Evaluate group displays of aggression (24 marks) Daly and Wilson claim that men have evolved several different strategies to deter their female partners from committing adultery (i.e infidelity). These range from vigilance to violence, but are all fuelled by male jealousy, an adaptation that evolved specifically to deal with the threat of parental uncertainty. Unlike women, men can never be certain that they are the fathers of their children. As a result men are always at a risk of cuckoldry, the reproductive cost that might be inflicted on a man as a result of his partner’s infidelity. The consequence of cuckoldry is that man might invest his resources that are not his own.
Describe the evolutionary approach to explain parental investment in humans; sex differences, parent-offspring conflict. Firstly females’ initial investment is far greater than that of males. This is because the eggs of a female are less numerous and more costly physiologically to produce then male sperm. Furthermore a female can only produce a limited number of offspring where as men can produce virtually an unlimited amount. Males and females both compete for different things; males want quantity so they can increase the size of their gene pool whereas females want quality in their males and them to provide good resources.
This means that this theory is much more valid and so can be applied to real life situations such as ensuring that a baby is immediately given to the mother after birth to ensure that they become attached. Having said this, this theory lacks historical validity. This is because it is sexist as it was put forward before the feminist movement in which women gained much more independence and no longer remained the primary caregiver. In the modern day there are many fathers who stay at home to take care of the infant while the mother goes out to work, these children do not always go on to form emotional problems. This shows that this theory needs to be altered slightly so as to apply to the modern day.
DESCRIBE AND EVALUATE EVOLUTIONARY EXPLANATIONS OF PARENTAL INVESTMENT (25 MARKS) According to Trivers parental investment is defined as " any investment by a parent in an offspring that increases the chance that the offspring will survive at the expense of that parents ability to invest in any other offspring (alive or test to be born) " At the heart of Trivers theory is the fact that is most species males and females do not invest equally. Females initial investments tend to be far greater as females have less gametes than males. A female can have only a limited number of offspring whereas a male can have virtually an unlimited number. According to Daly and Wilson the difference between males and female parental investment is that males can opt out in a way that females can not. By spending a relatively large part of their reproductive effort on courtship and mating , males of most species can afford to devote rather little to parental investment.
Alcee Arobin is a lady’s man who has many affairs with different women and intends to make Edna another one of his affairs. But Edna doesn’t let Alcee take control of the relationship; she writes him when she wants and decides when they should go out. Being in control is a reverse role for Edna, but she knows it is really who she is, and it is what she wants. Alcee plays along and lets Edna take control, and Edna discovers the satisfaction of using a man the way men usually use women. Although Edna has taken control of her own life, she is still not happy with her life because of the many different types of love she has experienced.
Speaking in terms of the male, he exhibits behaviour such as direct guarding, in which a male is especially vigilant to their mate in order to restrict her sexual autonomy. Retention strategies can also include violence against the woman either in physical or verbal form. In extreme cases, an unintended consequence of this evolutionary behaviour may be her death (uxoricide). The explanation of uxoricide as being a consequence of jealousy cannot account for the fact that younger women are at much greater risk of
4. The type of personality that Steve displays according to Freud is the phallic personality. What could have caused this was the lack of affectionate relationship with his mother, feeling not good enough and in a way ashamed. Lacking self-confidence in viewing himself as attractive. He uses constant sexual encounters as a way to feel attractive to combat the self-confidence issues he felt growing up.
Discuss evolutionary explanations of human aggression One evolutionary explanation of human aggression is infidelity and jealousy. This suggests that sexual jealousy is one of the main causes for aggression in humans. In the environment of evolutionary adaptation (EEA) our male ancestors would have feared cuckoldry (the reproductive cost that might be inflicted on a man as a result of his partner’s infidelity). It is suggested that such fear of investing in another man’s offspring lead to men adopting mate retention strategies. This is where males have evolved a number of strategies specifically for the purpose of keeping their mate, so that she does not copulate with another male.
Don't you even know who my father is?” This quote makes it evident that the status of Elton’s father directly influences who he ‘should’ date. Cher’s evinces egotism, believing that she has the ability to challenge natural social behaviour. Cher’s manipulation of Tai’s appearance is shown through the mis-en-scene of expensive clothing and make-up, in an attempt to fascinate the opposite sex using physical adjustment. Cher’s repeated attempts to draw two unlikely people together (Tai and Elton), ends in the realisation that she does not possess the capability of defying human attraction. Heckerling depicts the changing social attitudes towards marriage in a contemporary
Week 1: Prenatal and Postpartum Scenario Musammat Fateha Begum PSY/280 Instructor: Lone Ross University of Phoenix Prenatal and Postpartum Scenario The pregnancy is a tremendous joy and also a huge test if looked from a physiological point. Becoming a mother, and giving birth a baby is one of the happiest steps in a women’s life. However, attachment own life with a newborn baby can be both exciting and worthwhile; at the same time also can be a hard and rather distressing job. “Most women make the transition without great difficulty, yet some women experience considerable complexity that may manifest itself as a postpartum psychiatric disorder” (Hoffman, Philips, & Wright, Para 1, 1992). The early step of parenthood, fathers and mothers