What do men and women look for in a mate? How does evolution affect sexual behavior? How is jealousy a construct of evolution?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Human babies take a long time to develop after birth. This long period of child care requires participation from females and males which has created some mating-related behaviors. Everything from mate selection<\/a>, to jealousy, to testing loyalty, to how society perceives promiscuity comes from evolution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep reading for more on evolutionary relationships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n The skulls of humans are relatively larger compared to primate relatives and ancestors. The size of the human skull allows for a larger, more intelligent brain. However, how large the fetus\u2019s skull can be is limited by the size of the female birth canal. Human children are therefore born with under-developed brains, and they require a long period of care to become self-sufficient and for their skulls to continue growing outside of the mother. Contrast this to other animals like baby deer, who are much more self-sufficient when born. This is one of the reasons for evolutionary relationships in humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This long period of childcare requires the participation of both males and females<\/strong>, which has engendered the following mating-related behaviors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n From a biological point of view, males and females want different things in relationships<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Males want women who are:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Females want men who are:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Over time, the selection pressure may cause species to develop traits that are not all that practically useful. Male peacocks have large plumes of feathers that serve no purpose other than reproduction, and may actually hamper their survival among predators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some female primates change color when they\u2019re ovulating, signaling that it\u2019s mating season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In contrast, female humans conceal when they\u2019re ovulating<\/strong>\u2014there\u2019s no external difference between ovulating women and non-ovulating women. This has a number of benefits:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both women and men are concerned about the loyalty of their mates. Women want men to provide for their family, and men want women to be faithful so they don\u2019t bear the children of other men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People in relationships might therefore want to test their relationships for loyalty.<\/strong> They can provoke their partner with arguments or instigate jealousy, and see if the partner sticks around and stays committed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If true, then this suggests that relationships where the parties are unsure of each other\u2019s capacity for commitment tend to be more volatile, with more arguments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The father can\u2019t guarantee the child is his, while the mother can. Therefore, the man is fearful of being cuckolded and raising a child that is not his.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In response, the father shows jealousy and a threat of anger. This is a response that discourages other mates from intruding, and dissuades the mother from straying.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sexual jealousy is so strong that it\u2019s been institutionalized in many cultures. In China, women\u2019s feet were bound as children to limit their mobility and independence<\/a>. It was tradition to demonstrate virginity on wedding night by observing blood on the marital sheets. The authors say that for much of history, in nearly all societies, men created social institutions to control female sexuality<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This might also point to why there\u2019s a modern double standard of sexual activity. Females who are promiscuous are chastised by males (since they fear cuckolding), and by women (for possibly drawing away men). In contrast, men are admired for their sexual conquests, because it makes them more appealing as possible mates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What do men and women look for in a mate? How does evolution affect sexual behavior? How is jealousy a construct of evolution? Human babies take a long time to develop after birth. This long period of child care requires participation from females and males which has created some mating-related behaviors. Everything from mate selection, to jealousy, to testing loyalty, to how society perceives promiscuity comes from evolution. Keep reading for more on evolutionary relationships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":33032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,160,24],"tags":[265],"class_list":["post-32949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-relationships","category-science","category-society","tag-why-we-get-sick","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nEvolution and Relationships<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Mate Selection<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Sexual Behavior<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Testing Relationships for Loyalty<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Jealousy<\/strong> and Evolution<\/h3>\n\n\n\n