1. Gender
Evolutionary Perspectives
L.O- Outline and Evaluate the Evolutionary Perspective of Gender

2. Gender: Evolutionary Approach
Today we will consider…
GENDER differences in relation to:
Mate Choice
Division of Labour
Cognitive Style

3. Gender: MATE CHOICE To Start: Lonely Hearts
Write a lonely hearts add on the behalf of a male or female looking for a mate to achieve reproductive success with.
Base it on what (according to evolutionary theory) men and women look for in the opposite gender. Also think about how you are going to portray yourself in order to attract a response…

4. Gender: MATE CHOICE BUSS 1989 (remember this from the r’ship unit?)
Buss (1989) carried out survey that gathered information about mate preferences from 37 cultural groups. Females tend to seek males with resources and ambition while males sought physical attractiveness and younger partners. Supporting idea that mating strategies have evolved differently between the sexes due to different environmental demands.

5. Gender: DIVISION OF LABOUR
Hunting for food required speed, agility, good visual perception. So MEN developed these skills.....
Division of labour helped to ensure survival & reproductive success
Men need to ensure food is available for survival so hunt
But why men? Why weren’t women the hunters?

6. Gender: DIVISION OF LABOUR
Because women are TOO IMPORTANT for group survival! The loss of one woman equals greater reproductive loss PLUS loss of childcare
Babies are rubbish! They are not born ‘fully formed’ because female bodies can’t stand upright and incubate HUGE babies! SO women need to ensure the baby survives whilst pregnant and stay at home to FEED and look after them post birth
Women did collect vegetables/fruits/nuts closer to home & helped build shelter etc, which ALSO helped group survival, ESPECIALLY when meat supplies were short

7. Gender: DIVISION OF LABOUR
Kuhn & Stiner (2006): humanity survived the Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness BECAUSE of this division of labour ....
Homo sapiens -
Divided their labour & survived
Neanderthals - Did not divide their labour & therefore died out

8. Gender: DIVISION OF LABOUR
There are some cross-cultural evidence to support this gender division of labour in present societies
Wood and Eagly (2002): carried out cross-cultural study comparing gender behaviours in different societies.
Characteristics of non-industrial societies: men hunt and kill and women look after children and cook.

9. Gender: COGNITIVE STYLE
Task: Read all about it..
“Controversy as Women are proved to be better than Men at empathising and interpersonal skills”
In pairs discuss:
How might evolutionary theory explain this headline?
Why might females be better than males at interpersonal interaction and empathy?

10. Gender: COGNITIVE STYLE
E-S Theory, Baron-Cohen (2002)
Baron-Cohen developed a questionnaire to examine if men and women do think differently (in line with the hunter vs nurturer idea). Ppts Had to agree or disagree with the ‘systemizing quotient’ statements (e.g. I prefer to watch a film with groups of friends). Found males tend to be systematisers and females tended to be empathisers. Only about 17% men were greater empathisers’ brain and 17% females were ‘systematisers’.

11. Gender: COGNITIVE STYLE
E-S Theory, Baron-Cohen (2002)
Women are better at empathising (understanding what other people think and feel).
Men are better at systematising (understanding and building a complex set of related things).
Empathising-Systematising Theory:
This difference may be due to selection
pressures. Males develop better hunting
strategies than females. Men who can
systematise with greatest precision
would be at an evolutionary advantage.

12. Gender: COGNITIVE STYLE
E-S Theory, Baron-Cohen (2002)
EVIDENCE for this comes from AUTISM (ASD) !
ASD is characterized by being over systemising (precision, set routines, identifying patterns) whilst lacking empathy (inability to interpret emotions and socially interact).
9 out of 10 people with ASD are MALE .
Indication that the ASD brain is essentially
‘a very masculine brain’, and male
brains are overly systemising.

13. Gender: COGNITIVE STYLE
Tend & Befriend, Taylor et al (2000)
Women are better at interpersonal matters and relationships.
In ancestral humans females would face different stress than men by having to protect themselves and their young offspring.
It would have been an advantage to group together with other family units.
In times of stress females tend and befriend. Males become ready to fight or flight.

14. Gender: COGNITIVE STYLE
Support for Tend & Befriend
Taylor found females have higher levels of oxytocin (a hormone connected with social bonding), which reduces anxiety & increases sociability.
Ennis (2002): measure level of the stress hormone cortisol a week & immediately before students sat an exam. In males was a significant increase in cortisol in 2nd measure, not found in females. Suggests women react differently to stress.
Tamres et al (2002): found in times of threat and stress women tend to seek company of others much more than men

15. Gender: EVOLUTIONARY APPROACH
Task: Point. Evidence. Explain. Link
Create a PEEL for each evolutionary concept:
Mate Choice
Division of Labour
Cognitive Style
For each one:
Find some evidence.
Explain what the evidence suggests.
Make an evaluative point.
Make a link back to evolutionary theories of gender.
When you’ve completed the sheet, jot down synoptic (IDA) A02 points.
20 minutes

16. General Evaluation
Evolutionary theory provides a plausible explanation for seeming differences that exist between males and females and also why men tend to be more promiscuous and women more choosy in their sexual behaviour. BUT, plausible explanations aren’t necessarily RIGHT!
One criticism is that it is determinist. Our genes specify how we behave. I.e.. Men take on role of hunter and women of nurturer. Fails to take into account the view that genes only predispose us to behave in certain ways but do not dictate what we do. ‘Culture’ & ‘personal experience’ may well also determine / influence our behaviour.
Although, as predicted by evolutionary theory, many traditional male activities require strength, so do typical female activities such as carrying water and food. However, evolution may have shaped women to perform activities that could be carried out whilst child rearing

17. After reading up on the Evolutionary Approach to gender ...
What is meant by reproductive success?
How does parental investment theory explain differences in sexual style between males and females?
Discuss the evolutionary explanations of gender roles (24 marks)