PSY351H5 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Secondary Sex Characteristic, Facial Symmetry, Extreme Measures
Document Summary
The cougar phenomenon is explained by evolutionary psychology (team negative) Introduce our argument and standpoint: define the evolutionary theory/the cougar phenomenon/parental investment theory. Resources take time to acquire: males primary reproductive strategy is selecting for the most fertile women and have developed a sensitivity to fertility, good genes" and attractiveness cues. Introduce evidence for diana"s points and overall argument. Points: women rate finances 11x higher than men do (indicating preference for wealth and resources, males cross-culturally prefer a 0. 7 whr, facial symmetry and feminine faces indicating estrogen levels. Fertility decreases with age and older women are less likely to have this ideal ratio and feminine features: david buss"s cross cultural study showed that in 37 cultures women prefer older men and men prefer younger women. The cougar phenomenon directly contradicts this research: women have a much shorter fertile window" than men do and therefore men select for younger women to ensure their offspring will be healthy.
