Sexology
Chapter 2
Theoretical perspectives on sexuality

Evolutionary perspectives

Sociobiology

Sociobiology: the application of evolutionary biology to understanding the social behaviour of animals, including humans.
Sociobiologists try to understand why certain patterns of sexual behaviour have evolved in humans.

The sociobiologists argues that many of the characteristics we evaluate in judging attractiveness are indicative of the health and vigour of the individual.
These in turn are probably related to the person’s reproductive potential.
Thus, perhaps our concern with physical attractiveness is a product of evolution and natural selection.

Attractiveness is an indicator of health and is more important in mate selection in societies where more people are unhealthy.

From this viewpoint, hanging out, playing sports, getting engaged and similar customs are much like the courtship rituals of other species.
This courtship is an opportunity for each member of the prospective couple to assess each other’s fitness.

An offspring’s changes of survival are greatly increased if the parents bond emotionally and if the parents have propensity for attachment.
An emotional bond may also lead to more frequent sexual interaction. The pleasurable consequences of sex in turn will reinforce the bond.

Parental investment: the behaviour and resources invested in offspring to achieve the survival and reproductive success of their genetic offspring.

Many criticisms of sociobiology have been made

• The biological determinism
• It rests on an outmoded version of the evolutionary model that modern biologists consider naive
• Sociobiologist assume that the central function of sex is reproduction, but this is not true today

Evolutionary psychology

Evolutionary psychology: the study of psychological mechanisms that have been shaped by natural selection.
If behaviours evolved in response to selection pressures, it is plausible that cognitive or emotional structures evolved in the same way.
A man who accurately judged whether a woman was healthy and fertile would be more successful in reproducing.

According to sexual strategies, females and males face different adaptive problems in short-term, or casual, mating and in long-term reproduction.
These differences lead to different strategies.

• In short-term mating, a female may choose a partner who offers her immediate resources, such as food or money
• In long-term mating, a female may choose a partner who appears to be able and willing to provide resources for the indefinite future
• A male may choose a sexually available female for a short-term liaison, but avoid such females when looking for a long-term mate

According to the theory, females engage in intrasexual competition to access the males.

Criticisms to evolutionary psychology

• Men and women are very similar in their stated mating preferences
  • Both prefer long-term strategies and few or no short-term partners
• It