ANT 2301 TEST STUDY GUIDE Sexual Coercion is Receiving or performing sexual acts involving another individual without that individual s consent knowledge or explicit awareness of the act the use of force intimidation deception to receive or perform sexual acts involving another individual Sexual Coercion is distinct from rape in that it describes a specific set of identifiable behaviors that may be compared across a number of different species or cultures The term rape has more cultural connotations discussed later Naturalistic Fallacy the error of deriving what ought to be from what is Creating an evolutionary explanation of coercion in humans does not justify the behavior unchangeable Genetic Determinism idea that behavior is unalterable programmed and This idea is untrue we are not saying that because a behavior may be selected for it is inevitable or acceptable Sexual Coercion and Theory Evolutionary theory often camps things in cost benefit relationships and notions of reproductive success Only used in the context of natural selection not individual choices or decisions The Goal whether you believe in evolutionary theory or not is to gain new perspectives allow for increasing insights and hopefully lead to a greater understanding of the phenomenon Evolutionary Assumptions Natural Selection is the mechanism by which species evolve and adapt Range of responses depend on evolved psychological mechanisms These mechanisms are necessary to solve recurring problems that affect reproductive success and survival All of the psychological mechanisms work together to produce behavior Sexual Coercion In Nature sexually reproducing species How do we recognize coercion We must rely on our interpretation of actions and behaviors For primates For hominins How likely is coercion going to occur during estrus sexual swelling and active solicitation of copulation by females Compared to non estrus Concealed ovulation and continual attractiveness in humans predict more continual coercion When procreation is the primary focus Sexual Coercion Evolutionary Expectations What data are relevant for evolutionary explanation natural setting Age of victim Rate of occurrence Benefit vs Cost to male If female is not fertile doesn t enhance male RS Behavioral opportunities must occur often enough to be selected for Ensure paternity but avoid penalty Expect it to be a tactic of males with low mate value few mating opportunities Scorpionfly non consensual Anatomical feature that is designed to hold females for copulation consensual or Males offer females gifts of saliva food or attract with pheromones When males are not able to secure a copulation through female choice they may resort to a conditional strategy of coercion Thornhill and Sauer 1991 Orangutan Mating Tactics 2 distinct male phenotypes Based on sexual dimorphism Flanged dominant and Unflanged non dominant Ancestral mating system was like gorilla harem Similar to Silverback blackback dichotomy Where a single dominant male silverback controlled and protected a harem of Climate shift where forests experienced longer and more severe periods of low females Approximately 3 5 mya SE Asia food availability Causing female dispersal to patchier food sources Led to current solitary social organization Flanged males could no longer mate guard In Gorillas bachelor males form groups In Orangutans bachelors are solitary Unflanged males thus benefit by being opportunistic sexual predators Flanged males remain the preferred mating partner call and wait behavior Unflanged males only need to avoid the detection of the flanged male sneak and rape Proponents of Evolutionary Research Thornhill Palmer argue that coercion has evolved over human history along with courtship sexual attraction and other behaviors related to the production of offspring Over past few million years From an Evolutionary perspective In certain circumstances a coercion strategy male female benefits a males RS Most evolutionary explanations focus on why males perform this behavior 9 10 reported rape victims are female male perpetrator Evolutionary Explanation Thornhill and Palmer Females are choosier males have been selected to find a way to be chosen By possessing traits that females prefer Gain access to females through competition Gain access to females through Sexual Coercion Reminder Adaptation a trait with a current functional role in the life history of an organism that is maintained and evolved by means of natural selection Alternative evolutionary hypotheses considered with their associated predictions 1 Rape is a male adaptation engaged in by males of all social status when victims are 2 Rape is a male adaptation engaged in by only low status males excluded from 3 Rape is a male adaptation for achieving social dominance over females 4 Rape is a male adaptation that is the result of female preference for physically highly vulnerable other mating alternatives strong males 5 Rape is not an adaptation but a result of how recently disturbed environments impact men s evolved sexual psychology 6 Rape is not an adaptation but a pathological act of abnormal individuals Only 1 hypothesis was supported by data Rape is not an adaptation but a by product of evolved differences in male and female 7 sexual strategies Evolutionary Psychology Explanation McKibbin et al 2008 Agree that coercion is a conditional strategy based on ancestral contexts but they also include individual differences Not all men perform coercive behaviors Authors believe rape is more likely to occur under specific environmental circumstances that activate some men s evolved psychological mechanisms Referring to the examination of males propensity to commit rape Uses data from modern society to support evolutionary psychological theory Proposed 5 types of rapists Disadvantaged asymmetry Specialized Males motivated to rape when they have no other means of copulation Correlates with low socioeconomic status as well as higher degrees of facial Sexually aroused by violence Convicted rapists are known to show greater arousal to acts of sexual Seek out receptive women but may resort to rape when cost of retaliation is violence than nonrapists Opportunistic low Often occurs during wartime High Mating effort Aggressive dominant males with high self esteem and more sexual Pursue many partners with little to no investment and use rape when experience noncoercive tactics fail Feeling of perceived deprivation may lead to date or acquaintance