From the evolutionary point of view, men are more likely to engage in sex with strangers than women. It can be explained by the following evolutionary idea: it takes more from a woman to grow a child in terms of physical investment; women need resources and protection which can be obtained from strong and high status spouse only. It is obvious that females seek reliable partners with good genes and enough resources. Women are pickier than men when choosing their spouse. On the opposite hand, males seek to make pregnant as many females as possible to ensure procreation; they seek for faithful spouse so that she would raise his offspring. Men are constrained in their reproduction by the number of women they have access to, and women are constrained by the resources to grow children and by the pregnancy period. (Buss & Schmitt, 1993)
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Explanation
What do we see in the modern world? Women engage in casual sex on almost the same rate as men do. Casual sex is different from long term relationships, so the women are not so picky when they chose casual sex partner. But they are more likely to choose a partner they can benefit from, a partner who easily spends resources on her. Sex is not only a matter of reproduction it is a matter of pleasure-seeking too. Women are able to have intercourse without conceiving, since they have only a few days of fertility a month. (Net, 2009) There is a difference in human preferences when choosing long term and short term partners. The fact that a proposing person is a great lover can influence the decision too. Another opposing fact against the evolutionary explanation is that female need faithful partners too: it increases the possibility that the partner will provide support for the future children. As we can see faithfulness is important not only to men. However the research conducted among college students showed that males are more likely to engage in casual sex with random partners than females, as 75 males comparing to 0 females agreed. (Buss & Schmitt, 1993)
Works Cited
Buss, D., & Schmitt, D. (1993). Sexual Strategies Theory: An Evolutionary Perspective on Human Mating. Retrieved from http://www.psy.cmu.edu/~rakison/bussandschmitt.pdf
Net, L. L. (2009, August 21). Females, Casual Sex, and Evolution. Retrieved from Life Without a Net: http://livinglifewithoutanet.wordpress.com/2009/08/21/females-casual-sex -and-evolution/
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