David Buss - Sex Differences

Sex Differences

David Buss’ research has also focused on the differing mating strategies that exist in each sex. In a large Cross-cultural study that included 10,047 individuals across 37 cultures Buss’ sought to first determine the different characteristics and qualities each sex looked for in a mate. From these findings Buss was able to make evolutionary psychological hypotheses for why these differences exist. Buss found that men place very high importance on youth and hypothesized that modern men do this because of the fertility cues that youthful looks can give away,. If men are to pass on their genes through reproduction, they must find a mate that is capable of doing so. If youth can give away fertility than it is no surprise that men would place such importance on these cues. Buss also found that women desire an older mate and later hypothesized that this may be so because of the social status an older mate may have achieved. This social status could lead to more resources for her and her offspring, and therefore increase the likelihood of survival and further reproduction.

Another area that the two sexes seem to differ greatly is reactions to sexual and emotional infidelity. Buss found that women were more jealous of emotional infidelity while men were more jealous of sexual infidelity. This has been supported as universal norm by Buss’ cross-cultural study . Buss hypothesized that women find emotional infidelity more threatening because it could lead to the loss of resources she had gained in that mate and would have to raise children on her own. He then hypothesized that men found sexual infidelity threatening because they could risk spending resources on a child that may not be their own