Global Journal of Medical Research, K: Interdisciplinary, Volume 22 Issue 1

The Desire to Remain Childless and its Role in Female Partner Selection Criteria: An Evolutionary Psychology based Perspective Ana Vitória Moreira de Marchi Apolaro α &Mauro Lantzman σ Abstract- The present article aims to investigate if there are differences – and which – between partner selection criteria of females in long term relationships that desire and that do not desire children with their current male partners. According to Evolutionary Psychology, these criteria are directly related to the type of parental investment practiced by the partner. The method consisted of virtual data collection of 288 answers to the research questionnaire aimed at cisgender, heterosexual and nulliparous women currently in a relationship, which evaluated the presence or absence of certain traits in their current male partners. Results showed significative differences between partner selection criteria of females that desired and that did not desire children in 14 male traits and no significative differences in the other 13 male traits presented. Traits containing significative differences were, whereas also culturally valued, mostly indicative of parental investment and genetic quality. On the other hand, traits not containing significative differences were equally indicative of parental investment, genetic quality and cultural value. It was possible to conclude that evolutionarily selected female psychological mechanisms regarding partner selection do currently manifest as fruit of an indissociable junction between culture and nature, what makes them not exclusively instinctive, but rather incorporated to a conscious net of thoughts, functioning according to current cultural context. Keywords: evolutionary psychology; partner selection; women; parental investment. I. I ntroduction he present article aimed to investigate if there were differences – and which – between partner selection criteria of females in long term relationships that desired and that did not desire children with their current male partners. Data consisted of 288 answers to the research questionnaire aimed at cisgender, heterosexual and nulliparous women currently in a relationship, which evaluated the presence or absence of 23 certain traits in their current male partners. From them on, the aim was to statically evaluate the existence of significative differences between percentage frequency of answers regarding both groups of women and to assess whether findings could be in agreement with the female partner selection Author α : Psychologist, Graduated from Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Brazil. e-mail: ana.apolaro@gmail.com Author σ : PHD in Clinical Psychology, Health and Human Sciences Department, Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Brazil. e-mail: lantzman@pucsp.br model proposed by evolutionary psychology, which is based on male direct or indirect parental investment. II. P artner S election C riteria in H eterosexual M ales and F emales: an E volutionary P sychology based P erspective According to the theory of evolution, behaviors, the mind and culture itself emerged through the union of genetics and the evolutionary environment of the species (epigenetics). Therefore, trying to break the human individual into biological and non-biological (natural and cultural) would mean perpetuating an ancient dualism (BARKOW ET AL, 1992), when actually both instances constantly act conjointly and indivisibly. To Evolutionary Psychology, the existence of a bigger brain in the Homo genus (DE TONI ET AL, 2004) accounted for a range of new cultural developments even before the emergence of the Homo sapiens (CARVALHO, 1989). Therefore, the process of humanization was deeply characterized by cultural specialization (BUSSAB & RIBEIRO, 1998) consisting of a process in which culture created a human being that was capable of creating culture. The initially developed cultural context subsequently promoted the natural selection of new cerebral specialization, which would, by itself, produce more culture (CARVALHO, 1989). In this sense, what occurred during the process of hominization consisted of a natural aptitude for culture and a cultural aptitude for developing human nature (BUSSAB & RIBEIRO, 1998). Cultural evolution is not to be considered separately from natural selection, but rather its ultimate consequence. Culture has been present since the beginning of human evolution and has led humans towards becoming the species we currently are, even before the emergence of the Homo sapiens , having produced the brain that currently produces it (CARVALHO, 1989). That being the case, it would be erroneous to consider that, once biological evolution produced a being that is physically capable of producing culture, he would break away from nature and start existing independently from it (CARVALHO, 1989). The human being is not currently free from its nature and immersed in culture, (BUSSAB & RIBEIRO, 1998), as to T 1 Year 2022 Global Journal of Medical Research Volume XXII Issue I Version I ( D ) K © 2022 Global Journals