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HUMAN MATE SELECTION.
Term Paper ID:23921
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Essay Subject:
Biological & cultural needs & drives which determine pairing for marriage & children.... More...
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7 Pages / 1575 Words
4 sources, 20 Citations,
APA Format
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Paper Abstract:
Biological & cultural needs & drives which determine pairing for marriage & children.
Paper Introduction:
This paper is a study of the drives that affect mate selection in human beings. Biology determines certain universal preferences that all individuals share when they seek a marriage partner. Preferences for other traits are dictated by the individual's cultural background and gender; gender differences are dictated primarily by biological forces as well, while cultural preferences vary as a result of local attitudes and traditions. While marriage customs vary widely among cultures, many of the essential reasons driving the impetus to create pair-bonds remain constant. Marriage, whatever its specific cultural form, exists across all cultures because it fulfills the basic human drive to perpetuate the species. However it may be manifested, pair-bonding in some form remains the best way to assure the continuation of humanity.
Text of the Paper:
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The specific characteristics that define a suitable mate varysomewhat because of cultural and gender differences. The Human Animal: A Personal View of the Human Species. . Becausethe pair-bond is expected to last at least long enough to raise children,agreeable personality traits are universally important. Since the male matures later than the female and is fertile for alonger period, men tend to prefer younger mates, "but how much youngerdepends on the nature of the mating system" (Buss 2 ); in cultures whichrestrict men to a single wife, the age difference is usually only a fewyears. a strong tendency to 'fall in love' - to develop a powerfulbond with the object or our sexual attentions. As David M. "Sex Differences in Human Mate Preferences: Evolutionary Hypotheses Tested in 37 Cultures." Behavioral and Brain Sciences 12 (1989): 197-2 1.Levi-Strauss, Claude. . Men can more easily move on to a new mate and the potential fornew offspring if they decide to abandon their original choice. Nevertheless, "The available evidence showsthat people across cultures see clear and supple skin, absence of wrinkles,lustrous hair, full lips. Buss writes, "For a few characteristics, what people desired inpotential mates varied tremendously across cultures" (11). Marriage may not always last, but it is usually begun on apowerful foundation. Males needed to learn tocooperate with one another in order to hunt; eventually, standing erectallowed them to use their hands for weapons, making the hunt moreefficient. Older men, especially those who have acquired substantial money andpower, often seek significantly younger wives (sometimes abandoning anaging first wife in the process) because their wealth enables them toattract a mate capable of prolonging the husband's breeding capabilities.Women tend to prefer an older mate because of the protection and support hewill be able to bring to the marriage; Morris observes, however, that womenwho marry men considerably older "are programmed to find a young male moresexually attractive than an old one" (Human Animal 145) and may take ayounger lover, "driven by their biology to attempt to get the best of bothworlds" (Human Animal 145). This paper is a study of the drives that affect mate selection inhuman beings. As Buss observes, "Poor mating decisions are more costlyto the heavily investing sex" (12); women must be more discriminating intheir choice of a mate, simply because their biological investment isgreater. Morris observes, "In our speciesthere is . Mate choices spring from the drive to find the bestpossible choice, based on this drive. Despite the fact thatbiological influences would seem to argue for chastity as a desirablecharacteristic in a mate (assuring the potential husband that he is indeedthe father of all children produced by the marriage), chastity isunimportant and even undesirable in some cultures. Biology determines certain universal preferences that allindividuals share when they seek a marriage partner. Good health is a particularly important characteristic, serving as asignal of the individual's potential fertility and ability to provide thebasic necessities of food, shelter, and protection to the children.Healthiness is evident in many physical signs, but the most significantsignal is in the condition of the skin. clear eyes, good health, regular features, andother signs of youth and health as attractive" (Buss 13). From there, humans proceed to discovering character clues. Marriage, whatever its specific cultural form, exists across all culturesbecause it fulfills the basic human drive to perpetuate the species.However it may be manifested, pair-bonding in some form remains the bestway to assure the continuation of humanity. . One of the moresignificant of these characteristics is chastity. Other characteristics that Buss discovered to be universallypreferred are all traits that tend to support the preservation of the pair-bond and, therefore, the preservation of the species: kindness andunderstanding, intelligence, an exciting personality, good health,emotional stability, dependability, and a pleasing disposition (12). Works CitedBuss, David M. The force that brings a man and a woman together, cements theirrelationship, and makes them perpetuate the species is complex. a dramatic encounterbetween nature and culture, between alliance and kinship" (489). Boston: Beacon, 1969.Morris, Desmond. People who failed to matein the past are not our ancestors" (11). Love, whether as the impetus for pair-bonding or the result ofan arranged marriage, is the biological drive that works to keep the matestogether in order to raise the children they produce. Such cultural responses tobiological drives demonstrate the dramatic efforts of some societies tocounteract evolutionary forces influencing pair-bonding. Gender differences in mate preferences are also rooted in biologicaldrives. He argues (Naked Ape 63-64) that six basicevolutionary developments directly affect the aspects of mate preferencethat are common to all human beings. However, culture has been able to affect the process in less drasticways. Our findings show thosescientists to be wrong. The Elementary Structures of Kinship. However, mate selection is primarily driven (oftenunconsciously) by the procreative force. Other factors are also important in mate selection, including outsideinfluences. New York: Crown, 1994.---. Preferences for othertraits are dictated by the individual's cultural background and gender;gender differences are dictated primarily by biological forces as well,while cultural preferences vary as a result of local attitudes andtraditions. Levi-Strauss writes, "Marriage is . As human beings evolved, they neededto hunt for food. Morris notes, "Femalecircumcision [in which the genitals are mutilated to reduce sexualsensation] is routinely done in twenty-five countries [on as many as]seventy-four million women" (Human Animal 145). Other aspects of sexual attraction aremore affected by cultural (and sometimes individual psychological)preferences: for slightly wider hips or fuller buttocks, for example, orfor more or less facial hair. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967.----------------------- 9 People across all cultural lines seek a mate whosereliability and even temper will wear well over the years and contribute togood parenting skills. Buss observes, "People act on their preferences" (12); although anindividual may be able to understand rationally why he or she is drawn to aparticular individual as a good biological choice for a mate, acceptablewithin his or her culture and family, the choice may still seem primarilyemotional. Some cultures have developed institutionalizedattempts to curb these biological drives in women. Desmond Morris observes that the humanbeing "owes all his basic sexual qualities to his fruit-picking, forest-apeancestors" (Naked Ape 5 ). Two of the other characteristics Buss cites as showing culturalvariation are good housekeeping abilities and very religious observance(12). These evolutionary developments created the need to establish pair-bonds in order to continue the species. The physical clues that accompany this courtshipphase are also universal; Morris notes, "Film of young couples shot inwildly differing cultures all around the world shows remarkablesimilarities during [the courtship] phase" (Human Animal 131). Their brains developed to compensate for the fact thattheir bodies were smaller and less powerful than those of their prey.Larger brains required a longer childhood in order to grow to their fullsize and acquire education. In the first instance, housekeeping abilities tend not to be asimportant in cultures accustomed to hiring outside helpers and encouragingwomen to work outside the home. While marriage customs vary widely among cultures, many of theessential reasons driving the impetus to create pair-bonds remain constant. Some universalcharacteristics exist, however. Allthese characteristics indicate a mate who will be a useful and productivepartner, able to procreate and carry the burdens of parenthood. The fairly modernacceptance of divorce in many cultures is an acknowledgement that biologyis not always a strong enough force. . Extreme piety is another culture-boundtrait; in societies that tend to view extreme religious devotion with ajaundiced eye, such a characteristic would be a liability in a potentialmate. People the world over value mutual attraction andlove" (12). Morris writes, "When a survey ofsex appeal was carried out in two hundred different cultures, it wasdiscovered that clean skin was the single most important feature" (HumanAnimal 125). Yet, as Morris points out, human beingscontinue to adapt to the necessities of marrying and perpetuating thespecies, no matter what the current circumstances: "We still manage tofind a mate, fall in love, establish a pair-bond and rear our children.Our intense human sexuality may have been developed in simpler times but ithas survived everything that has been thrown at it" (Human Animal 155). He contends that exchange is an important component inmate selection. Morris describes humanbeings as the sexiest of the primates, and some members of cultures appearto prefer potential mates with sexual experience over those innocent of thephysical pleasures possible in copulation. While allthe reasons for preferring one individual over another as a mate may nolonger make sense in a contemporary context, the drives that created themare still enormously powerful. Visual analysis is the first step in mate selection, and anexamination of the potential mate's skin is an important and universalmethod of determining suitability. Buss writes, "Everyperson is alive because of a successful mating. However,biology tends to work toward keeping pair-bonds intact; Morris writes, "Theevolution of intense feelings of sexual jealousy in our species has beenone of the basic mechanisms for maintaining [the] system of maximumparental care" (Human Animal 139). Biologically, men need to mate with women most likely to producenumerous, healthy offspring which they would nurture effectively intomaturity. Buss reinforces the importanceof love in mate selection: "Many scientists believe that love is a Westernnotion, invented just a few hundred years ago. The Naked Ape: A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal. Claude Levi-Strauss argues that marriage is as much a means ofcementing societies as a way to perpetuate individual families; he writes,"It is always a system of exchange that we find at the origin of rules ofmarriage" (478). The exchange may be an obvious example, such as a tribalchieftain's "gift" of his daughter to a successful warrior in order to tiethe warrior (and the protection his prowess gives) more closely to thetribe, or a subtler exchange, such as when a woman marries the son of afamily friend, thereby formalizing the relationship between the families. Marriage may, of course, result fromother biological urges, principally the needs for companionship or economicstability. Females stayed to raise the children, allowingthe men to hunt for food for the family unit. Women need to mate with men best able to provide for and protectthe family unit. The primary biological drive that results in marriage is the urge toestablish a stable pair-bond relationship in order to give birth to andraise offspring. Eachindividual seeks an intimate relationship with one other human being,comparing possibilities with a list devised by a long process of evolutionand culture. Buss' studysupports this. This sexual imprintingprocess induces the all-important long-term mateship so vital to theprolonged parental demands" (Naked Ape 95).
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