Female Long-Term Mating Strategies Sex in the Village

Female Mate Choice Minimum parental investment Women invest more minimally in offspring and bear greater cost Hence, they are choosier regarding their partners "A man on a date wonders if he'll get lucky. The woman already knows." - Monica Piper

Resourceful Men (1) For women to evolve preferences for long-term, resourceful mates, men needed to Acquire, control, & defend resources Vary in resources & willingness to invest Be superior at investing in a mate, above and beyond other men

Resourceful Men (2) In long-term mates, women tend to prefer Economic resources Prestige & status Slightly older men Ambition Dependable, stable men

Healthy as a Horse Athletic, strong Aggressive, competitive traits Tall Runaway sexual selection constrained… by cancer? Low fluctuating asymmetry The scent of symmetry

Love & Commitment Love requires some commitment This commitment may have been a signal of a man’s willingness To invest resources To invest in offspring

Preference for Good Fathers A man capable of investing in offspring would have been desirable in ancestral environment Male parental investment varies based on Mating strategy (e.g., short- vs. long-term) Paternity uncertainty

Interlude: Similarity For the most part, we tend to mate with people who are similar In appearance In values In personality traits This is known as assortative mating

Who Wears the Pants (1)? Structural powerlessness hypothesis Women seek mates who have power & resources so that they can gain them by proxy EP theory Women seek mates who have power & resources so that there will be greater investment in offspring

Who Wears the Pants (2)? When women control large share of resources Still prefer men with high status and resource control Supports EP Contradicts structural powerlessness hypothesis

Marriage vs. Fling Women, as well as men, set high standards when looking for a long-term partner Physical attractiveness is not as important as character traits However, in the short term, attractiveness counts a great deal more than otherwise

Interlude: Incest Avoidance (1) Freud proposed that humans construct norms regarding incest in order to avoid unraveling of family Incest in humans often has deleterious effects Recessive lethal alleles

Interlude: Incest Avoidance (2) Westermarck hypothesis People are naturally averse to mating with others that they were reared with “Deviant” behaviour will be codified within cultural norms Contrary to Freud Example: Israeli kibbutzim Of 2,767 marriages, only 13 from same kibbutz

The Wrap-Up Females tend to be choosier due to greater minimum investment For long-term partners, women prefer men who are Resourceful Healthy Committed and loving Good fathers

Things to Come Long-term male preferences Minimum investment Youth cues Health cues Concealed ovulation & paternity uncertainty