Human Mating Patterns

This book examines the causes and consequences of different mating patterns in man with particular reference to historical, biological, medical and demographic factors. Each of these reference points are covered in carefully edited and integrated papers for advanced students and research workers in human biology and genetics.

An up-to-date and an integrated presentation of a general introduction, theoretical approaches and factors in mate selection. How do men and women differ in their selection preferences? What are the characteristics (physical, biological, social and psychological) associated with mate selection of preferences? Selecting a mate is just one social problem, and the present book provides a full understanding of human mating systems. ISBN 81-7211-055-3 Size: 22 x 14 cms. Pages: viii + 86 Price: Rs. 100 Market: Applied Psychology, Sociology, Counsellors.

This book demonstrates how detailed comparative analyses of the anatomy, reproductive physiology, and behaviour of non-human primates and other mammals can offer profound insights into the origins of human sexual behaviour.

This book presents topical research on human and animal mating strategies, gender differences and environmental influences. Topics include the mating effects on female reproductive organs and the paradigm of oestrogen signalling pathways in the oviduct; sexual maturation, mating strategies and neuroendocrinology in social insects; plasticity in mating patterns of a benthic nest-holding fish related to the effects of nest-site abundance and social interactions; and human sexual strategies of short-term mating and parental control over mate choice.

Comparative analyses of the anatomy, reproductive physiology, and behaviour of extant primates and other mammals can offer important insights into the origins of human sexual behaviour, allowing us to reconstruct the origins of human mating systems, the evolution of sexual attractiveness, patterns of mate choice, and copulatory behaviour. Sexual Selection and the Origins of Human Mating Systems provides a modern synthesis of research on the evolution of human mating systems, bringing together work on reproductive physiology, behavioural biology, anthropology, primatology, palaeontology, evolutionary psychology, and sexological research. The approach taken is genuinely cross-disciplinary in scope, and provides a fascinating account of the effects of sexual selection upon human evolution in the light of the latest advances in the field.

Parents often disagree with their children over their choice of partner. Although the reasons may vary the outcome is very often one of conflict – a conflict peculiar to the human species. For the first time in one volume, Sexual Selection under Parental Choice employs an evolutionary perspective to understand this conflict and explore its implications. Covering recent developments in the field of evolutionary psychology, Menelaos Apostolou reveals the extent of parental attempts to control the mating decisions of their offspring and investigates the qualities parents seek in prospective in-laws. Children’s attempt to escape this control can lead to practices such as foot-binding and clitoridectomy or, in postindustrial societies, more subtle forms of coercion and manipulation. Apostolou demonstrates that much of human mating behavior has been shaped by parental choice and that parents have a significant influence in sexual selection: the traits they favour in their children’s mates are selected and increase in frequency in the population. Sexual Selection under Parental Choice will be ideal reading for researchers and advanced students of evolutionary, developmental and social psychology, as well as other related disciplines such as social anthropology, sociology and the biological sciences.

At once a pioneering study of evolution and an accessible and lively reading experience, a book that offers the most convincing—and radical—explanation for how and why the human mind evolved. Consciousness, morality, creativity, language, and art: these are the traits that make us human. Scientists have traditionally explained these qualities as merely a side effect of surplus brain size, but Miller argues that they were sexual attractors, not side effects. He bases his argument on Darwin’ s theory of sexual selection, which until now has played second fiddle to Darwin’ s theory of natural selection, and draws on ideas and research from a wide range of fields, including psychology, economics, history, and pop culture. Witty, powerfully argued, and continually thought-provoking, The Mating Mind is a landmark in our understanding of our own species.

Human mating patterns have been thoroughly studied using a variety of methods and theoretical perspectives. One consistent finding is that mates tend to match one another on a range of characteristics, a phenomenon called positive assortative mating. Just how and why this pattern occurs is an open question. The mechanisms underlying mate choices remain poorly understood. This two-part dissertation takes an evolutionary perspective on human mate assortment. The first part investigates the role of sexual selection and mate competition in shaping mating patterns, highlighting the critical influence of culture. It outlines a variety of circumstances where cultural features have produced varying degrees of mate matching for social status, depending on the status and gender of the individuals involved. Many cultural features (e.g. institutions, norms, laws, myths, taboos, etc.) impose status-matching restrictions on both low-ranking males and high-ranking females without imposing similar restrictions on the mating opportunities of high-status males. These elements of culture are aspects of mate competition strategies because they shrink the pool of potential mates for some individuals while expanding it for others. In this way, culturally-granted authority and power are used to control the mating access of whole segments of the population. The second part of this dissertation looks at positive mate assortment for a wider variety of characteristics, including things like hair color, age, and occupational status. Widespread matching for these traits has been well-documented, but important questions remain. Do people mate assortatively because of individual preferences to match, or because mating market forces pair up people with equivalent mate values? Is positive mate assortment adaptive? Are positively assorted couples more stable or longer-lasting? Data are presented which suggest that individuals do not have preferences to assort and that positive assortment cannot predict relationship outcomes. Although they are two distinct projects, both parts of this dissertation investigate the mechanisms of human mate assortment from an evolutionary perspective. The first part looks at cultural mechanisms in the context of sexual selection and mate competition, and the second at individual preferences and mating markets in the context of adaptive hypotheses for mate matching.

A “drop-dead shocker” (Washington Post Book World) that uses evolutionary psychology to explain human mating and the mysteries of love If we all want love, why is there so much conflict in our most cherished relationships? To answer this question, we must look into our evolutionary past, argues prominent psychologist David M. Buss. Based one of the largest studies of human mating ever undertaken, encompassing more than 10,000 people of all ages from thirty-seven cultures worldwide, The Evolution of Desire is the first work to present a unified theory of human mating behavior. Drawing on a wide range of examples of mating behavior — from lovebugs to elephant seals, from the Yanomamö tribe of Venezuela to online dating apps — Buss reveals what women want, what men want, and why their desires radically differ. Love has a central place in human sexual psychology, but conflict, competition, and manipulation also pervade human mating — something we must confront in order to control our own mating destiny. Updated to reflect the very latest scientific research on human mating, this definitive edition of this classic work of evolutionary psychology explains the powerful forces that shape our most intimate desires.

No detailed description available for "Female Choices".