Evolutionary Psychology and Sex Differences

Introduction Questions

Video Summary

The science of psychology is strongly predicated upon a biological system that encompasses both the body and mind. We know our bodies have developed through time according to the precepts of evolution by natural selection, but have our minds done so as well?

Steven Pinker discusses the prevalence of differences between the sexes as being based on biology, especially as a result of different sexual organs. Helena Cronin argues that sex differences are a result of natural selection and evolution, and this should be expected since the sexes have faced different evolutionary challenges over time.

Psychological sex differences include sexual desire, emotional states, and social and spatial skills. However, Cronin and Pinker argue that science describing these differences is not the same as endorsing them. Richard Dawkins emphasizes the importance of our brains and thinking about what we do to overcome selfish instincts or evolutionary behavior.

Question 1

The underlying idea of the evolutionary psychology of sex differences as applied to human behavior can best be summed up by which of the following statements?

A. Evolution has resulted in differences between men and women becoming less pronounced over time.

B. There are differences between the sexes because men and women have faced different evolutionary challenges.

C. While men and women differ in sex-related body structures, their minds are pretty much the same.

D. Evolutionary differences between men and women are startlingly profound and can be seen every aspect of their psychologies.

Correct!

Sorry, your answer is incorrect. It can best be summed up as there are differences between the sexes because men and women have faced different evolutionary challenges.

While the statement that evolution has resulted in differences between men and women becoming less pronounced over time is theoretically possible, arguments about this statement go beyond the scope of this video.

Both Pinker and Cronin assert that there are distinct psychological differences between men and women.

Pinker notes at the beginning of the video that men and women are “overwhelmingly similar” on most traits, and while Dr. Cronin mentions men and women having “different psychologies,” she also links differences in mind to differences in bodies, which in the end are rather similar.

Question 2

Larry has a problem with evolutionary psychology’s contention that there is an evolutionary advantage for promiscuity in men, arguing that it implies men are not responsible for their infidelities. What response might an evolutionary psychologist have?

A. Evolutionary psychology’s findings hold primacy over moral standards.

B. People cannot be held responsible for acting out their evolutionary tendencies.

C. Understanding the cause for a behavior isn’t the same thing as endorsing that behavior.

D. Evolutionary psychology should take this kind of concern as a de facto disproof of the findings and revise their theories and hypotheses.

Correct!

Sorry, your answer is incorrect. Understanding the cause for a behavior isn’t the same thing as endorsing that behavior.

To paraphrase Dr. Cronin, evolutionary psychology’s findings are not superior or inferior to moral standards; rather, they are separate approaches to the same behavior.

Evolutionary tendencies are not immutable constraints on behavior; people can certainly act in ways that adhere to societal moral standards that are counter to one’s evolutionary tendencies.

Theories and hypotheses are revised if flaws are found in the logic or if data do not support them, not because some people believe the implications of the findings are unwelcome.

Question 3

How could we best characterize people’s behavior when it comes into conflict with evolutionary dictates?

A. Evolutionary pressures shape people’s behavior in such a way that there is little conflict.

B. It is not overly difficult to ignore evolutionary pressures; lots of people do this in many ways all the time.

C. People will follow evolutionary dictates until they lead to an unwanted outcome, at which point they will move against these dictates.

D. People can overcome evolutionary pressures with a significant exercise of will.

Correct!

Sorry, your answer is incorrect. It is not overly difficult to ignore evolutionary pressures; lots of people do this in many ways all the time.

Evolutionary pressures might guide behavioral choices to some extent, but not so much that they essentially “drive” a person’s behaviors.

Choice C might be consistent with a learning theory approach, but evolutionary psychology approaches do not see so clear-cut a pathway.

Pinker notes that he, and many others, makes behavioral choices all the time that ignore or contradict evolutionary dictates.

Question 4

How might evolutionary psychology understand the effect technological and cultural changes have on human behavior?

A. Cultural changes tend to inhibit, if not act against, the behavioral expression of evolutionary dictates.

B. Environmental change and evolutionary pressures are separate spheres that don’t influence one another.

C. Such changes might allow us to express our evolutionary tendencies without experiencing negative or unwanted consequences.

D. Technological changes work in ways that make it easier for us to follow our evolutionary tendencies.

Correct!

Sorry, your answer is incorrect. Technological and cultural changes might allow us to express our evolutionary tendencies without experiencing negative or unwanted consequences.

Sometimes cultural changes tend to inhibit, if not act against, the behavioral expression of evolutionary dictates, but cultural change may make following the dictates of evolution easier.

This argument that environmental change and evolutionary pressures are separate spheres that don’t influence one another was used earlier in the video to separate moral strictures from evolutionary findings. In this case, it’s not applicable. Remember your Lewin: B = ƒ (P,E).

Sometimes technological changes may work in ways that make it easier for us to follow our evolutionary tendencies, but technological advances may also make it harder to follow evolutionary tendencies.

Question 5

How can our brains, themselves products of evolution by natural selection, override the evolutionary demands of our “selfish genes”?

A. Significant mental development to accomplish evolutionary goals has had the incidental effect of allowing us to override our evolutionary imperatives.

B. The goal of our evolution is to develop a brain capable of overriding evolutionary imperatives.

C. We are put in the world to accomplish evolutionary goals, and our brains help us find more efficient ways to do so.

D. Evolutionary mechanisms have changed to such an extent so that it’s rather difficult for older, non-cortical evolutionary imperatives to have an effect.

Correct!

Sorry, your answer is incorrect. Significant mental development to accomplish evolutionary goals has had the incidental effect of allowing us to override our evolutionary imperatives.

Evolutionary processes don’t have developmental goals.

The question asks about “overriding” evolutionary demands, not facilitating them.

The mechanisms of evolution aren’t such that the brain’s evolutionary imperatives are privileged over other evolutionary impulses.