ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the two major components of sexual selection theory and explores parental investment theory and analyzes how parental investment influences the components of sexual selection. It also analyzes the multiple adaptive problems potentially solved by women’s preferences for men with resources. The chapter describes why women have an evolved mate preference for cues to athletic ability. It presents the evidence for the effects of women’s personal resources on their mate preferences. The chapter also explains “mate copying” and provide one example from real life. It provides several findings that illustrate how women’s mate preferences influence actual mating behavior. Consider one of the problems that women in evolutionary history had to face: selecting a man who would be willing to commit to a long-term relationship. In short, evolution has favored women who prefer men possessing attributes that confer benefits and who dislike men possessing attributes that impose costs.
