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Mating in human evolution
Comparing and contrasting between women and men
Comparing and contrasting between women and men
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Humans are strongly influenced by different factors in mate selection. Different people have different ideas to choosing the partners, because the people have different aesthetic standards. Some people considered that partner’s physical attractiveness is more important, such as, facial appearance, body shape and age. However, some people liked their partners have a good social status, like, good job, high-income and high education. Over the past few decades some matchmaking services has developed to deal with the problems with people choosing partners and found the reason why they choose this partner, and what is the most important attributes. Several studies have been conducted on the percentage of partner choice. The studies of Archer（1996）and Leo (1993) both showed that the most important trait of partner choice were independence, careerism and support. Archer’s comparison of males and females indicated that the first point of view was relation orientation, such as, understanding and supportive and the most of females and males both chose it. The second point of view was auton...
Natural and sexual selection are not random processes. If there is no difference between the individuals within the species there would be no selection. Sexual selection is related to mating, it acts on individual’s ability to obtain or successfully copulate with a partner. The idea of sexual selection was introduced by Charles Darwin in 1871; he revealed that there are organisms with traits which are not explained by the concept natural selection, for example the tail of a male peacock. His found two main ways in which sexual selection works, these are intra-sexual competition and inter-sexual selection. Intra sexual competition happens within species, usually between males. They compete against each other to be chosen as a mate by a member of opposite sex. Inter-sexual selection is choosing a mate among the members of opposite sex, usually done by females.
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.
Social status has played a major role in many different aspects of life practically since the beginning of time. Social status acts as a label for one’s predicament of living. Such a label directly affects day-to-day tasks, opportunities, and interactions. Generally, how we perceive others is a determining factor for the value we place upon them to our lives. For this particular study, I will be focusing on how social status affects dating/relationships. Dating is the basis of any intimate relationship that can potentially lead to a long-term arrangement such as marriage and pro-creation.
This chapter covers the variations of selection. Selection is a process, a description of how genes that produce better adaptations become more frequent over time. Species don’t try to adapt to their environment. Adaptation to the environment is inevitable if a species has the right kind of genetic variation. (pg. 117) The thought that “everything happens by chance” is essentially wrong. Evolution by selection is a combination of randomness and lawfulness. First a “random” process is the occurrence of mutations that generate an array of genetic variants, both good and bad; and then a “lawful” process (natural selection) that creates these variations. (pg.118) DNA is random, and this shows in humans and animals. For example, a humans parents
The definition of a relationship has changed so many times in the past decades. It has gone from a connection between two people to an obsession and almost a competition. In today’s world a relationship consists of major intimacy and closeness. There are some who believe that intimacy while dating is wrong. They form their own definition of a relationship into what they call a “godly relationship”. Those supporting that kind of a relationship condemn sexual closeness and monitor who their young people are allowed to date. There are two worlds of dating in our lives today; one with infatuation and the other with togetherness.
For centuries now, we have been taught by society that being monogamous is the socially accepted norm. In fact, having more than one marital or sexual partner in many cultures is considered to be taboo. Yet that leaves many people wondering how that tradition was even constructed and whether or not we should continue to live in a monogamous manner. In this paper, we are going to examine if being monogamous is truly a part of human nature and whether or not we are meant to be with only one marital or sexual partner throughout the course of our lives. Now more so than ever, society is moving in a direction that challenges traditional ways of life and many people are no longer following this socially constructed norm. In fact, monogamy has become a very popular, controversial topic that is continuously being addressed by the media and it has people second-guessing if remaining monogamous fits their ideal lifestyle. This is an especially important topic for our generation, due to the fact that we are currently at the stage in our lives where we set goals for ourselves that will pave the roads of our futures. Deciding whether or not to be monogamous is just as important as picking career paths and it holds just as much significance in the way it affects the rest of our lives. This is a problem in relational communication because whether we decide to be monogamous or non-monogamous, our decision will ultimately affect the way we interact with others and the way we approach intimate relationships. With today’s society slowly moving against monogamy, it’s time to decide if limiting ourselves to one marital and sexual partner is really in our nature, or if it’s just a tradition of the past that no longer holds the social significance that ...
“Animals are adapted to their conditions in subtle and marvelous ways (Boyd, R., & Silk, J. 1997:2).” It is commonly recognized that Darwin identified adaptations through Natural Selection: traits that are advantageous to survival will be retained in the population through reproduction. Natural Selection further indicates that traits will survive when they are most beneficial to an individual’s fitness. While Natural Selection and Mutation effectively explains adaptive fitness qualities and variance among populations, it fails to explain species beautiful ornamental traits that are not necessarily beneficial to fitness. The extravagant tails of a male peacocks, the neck of a giraffe, and bright colored plumage of birds are attributes designed to maximize reproductive success. Muscularity, sexual dimorphism (general size difference between sexes), male beards, penis size, calculated fat storage (in the breasts and hips for women), and co-parenting are adaptations in humans explained through sexual selection: specifically, through competition. Natural and Sexual Selection are competing and paralleling factors that define human evolution. While Natural Selection may define the necessity to impart certain genes, Sexual Selection quickly allows adaptations to occur through competition. Evolution
The Internet is used to look up information, to e-mail your friends, and now even to find your soul mate. Today, verified by “Reuters”, “Herald News”, “PC World”, and the “Washington Post”, 47.6 percent of women are turning to online dating (“Online Dating” 1). Why settle for someone in town, when you can meet someone online whom you may be better suited for? Busy lifestyles are also a reason why dating sites have increased in popularity. It is faster and simple to post a profile and wait for a hand full of possibilities, than to go out to bars and clubs night after night looking for the “one”. Online dating advertisements on the television have a horrendous role on influencing viewers to try their services as well. However, meeting people online can be dangerous. Many scammers and lies are often told in online profiles, such as physical appearance, age, sex, and so on. Sharing private personal information on matchmaking services and or on social networking is unsafe.
Hanson, Richard R. "Optimizing Marital Success: The Conscious Couple Uniting Process." Humboldt Journal of Social Relations 32.1, TRANSLATIONAL APPLIED SOCIOLOGY (2009): 158-83. JSTOR.Web. 11 May 2014.
Career and work is a high correlation variable in this study. According to the research men who don't believe in steady jobs or are less successful at work are more likely to enter into a cohabitation union because it encourages an egalitarian pattern of support for the nucleus. However, a two point increase on value on money slows men into entering any kind of union from 13% to 11%. Men are less likely to get married or cohabit of they find interest in making money. On the other hand, Women who value money and career are much more likely to enter into a cohabitation union as stated by the decrease in union formation from 13% to 10% derivative of a two point increase in career and money value. These women believe that marriage's gender-specific roles may force them to put their careers in a secondary track to that of their husbands and they are unwilling to do so. This study is significant because it is opposite of what happened in the men's study.
In recent discussions of marriage and relationships styles, a controversial issue has been non-monogamous relationships in American society. On the one hand, some argue, that monogamy should be considered the only valid option. From this perspective, many people feel that non-monogamous relationships are immoral, and a threat to family and society. On the other hand, however, there is the argument that the expectations monogamy sets f...
Dating nowadays has evolved into something similar to a math equation. Technology has changed society and culture so much in the 21st century that something which did not seem normal probably 30 years ago seems mundane now: meeting people via computer. In order to find the most compatible person, suddenly people are not able to find “the one” and need the help of a computer to tell them who their personality matches with, causing many people to not develop proper social skills along with confidence. People have different relationship goals which they wish to achieve, be it through either traditional or online dating. Although traditional and online dating have many similarities, at the same time they are very different when it comes to the
Online dating is not a recent phenomenon. Ever since the internet became widespread, it has improved and expanded the scope of human communication and this lead to the ability to selectively connect to people near and far for specific purposes. Online Dating, and it’s outlets, have become an arguably effective tool in finding viable partners for romantic relationships. The activity is so widespread that, in 2015 according to Rosette Pambakian, each day, there were at least 1.5 billion ratings on Tinder alone, which resulted in more than 22 million matches worldwide in the span of 24 hours (Loresco, 2015). Considering the nature
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...
There are those websites which allow users to search for their preferred partners through the use of keywords while in other systems, the system selects the partners. This uses mathematical algorithms to help in the identification of potential partners. Online dating has developed of a very long period of time since the 1700’s when media was first used for dating. There have also been personal adverts which were posted on newspapers. In 1980’s there was the emergence of video dating and involved the use of video cassette recordings. Statistics suggest that among the heterosexual couples who met between 2007 and 2009, over 20 percent of them became lovers through online dating (qtd. in Finkel et al. 27). Use of online dating is increasingly becoming very common with various people engaging in it. For instance, more than 1300 websites are currently used in the United Kingdom. There is enough data to show that online dating is being used by many people currently. For instance, more than ‘30 percent of the Americans who were married between 2005 and 2012 met through the use of internet dating’ (qtd. in