Sexual Selection Vs Natural Selection

Throughout the reading in our textbook and other sources, there is much evidence that supports and refutes the newest major theory, Evolutionary Psychology. Two main pieces of supporting evidence would be natural selection and sexual selection. Alongside those, there is also evidence that negates this theory: no universal human behavior and the modern environment may alter our biology. To begin, Charles Darwin (1809-1882) first showed that all current species evolved from other life-forms through “survival of the fittest”, or natural selection (Rathus). Individuals with certain mental or physical characteristics that enable them to survive and reproduce are more likely to pass these certain characteristics on to the next generation (Himmelheber).

It is widely accepted that women generally tend to like a taller mate, and men prefer shorter. A person could argue that a taller male would be stronger, evolutionarily speaking (Whitbourne). In a 2013 study, Abraham Buunk, Gert Stulp, and Thomas Pollet found that women prefer to be much shorter than their male parter, about 8 inches. They also found that men liked being taller than their partners, but height didn’t matter as much to them as it did to women (Whitbourne). Evolutionary psychologists could argue that in ancient times, women would choose to mate with a man who was taller, linking his height to his strength, demonstrating sexual selection. This may be how we got to the height we are today. Among some of the earliest known ancestors, women typically stood between 3.5 and 4 feet tall, and males stood only up to 5 feet

Evolutionary psychology suggests that favorable characteristics which have been passed down through generations, together, constitute a universal human nature that describes how people feel, think, and act (Begley). The only problem is that there is no universal human behavior, it’s more cultural. In one culture it might be completely okay for an older gentleman to have an intimate relationship with a young boy until he has married; in others, it may be frowned upon (Himmelheber). Even some of behaviors that are very widespread may not apply to a particular individual. This contradicts one of the theory’s main