Discuss the Relationship Between Sexual Selection and Human Reproductive Behaviour

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Discuss the relationship between sexual selection and human reproductive behaviour. Natural selection favours the survival of the fittest. However, this explanation doesn’t explain the characteristics that do not assist in survival. For example, whilst a male peacock’s tail is good for the attraction of the female peacock, it is detrimental to its ability to fly. Darwin therefore suggested sexual selection stating that any characteristic that benefits reproductive success will become the norm over time as it is consistently selected. Sexual selection involves inter and intra sexual selection. Intra sexual selection is the evolutionary process in which members of one sex (usually males) compete with each other for members of the opposite sex. Those who win are able to pass on their genes, which include the factors that made the winning person successful. This helps to ensure the offspring’s survival whilst passing on successful genes. Intersexual selection is to do with how members of each sex have innate preferences for mates with certain characteristics eg. Physical attractiveness is required of a woman whilst a male should be strong and have the ability to provide resources for a family. The idea is that with these traits combined, offspring will have an optimum chance of survival. Buss studied 10000 people from 37 cultures, finding that 44% of males said that physical attractiveness was more important, whilst only 22% of females said this. This would support the theory that males look for physical attractiveness in order to start passing on their genes whilst women are in search of someone to provide for a family. This also has good cultural reliability, meaning that it can be assumed that men and women from all around the world have the same opinion. Men have a greater desire for polygamy, due to there being more chance of spreading their genes, whilst

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