested in him/her sexually when the opposite sex individual does not actually have sexual interest. This is sexual overperception because in this case, there is an overestimation of sexual interest. A false negative error is committed when an individual falsely concludes that an opposite sex individual is not interested in him/her sexually while the opposite sex individual is actually interested in him/her. This is sexual underperception (Henningsen & Henningsen, 2010). Haselton and Buss (2000) call these cognitive errors adaptive biases and suggest that they still remain present in humans today because they provided benefits in reproduction and survival in the past. In ancestral societies, it was more costly for men to commit a false negative error than a false positive error because committing a false negative error meant possibly missing a mating opportunity (Buss, 1994). In contrast, for ancestral women, it is less costly to commit a false negative error than false p... ... middle of paper ... ...estosterone and physical risk taking in young men. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 1(1), 57-64. Roney, J. R. (2003). Effects of visual exposure to the opposite sex: Cognitive aspects of mate attraction in human males. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(3), 393-404. Stanovich, K. E. (2004). How to think straight about psychology. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Sugiyama, L. (2005). Physical attractiveness in adaptationist perspective. In Buss D. M. (Ed.) The handbook of evolutionary psychology (pp. 292-342). New York, NY: Wiley. Wang, Y., & Griskevicius, V. (2014). Conspicuous consumption, relationships, and rivals: Women’s luxury products as signals to other women. Journal of Consumer Research, 40(5), 834-854. Wilson, M., & Daly, M. (1985). Competitiveness, risk-taking, and violence: The young male syndrome. Ethology and Sociobiology, 6, 59-73.
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Hosoda, M., Stone-Romero, E. F., & Coats, G. “The effects of physical attractiveness on job-related outcomes: A meta-analysis of experimental studies”. Personnel Psychology, 56 (2003): 431-462.
The study of psychobiology attempts to explain behaviour in terms of physiological mechanisms. Previous research shows that female and male reactions differ with regards to emotional stimuli (Campbell et al., 2002 & Orozco & Ehlers, 1998, as cited in Hall, 2004). “Sex Differences in Functional Activation Patterns Revealed by Increased Emotion Processing Demands” (Hall, Witelson, Szechtman, & Nahmias, 2004) studied the effects that different emotional stimuli have on brain activation patterns (Hall et al.). The study was divided into two experiments, both of which compared and contrasted the results between two different groups of eight women and eight men (Hall et al.). In experiment one, patients performed three tasks: facial detection, identity matching and emotion matching (Hall et al.). In experiment two, a different group of eight women and eight men performed gender matching and emotion matching, with an additional auditory stimulus (Hall et al.). The results showed that sexual dimorphism was present in the reactions between women and men (Hall et al.). This essay proposes to examine the psychobiological aspect of the studies, to identify any interesting and relevant results, and to analyze its key elements and scientific rigor. Furthermore, it will explore possible future improvements to the study, as well as highlight possible applications of the results. This essay will prove that the research paper is both relevant and interesting to psychobiology.
There is a famous saying that states, “ we should not judge a book by its cover”, but oftentimes the first thing noticed on a person is their looks. One’s “physical beauty” strongly influences people’s first impressions of them. As a whole, we tend to assume that pretty people are more likeable and better people than those who are unattractive. Around the world, we believe that what is beautiful is good. There is a general consensus within a culture about what is considered physically appealing and beautiful. “Physical beauty” is associated with being more sociable, intelligent, and even socially skilled. Society shares this common notion of who has and who does not have “physical beauty”. Thus, “physical beauty”, as seen
Lefkowitz, Monroe M. 1977. Growing Up to be Violent: A Longitudinal Study of the Development of Aggression. New York: Pergamon.
Darwin's theory of sexual selection is an intriguing one because it offers an explanation of human striving and cultural value systems. The theory is that humans who are more sexually desirable will have more offspring and thus their traits will be passed on to future generations to a greater extent than those of less sexually desirable humans. As opposed to Darwin's other theory, natural selection, those who are the best adapted to their environment will be more likely to pass on their genes, or, "survival of the fittest", you might call sexual selection "survival of the sexiest." The theory is intended to in part explain why, when humans diverged from other primates, the human brain tripled in size in just two million years. At first glance, this theory also seems to explain much of the motivation behind human culture and achievement. Upon closer inspection, there are some fairly conspicuous problems with it, especially when it is extended to describe not only human evolution in the distant past but it the present, but it may still be the most plausible explanation available to explain why humans mental capacities have expanded so far beyond those of our primate relatives.
In understanding moral and ethical development of individuals, we have been exposed to a vast amount of information enlightening us of the complex ways in which both males and females cognitively develop their moral and ethical values. Through this we have learned about the many gender differences in these values, which has raised the question of why males and females branch apart in this development, when the separation occurs, and if it is a result biological differences, or socialization. In studying violence, in particular, the two directions seem to lead further and further apart as most research shows that boys act more physically aggressive than girls. In fact, most books available on youth violence, and even studies done in the past, focus on the male population because that is where it seems to be most prevalent. "…Teenage girls are arrested far less frequently for serious violent crime than boys (a ratio of one to eight)" (Siegal & Senna, 1991, 56). Why does this drastic form of aggression occur to an extreme in young males, and can the same epidemic be forming in young females? To answer this question information has been gathered and a questionnaire formed to assess peoples’ views on gender differences in aggression and what factors contribute to it.
Strom, J. & Buck, R (1979). Staring and participants’ sex: Physiological and subjective reactions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 5, 1.
A psychological mechanism is defined as an adaptation of human behavior that evolved due to evolutionary pressures. This paper focuses on the psychological mechanism of human mating strategies and the evolution of mate preferences. There are several theories to explain how differences in male and female mating strategies developed. This paper explores the parental investment theory, male mating effort as well as the role of different adaptive problems faced by males and females. The traits that humans find attractive in a partner are the ones that confer a reproductive advantage to the individual (Buss, 1994). Early in the literature there is evidence to support the theory that males and females differ in their mate preferences in such a way that males are unselective while females are choosy (Darwin 1871). However, there are also similarities in what each sex finds attractive. It is important to look at how these mating strategies evolved and why adaptive mate preferences continue to exist.
know beauty in any form”(86). We are so conditioned to see female beauty as what men
Since the beginning of time (or so it seems) the human male has been known to spend hours contemplating the complexities of the female mind. Prehistoric man would sit on his rock, hands folded against the chin, with the all too familiar look of complete confusion and bewilderment, as he tried to understand what it was exactly that the prehistoric female wanted (or perhaps how to trick her into scampering off with him to his little leaf-filled bed to reproduce). The female, on the other hand, having easily deciphered the mind of the opposite sex, could be found with a similar expression trying to figure out what was so difficult for the male species to comprehend.
Evolutionary framework for human mating is based on three elements. First, strategies for mating developed to solve specific problems in human evolutionary history. Second, people behave differently depending on the type of mating involved. There are two types of mating, short term and long term mating. Short term mating is defined as casual sex (i.e. one-night stands and brief affairs). Long term mating is seen as a committed relationship (i.e. dating, going steady, and marriage). Third, males and females developed different strategies due to the difference in problems they have had over the course of human evolution (Buss 241). This paper will examine those strategies specific to males.
How do we explain, predict and control human behavior? This question remains a central underlying theme within psychology as a whole. Few specific branches of psychology have attempted to integrate multiple perspectives within their fields of research. Evolutionary psychology appears to be unique in this endeavor, and as the following researchers point out, “Evolutionary psychology is the long-forestalled scientific attempt to assemble out of the disjointed, fragmentary, and mutually contradictory human disciplines a single, logically integrated research framework for the psychological, social, and behavioural sciences—a framework that not only incorporates the evolutionary sciences on a full and equal basis, but that systematically works out all of the revisions in existing belief and research practice that such a synthesis requires” (Tooby & Cosmides, 2005)
When one sees someone that is, in one’s mind, extremely attractive, they want to continue to look at the attractive person, face, body, etc. According to a popular press article, human beings “apparently seek out the more attractive people because our brains give us a pat on the proverbial back when we lock eyes with” someone with a more aesthetically pleasing face (Lucas, 2014). One likes to continue looking at that person, face, body, etc. because one’s brain makes one feel better about viewing that person’s attractive face, body, etc.
Good physical appearance helps in building up flexible relationships. For example women who take care of their physical appearance manage to have a better relatio...