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