Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–4Cite as

Sex Differences

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:

  • 285 Accesses

Synonyms

Attractiveness, Parental behavior, Reproduction, Sexual behavior, Sexual selection

Definition

Evolutionary theory predicts sex differences among humans, which may extend (or be amplified) after having children.

Introduction

This entry provides an evolutionary theoretical framework to help explain sex differences in mate preferences among human parents. Few data enable directly testing sex differences in mate preferences. However, various lines of inferential evidence, including patterns of sexual behavior, causes for divorce, and dating information on single parents, are presented.

Sex Differences After Having Children

The evolutionary foundation of sex differences in mate preferences draws upon theoretical insight into the evolution of sex differences in reproductive effort more broadly (see Sex Differences in Human Mate Preferences; Sex Differences in Parenting and Parental Investment). Sex differences have been variably linked to gamete size (see Sex Difference in Gamete...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  • Apicella, C. L., & Feinberg, D. R. (2009). Voice pitch alters mate-choice-relevant perception in hunter–gatherers. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 276(1659), 1077–1082.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cobey, K. D., Little, A. C., & Roberts, S. C. (2014). Hormonal effects on women’s facial masculinity preferences: The influence of pregnancy, post-partum and hormonal contraceptive use. Biological Psychology, 104, 35.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Escasa-Dorne, M. J. (2015). Sexual functioning and commitment to their current relationship among breastfeeding and regularly cycling women in Manila, Philippines. Human Nature, 26(1), 89–101.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Escasa-Dorne, M., Young, S. M., & Gray, P. B. (2013). Now or later: Peripartum shifts in female sociosexuality. In M. Fisher, J. R. Garcia, & R. S. Chang (Eds.), Evolution’s empress: Darwinian perspectives on the nature of women. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Revise to: Escasa-Dorne, M. J., Manlove, H., & Gray, P. B. (2016). Women express a preference for feminized male faces after giving birth. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gray, P. B., & Garcia, J. R. (2013). Evolution and human sexual behavior. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gray, P. B., Garcia, J. R., Crosier, B. S., & Fisher, H. E. (2015a). Dating and sexual behavior among single parents of young children in the United States. The Journal of Sex Research, 52(2), 121–128.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gray, P. B., Reece, J. A., Coore-Desai, C., Dinnall-Johnson, T., Pellington, S., & Samms-Vaughan, M. (2015b). Sexuality among fathers of newborns in Jamaica. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 15(1), 44.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gray, P. B., Franco, C. Y., Garcia, J. R., Gesselman, A. N., & Fisher, H. E. (2016). Romantic and dating behaviors among single parents in the United States. Personal Relationships, 23(3), 491–504.

    Google Scholar 

  • Little, A. C., Apicella, C. L., & Marlowe, F. W. (2007). Preferences for symmetry in human faces in two cultures: Data from the UK and the Hadza, an isolated group of hunter-gatherers. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 274(1629), 3113–3117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weeks-Shackelford, V. A., Easton, J. A., & Stone, E. A. (2007). How having children affects mating psychology. In G. Geher & G. F. Miller (Eds.), Mating Intelligence: Sex, relationships and the mind’s reproductive system (pp. 159–170). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO, USA

    Michelle Escasa-Dorne

  2. Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA

    Carol Franco & Peter Gray

Authors
  1. Michelle Escasa-Dorne
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Carol Franco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Peter Gray
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michelle Escasa-Dorne .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland Univ Dept of Psycholgy, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana Weekes-Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  3. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this entry

Cite this entry

Escasa-Dorne, M., Franco, C., Gray, P. (2016). Sex Differences. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_17-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_17-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation