2008 Woodie Awards
David Buss and The Mating Game
Psychologist David Buss visits USM to discuss sex, jealousy and why we cheat
David McRaney
Issue date: 2/22/07 Section: Opinion
Buss' presentation at USM, titled "Sexual Conflict in Human Mating," dealt with what much of his research deals with - what do we want in our mates, and how do we go about getting it?
As a former professor at both Harvard and The University of Michigan, his primary interests include human mating strategies, conflict between the sexes, prestige, status and social reputation, the emotion of jealousy, homicide, anti-homicide defenses, and stalking.
He is the author of four books on those subjects, each brimming with cross-cultural research.
In "The Evolution of Desire," Buss writes about how both men and women want to pass on their genes to the next generation. But, there are substantial differences between what men and women must invest. As a result, women and men have completely different strategies for both the long-term and short-term when it comes to mating.
For women, an obligatory nine months will be spent carrying the child. After that, breastfeeding and child rearing will likely follow. For our ancestors, living in the state of nature, this meant a great deal of danger and loss of productivity. A lot can go wrong in the wild, and being pregnant is no picnic. So, women must invest a great deal into mating and be particularly selective when choosing with whom to mate.
Women look for men with resources or a lot of potential to acquire them. But, they also need to make sure a mate will share those resources and be willing to stick around to help rear the child. The higher his status in the social group, the more likely he is to have resources. The older he is, the more likely he is to have status. The more able to defend against attackers and the less likely he is to move his resources over to another woman or harm her or her children, the better a mate he is. Buss notes "evolution favored women who were highly selective about their mates."
For men, a minimum of a few seconds will be spent creating the child. After that, they can go about their business. So, statistically it's a better strategy for men to mate as often as possible with as many women as possible. Men look for signs of youth, health and fertility. Hip-to-waist ratio, lustrous hair, unblemished skin, supple breasts, good teeth, healthy weight and youth are all good indicators of the overall fecundity of a female.
As a former professor at both Harvard and The University of Michigan, his primary interests include human mating strategies, conflict between the sexes, prestige, status and social reputation, the emotion of jealousy, homicide, anti-homicide defenses, and stalking.
He is the author of four books on those subjects, each brimming with cross-cultural research.
In "The Evolution of Desire," Buss writes about how both men and women want to pass on their genes to the next generation. But, there are substantial differences between what men and women must invest. As a result, women and men have completely different strategies for both the long-term and short-term when it comes to mating.
For women, an obligatory nine months will be spent carrying the child. After that, breastfeeding and child rearing will likely follow. For our ancestors, living in the state of nature, this meant a great deal of danger and loss of productivity. A lot can go wrong in the wild, and being pregnant is no picnic. So, women must invest a great deal into mating and be particularly selective when choosing with whom to mate.
Women look for men with resources or a lot of potential to acquire them. But, they also need to make sure a mate will share those resources and be willing to stick around to help rear the child. The higher his status in the social group, the more likely he is to have resources. The older he is, the more likely he is to have status. The more able to defend against attackers and the less likely he is to move his resources over to another woman or harm her or her children, the better a mate he is. Buss notes "evolution favored women who were highly selective about their mates."
For men, a minimum of a few seconds will be spent creating the child. After that, they can go about their business. So, statistically it's a better strategy for men to mate as often as possible with as many women as possible. Men look for signs of youth, health and fertility. Hip-to-waist ratio, lustrous hair, unblemished skin, supple breasts, good teeth, healthy weight and youth are all good indicators of the overall fecundity of a female.
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Keith Henson
posted 2/22/07 @ 1:33 PM EST
I am a long time reader of of David Buss' work, but evolutionary psychology is much more powerful than just letting us understand our sexuality.
As Azar Gat and Steven LeBlanc point out, human hunter-gatherer populations in excess of the ability of the environment to feed were drained off by wars between groups. (Continued…)
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