PSY 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Credentialism And Educational Inflation, Genital Modification And Mutilation, Congenital Disorder
Document Summary
Why is there sex: hedge against environmental change, reproduce to have enough offspring to survive environmental changes. Increase the odds: no current reason for humans phylogenetic inertia, protection against pathogens red queen hypothesis, endless race against pathogens that keep mutating so we continue to mutate. Female sex that makes the larger parental investment per gamete: eggs incredibly valuable. In most of animal kingdom, females are much bigger than males: one major exception is in species with proportionally large brains. Mating systems: monogamy - pair-bonding, lifetime, seasonal, polygamy one animal has many mates, polyandry one female mates with many males. Crickets, bees etc: polygyny (harem) one male mates with many females. Traditional structure: promiscuity, female chimpanzees have multiple partners. Some features of human mating system i: mostly monogamy with some polygyny, polygyny mostly amongst wealthy/ elite, male > female preference for sexual variety, more diverse arousal patterns. Fetishes: attachments to inanimate objects or body parts.
