links: Theories in Social Psychology and Evolutionary Psychology in relationships

The three elements to species

• The Darwinian engine of evolution involves three core elements
  • Variation
    • species must have some variants
  • Inheritance
    • The variations must have inherited some characteristics that allow them to reliably passed on to offspring
  • Selection
    • Environmental elements will influence which species are more successful in living and reproducing

Natural selection indicates that those who are less adapted do not survive or reproduce, therefore those left were ‘filtered’ to be well adapted to the environment.

The two selections

Selection for Survival are those that will increase the chance of survival.

Sexual Selection is also referred as mate choice. It explains why male and female are different, as they are selected by their mate.

The difference in size or appearance between the sexes is referred to as sexual dimorphism.

In most cases, female select the male, but in some species, vice versa.

Why peacocks have bright feathers?

Another question pops up, why some characteristics developed for mate selection are so detrimental to survival? Handicap Principle tries to explain that.