Physical Attractiveness and the Theory of Sexual Selection

Physical Attractiveness and the Theory of Sexual Selection PDF Author: Doug Jones
Publisher: U OF M MUSEUM ANTHRO ARCHAEOLOGY
ISBN: 0915703408
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 189

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Book Description
In this fascinating study of five populations, author Doug Jones explores the possibility that hardwired into the human psyche are standards of beauty that are really preferences and signals for good health.

Physical Attractiveness and the Theory of Sexual Selection

Physical Attractiveness and the Theory of Sexual Selection PDF Author: Doug Jones
Publisher: U OF M MUSEUM ANTHRO ARCHAEOLOGY
ISBN: 0915703408
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 189

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Book Description
In this fascinating study of five populations, author Doug Jones explores the possibility that hardwired into the human psyche are standards of beauty that are really preferences and signals for good health.

The Last Saltmakers of Nexquipayac, Mexico

The Last Saltmakers of Nexquipayac, Mexico PDF Author: Jeffrey R. Parsons
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Ethnoarchaeology
Languages : en
Pages : 370

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Book Description


The Evolution of Beauty

The Evolution of Beauty PDF Author: Richard O. Prum
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0385537220
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 436

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Book Description
A FINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZE NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, SMITHSONIAN, AND WALL STREET JOURNAL A major reimagining of how evolutionary forces work, revealing how mating preferences—what Darwin termed "the taste for the beautiful"—create the extraordinary range of ornament in the animal world. In the great halls of science, dogma holds that Darwin's theory of natural selection explains every branch on the tree of life: which species thrive, which wither away to extinction, and what features each evolves. But can adaptation by natural selection really account for everything we see in nature? Yale University ornithologist Richard Prum—reviving Darwin's own views—thinks not. Deep in tropical jungles around the world are birds with a dizzying array of appearances and mating displays: Club-winged Manakins who sing with their wings, Great Argus Pheasants who dazzle prospective mates with a four-foot-wide cone of feathers covered in golden 3D spheres, Red-capped Manakins who moonwalk. In thirty years of fieldwork, Prum has seen numerous display traits that seem disconnected from, if not outright contrary to, selection for individual survival. To explain this, he dusts off Darwin's long-neglected theory of sexual selection in which the act of choosing a mate for purely aesthetic reasons—for the mere pleasure of it—is an independent engine of evolutionary change. Mate choice can drive ornamental traits from the constraints of adaptive evolution, allowing them to grow ever more elaborate. It also sets the stakes for sexual conflict, in which the sexual autonomy of the female evolves in response to male sexual control. Most crucially, this framework provides important insights into the evolution of human sexuality, particularly the ways in which female preferences have changed male bodies, and even maleness itself, through evolutionary time. The Evolution of Beauty presents a unique scientific vision for how nature's splendor contributes to a more complete understanding of evolution and of ourselves.

Human Reproductive Behaviour

Human Reproductive Behaviour PDF Author: Laura Betzig
Publisher: CUP Archive
ISBN: 9780521337960
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 414

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Book Description


A Taste for the Beautiful

A Taste for the Beautiful PDF Author: Michael J. Ryan
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691191395
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
"In A Taste for the Beautiful, Michael Ryan, one of the world's leading authorities on animal behavior, tells the remarkable story of how he and other scientists have taken up where Darwin left off, transforming our understanding of sexual selection and shedding new light on animal and human behavior. Drawing on cutting-edge science, Ryan explores the key questions: Why do animals perceive certain traits as beautiful and others not? Do animals have an inherent sexual aesthetic and, if so, where is it rooted? Ryan argues that the answers lie in the brain--particularly of females, who act as biological puppeteers, spurring the development of beautiful traits in males."--Back cover

Darwin and the Making of Sexual Selection

Darwin and the Making of Sexual Selection PDF Author: Evelleen Richards
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022643690X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 704

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Book Description
Sexual selection, or the struggle for mates, was of considerable strategic importance to Darwin s theory of evolution as he first outlined it in the "Origin of Species," and later, in the "Descent of Man," it took on a much wider role. There, Darwin s exhaustive elaboration of sexual selection throughout the animal kingdom was directed to substantiating his view that human racial and sexual differences, not just physical differences but certain mental and moral differences, had evolved primarily through the action of sexual selection. It was the culmination of a lifetime of intellectual effort and commitment. Yet even though he argued its validity with a great array of critics, sexual selection went into abeyance with Darwin s death, not to be revived until late in the twentieth century, and even today it remains a controversial theory. In unfurling the history of sexual selection, Evelleen Richards brings to vivid life Darwin the man, not the myth, and the social and intellectual roots of his theory building."

Sexual Nature/Sexual Culture

Sexual Nature/Sexual Culture PDF Author: Paul R. Abramson
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226001822
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 435

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Book Description
In this multidisciplinary study of human sexuality, an international team of scholars looks at the influences of nature and nurture, biology and culture, and sex and gender in the sexual experiences of humans and other primates. Using as its center the idea that sexual pleasure is the primary motivational force behind human sexuality and that reproduction is simply a byproduct of the pleasurability of sex, this book examines sexuality at the individual, societal, and cultural levels. Beginning with a look at the evolution of sexuality in humans and other primates, the essays in the first section examine the sexual ingenuity of primates, the dominant theories of sexual behavior, the differences in male and female sexual interest and behavior, and the role of physical attractiveness in mate selection. The focus then shifts to biological approaches to sexuality, especially the genetic and hormonal origins of sexual orientation, gender, and pleasure. The essays go on to look at the role of pleasure in different cultures. Included are essays on love among the tribespeople of the Brazilian rain forest and the regulation of adolescent sexuality in India. Finally, several contributors look at the methodological issues in the study of human sexuality, paying particular attention to the problems with research that relies on people's memories of their sexual experiences. The contributors are Angela Pattatucci, Dean Hamer, David Greenberg, Frans de Waal, Mary McDonald Pavelka, Kim Wallen, Donald Symons, Heino Meyer-Bahlburg, Jean D. Wilson, Donald Tuzin, Lawrence Cohen, Thomas Gregor, Lenore Manderson, Robert C. Bailey, Alice Schlegel, Edward H. Kaplan, Richard Berk, Paul R. Abramson, Paul Okami, and Stephen D. Pinkerton. Spanning the chasm of the nature versus nurture debate, Sexual Nature/Sexual Culture is a look at human sexuality as a complex interaction of genetic potentials and cultural influences. This book will be of interest to a wide range of readers—from scholars and students in psychology, anthropology, sociology, and history to clinicians, researchers, and others seeking to understand the many dimensions of sexuality. "If we ever expect to solve the sexually based problems that modern societies face, we must encourage investigations of human sexual behavior. Moreover, those investigations should employ a broad range of disciplines—looking at sex from all angles, which is precisely what Sexual Nature, Sexual Culture does."—Mike May, American Scientist "...This timely and relevant book reminds us that we cannot rely on simple solutions to complex problems. It represents a transdiciplinary approach integrating knowledge from diverse fields and provides the reader with a challenging and rewarding experience. Especially for those who are involved in teaching human sexuality to medical students and other health care professionals, this book is highly recommended."—Gerald Wiviortt, M.D., Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease "In short, this volume contains much to stimulate, inform, and amuse, in varying proportions. What more can one ask?"—Pierre L. van den Berghe, Journal of the History of Sexuality "...the book succeeds in bring together some of the sharpest thinkers in the field of human sexuality, and goes a long way toward clarifying the diverse perspectives that currently exist."—David M. Buss and Todd K. Shackelford, Quarterly Review of Biology

Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science PDF Author: Todd K. Shackelford
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9783319196497
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This comprehensive, twelve volume reference work reflects the interdisciplinary influences on evolutionary psychology and serves as a major resource for its history, scientific contributors and theories. It draws on biology, cognitive science, anthropology, psychology, economics, computer science and paleoarchaeology to provide a multifaceted picture of behavioral adaptation in humans and how it adds to our academic and clinical understanding. Edited by a noted figure in evolutionary psychology, with many seminal and renowned contributors, this encyclopedia offers the full breadth of an area that is the forefront of behavioral thinking and investigation.

Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal Communication PDF Author: Judee K Burgoon
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000427730
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 794

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Book Description
The newly revised edition of this groundbreaking textbook provides a comprehensive overview of the theory, research, and applications of nonverbal communication. Authored by three of the foremost scholars in the field and drawing on multidisciplinary research from communication studies, psychology, linguistics, and family studies, Nonverbal Communication speaks to today’s students with modern examples that illustrate nonverbal communication in their lived experiences. It emphasizes nonverbal codes as well as the functions they perform to help students see how nonverbal cues work with one another and with the verbal system through which we create and understand messages and shows how consequential nonverbal means of communicating are in people’s lives. Chapters cover the social and biological foundations of nonverbal communication as well as the expression of emotions, interpersonal conversation, deception, power, and influence. This edition includes new content on “Influencing Others,” as well as a revised chapter on “Displaying Identities, Managing Images, and Forming Impressions” that combines identity, impression management, and person perception. Nonverbal Communication serves as a core textbook for undergraduate and graduate courses in communication and psychology. Online resources for instructors, including an extensive instructor’s manual with sample exercises and a test bank, are available at www.routledge.com/9780367557386

The Evolution of Mind

The Evolution of Mind PDF Author: Steven W. Gangestad
Publisher: Guilford Press
ISBN: 1593854080
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 465

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Book Description
An accessible reference, this book features short essays with selective references. Studies of evolutionary foundations of human nature have grown exponentially, so this body of knowledge is expanding rapidly. A wide range of eminent contributors promote synthesis across the social, behavioral, and life sciences.