Evolutionary Psychology and the Beauty Myth? Charles Crawford Department of Psychology Simon Fraser University Burnaby, BC, Canada, V 5A 1S6 E-mail: [email protected].

Evolutionary Psychology and the Evolutionary Psychology and the Beauty Myth?Beauty Myth?

Charles Crawford

Department of Psychology

Simon Fraser University

Burnaby, BC, Canada, V 5A 1S6

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: http://www.sfu.ca/faculty/crawford

A Central Problem for A Central Problem for HumansHumans

How can we set up societies– that are founded on moral principles, and yet – are pliable and comfortable enough for people

so that the society will persist? Example: Collapse of the USSR Resolving “naturalistic” and “moralistic” fallacies Is there a role for evolutionary psychology?

The Beauty MythThe Beauty MythThe Beauty MythThe Beauty Myth

Standards of human physical beauty are arbitrary.

Individual3s are very susceptible to cultural pressures to conform.

The media in western cultures impose beauty standards.

Men somehow use the “beauty myth” to control and oppress women.

Blame for Standards of Blame for Standards of BeautyBeauty

“Oh my God, we are so sick in this society.” – “Better watch out girl. You're getting a

little broad across the beam.” “I believe in sin, therefore in a sinner; in

theft, therefore in a thief; in slavery, therefore in a slaveholder; in wrong, therefore in a wrong-doer.” William Lloyd Garrison/Naomi Wolf The Beauty Myth

Today’s TalkToday’s TalkToday’s TalkToday’s Talk

Physical beauty: What it may tell us

– Fluctuating body asymmetry

– Waist-to-hip ratio. The thin female physique

– Reproduction suppression model of anorexic behaviour.

– empirical support for it.

1,000,000 years

Assessing Quality of Assessing Quality of Prospective Mate Prospective Mate

Assessing Quality of Assessing Quality of Prospective Mate Prospective Mate

Qualities: May not be directly observable

– Resources

– Fertility

– Parental care

– Parasite resistance Assessing health, fertility,...

– Body asymmetry

– Waist-to-hip ratio

Fluctuating Body AsymmetryFluctuating Body AsymmetryFluctuating Body AsymmetryFluctuating Body Asymmetry

Genes produce the basic design of organs. Environmental conditions and genetic quality

impact on expression of the design. Many traits bilaterally symmetric in design. Asymmetry results from imprecise

expression of the design. It can indicate poor genes or high levels of

environmental stress.

What is beingDisplayed?

Dev Singh: Waist-to-hip RatioDev Singh: Waist-to-hip RatioDev Singh: Waist-to-hip RatioDev Singh: Waist-to-hip Ratio

Ratio of waist to hip measurements Women: WHR = 0.7 Cross cultural evidence Indicator of health Body scarification

Adaptations: Tools for Ancestral Adaptations: Tools for Ancestral Survival and ReproductionSurvival and Reproduction

Fever fighting parasites Upright walking Assessing Waist-to-Hip Ratio in choosing a

mate Assessing Fluctuating Body Asymmetry in

choosing a mate Detecting cheaters on social contracts

Adaptations as Information Adaptations as Information ProcessorsProcessors

a set of genetically-coded developmental processes that enabled ancestral organisms to implement cost-benefit analyses in response to specific sets of environmental contingencies, and

that organized the effector processes for dealing with those contingencies so that the allele(s) producing the decision processes were reproduced better than alternate allele(s)

examples: recognizing kin, forming social contracts, deceiving oneself, choosing mate,...

Evolutionary Psychology Evolutionary Psychology DefinedDefined

Evolutionary Psychology Evolutionary Psychology DefinedDefined

Problems humans encountered in the EEA

– Finding high quality mates. Psychological adaptations that evolved to

help solve those problems

– Assessing Waist-to-hip ratio/Symmetry. The way those adaptations function now

– Women in advertisements, TV, & movies

Anorexic BehaviourAnorexic BehaviourAnorexic BehaviourAnorexic Behaviour

Disturbance in way body weight/shape is experienced

Fear of gaining weight Amenorrhea Most common in:

– Young women

– Industrialized countries

– Upper status women

Non Evolutionary Non Evolutionary ExplanationsExplanations

Non Evolutionary Non Evolutionary ExplanationsExplanations

Sociocultural Taking control Family pathology Political:

– Men want power over women.

– “Juvenile” women easier to control.

– Men “juvenilize” women to control them. Others...

Unanswered QuestionsUnanswered QuestionsUnanswered QuestionsUnanswered Questions

What is it about industrialization that encourages a thin standard of beauty?

Why do some girls progress to very thin levels of emaciation?

Why do we not see “pathologies” associated with other aspects of attractiveness, i.e. eyelashes?

What environmental variables drive the passion for thinness?

What are the relations to the physiology of ovulation, menstruation, and hunger?

Adaptive Reproductive Adaptive Reproductive SuppressionSuppression

Adaptive Reproductive Adaptive Reproductive SuppressionSuppression

Female reproduction is very costly. Individuals can improve their lifetime reproductive

success by delaying reproduction if current conditions for reproducing are poor, but are expected to improve.

Value of body fat for women:– Insulation– Storage of calories– Regulation of reproduction

Anorexic Behaviour: Reproductive Suppression and Critical Fat

If conditions for reproduction are poor, but expected to improve delaying reproduction can contribute to lifetime reproductive success (Wassar & Barash, 1983).

Accumulation of body fat is an important factor in initiating and maintaining women’s menstruation and ovulation(Frish, 1988).

Altering body fat:A mechanism foradjusting reproduction as a function of expected current and future reproductivesuccess

Hypothesized Stresses that Hypothesized Stresses that May Make Delay AdaptiveMay Make Delay Adaptive

Hypothesized Stresses that Hypothesized Stresses that May Make Delay AdaptiveMay Make Delay Adaptive

High levels of:

– Female-female competition

– Attention from undesirable males Exacerbating conditions:

– Fat-rich diet

– Work needed to raise body fat level

– Early puberty relative to social maturity

Female-Female Competition: Female-Female Competition: Initial Naive PredictionsInitial Naive Predictions

Female-Female Competition: Female-Female Competition: Initial Naive PredictionsInitial Naive Predictions

1. Incidence will be positively correlated with social status– Reason: Female-female competition is more

intense in upper status groups. 2. Incidence will be increasing in societies where

the age of puberty is falling– Reason: Changes in diet, etc. producing earlier

physical maturation do not necessarily cause earlier psychological maturity.

Female-Female Competition: Female-Female Competition: Initial Naive PredictionsInitial Naive Predictions

Female-Female Competition: Female-Female Competition: Initial Naive PredictionsInitial Naive Predictions

3. As the level of female-female competition increases women are expected to increasingly value thinness.– Reason: Since reproductive suppression mechanisms

are being activated at a low level in many women thinness will become attractive to many women.

4. As women gain political and social skills incidence will begin to decline– Reason: Avoidance of stresses

How do we Validate How do we Validate Evolutionary Explanations?Evolutionary Explanations?

by modeling ancestral selection processes to determine if the adaptation could have evolved

cross cultural studies to determine how the adaptation functions in different environments

experimental studies to make causal statements about psychological mechanisms

locating the basis of the adaptation in nervous and endocrine systems to give biological credibility

Modeling Ancestral Fitness Costs and Modeling Ancestral Fitness Costs and BenefitsBenefits

Modeling Ancestral Fitness Costs and Modeling Ancestral Fitness Costs and BenefitsBenefits

Explain: Contribution to ancestral fitness Predictor variables:

– Reproductive effort - Now/Later

– Reproductive success - Now/Later

– Reproductive value - Now/Later Parameters:

– c = cost of delay

– k = effect of reproducing now.

Environmental Variability: In Environmental Variability: In Standards of BeautyStandards of Beauty

Environmental Variability: In Environmental Variability: In Standards of BeautyStandards of Beauty

Human Relations Area files 63 societies Dependent variable: Standards of beauty

– plump/fat, moderate fatness, slim. Independent variables: Predictors of standards

of beauty for several hypotheses

– latitude, protection of girls, menstrual taboos, value of women’s work,...

Some HypothesesSome Hypotheses

Whims of fashion Food security Latitude Battle of the sexes - control of fertility Value of female work Adaptive reproductive suppression

Food Security & ClimateFood Security & Climate

Independent variable: Food

– Results: Societies with unreliable food supply have plump standard of beauty (r = 0.28)

Independent variable: Latitude

– Results: Societies with high latitude have plump standard of beauty (r = 0.273)

Battle of the Sexes: Fertility Battle of the Sexes: Fertility Male-female BattlegroundMale-female Battleground

Independent variables: Dominance, Machismo, value of female life, courtship choice, control of sex

Results:

– Strong emphasis on machismo have plump standard of beauty (r = 0.433).

– Husbands dominate wives (r = 0.426).

Value of Women’s Work Value of Women’s Work

Independent variables: value of female work, menstrual taboos

Results:

– Few menstrual restrictions (r = 0.377)

– Female work (r = 0.284)

Adaptive Reproductive Adaptive Reproductive Suppression: ProtectionSuppression: Protection

Independent variables: Risk associated with reproduction

Societies with high probability of adverse consequences of sexual maturation have slender standard of beauty

– Exposure, premarital sex, illegitimacy attitude (r = 0.234)

– Sexual expression, permission (r = 0.325)

Adaptive Reproductive Adaptive Reproductive Suppression: Female DominanceSuppression: Female Dominance Multiple regression of beauty on dominance

measures for 62 societies Results:

– With female dominance (R2 = 0.423)

– Without female dominance (R2 = 0.209) Female power associated with slender

standard of beauty.

Experimental Studies of Experimental Studies of Psychological MechanismsPsychological Mechanisms

Experimental Studies of Experimental Studies of Psychological MechanismsPsychological Mechanisms

Causal statements about psychological mechanisms Experimentally manipulate:

– Nature of delay: Indeterminate / Determinant– Reproductive stress: Female-female competition,

undesirable male attention– Non reproductive stress: Gardening, Hospital

visit Susceptibility measures

Control group Experimental group

Pre test

Post test

Stressmanipulation

Yes Yes

Low High

Yes Yes

Experimental Design

Pre and Post TestsPre and Post TestsPre and Post TestsPre and Post Tests

Pre tests: Indicators of susceptibility on:– Interoceptive awareness– Interpersonal distrust– Ineffectiveness

Post tests: Effects of the imagined stress on:– Drive for thinness– Body dissatisfaction– Maturity fears

Female-female Competition:Female-female Competition:Female subjectsFemale subjects

0 10 20 30 40

4-Years

IndefinateHighLow

Female-female CompetitionFemale-female Competition

0 10 20 30 40

4-Years

Indefinate

4-Years

Indefinate

High

Low

Male subjects

Femalesubjects

Male Attention:Male Attention:Female SubjectsFemale Subjects

0 10 20 30

4-Years

Indefinate

HighLow

Gardening and Music: Gardening and Music: Female SubjectsFemale Subjects

0 10 20 30

Music

Gardening

Hospital

HighLow

Stress and Time: Female-Stress and Time: Female-female competitionfemale competition

0 10 20 30 40

1-Year

4-Years

Indefinate

HighLow

Media StudyMedia Study

0

5

10

15

20

25

Low Fashion High Fashion

Low ExposureHigh Exposure

RiskRisk

0

5

10

15

20

25

Low RiskHigh Risk

Unanswered QuestionsUnanswered QuestionsUnanswered QuestionsUnanswered Questions

What is it about industrialization - thin standard of beauty? Stress: Duration & intensity

Why do some girls progress to very thin levels of emaciation? Vulnerability, stress

“Pathologies” associated with other aspects of attractiveness, i.e. eyelashes? Reproduction

What environmental variables drive the passion for thinness? Competition, attention, others

What are the relations to the physiology of ovulation, menstruation, and hunger????????

Naomi Wolf in The Beauty MythNaomi Wolf in The Beauty MythAnorexia is spreading because it works. Not only does it Anorexia is spreading because it works. Not only does it

solve the dilemma of the young woman faced with the solve the dilemma of the young woman faced with the hunger cult, it also protects her from street harassment hunger cult, it also protects her from street harassment and sexual coercion; construction workers leave and sexual coercion; construction workers leave walking skeletons alone. Having no fat means having walking skeletons alone. Having no fat means having no breasts, thighs, hips, or ass, which for once means no breasts, thighs, hips, or ass, which for once means not having asked for it. not having asked for it.

Woman’s magazines tell woman they Woman’s magazines tell woman they can can control their control their bodies; but women’s experiences of sexual harassment bodies; but women’s experiences of sexual harassment make them feel they make them feel they cannotcannot control what their bodies control what their bodies are said to provokeare said to provoke..

Members of Evolutionary Members of Evolutionary Psychology LaboratoryPsychology Laboratory

Members of Evolutionary Members of Evolutionary Psychology LaboratoryPsychology Laboratory

Charles Crawford, Judith Anderson Sally Walters, Joanne Nadeau Maria Janicki, Gerald Beroldi Martin Renaud, Windy Brown Laura Dane, Larua Ward, Erica Nance, Oonagh Zuberbier

Naturalistic Fallacy: “What is, Naturalistic Fallacy: “What is, is what ought to be.is what ought to be.

Naturalistic Fallacy: “What is, Naturalistic Fallacy: “What is, is what ought to be.is what ought to be.

Women are more caring than men... Men are more sexually aggressive than

women... Men’s sexual jealousy... Women care for children...

The Moralistic Fallacy: “What The Moralistic Fallacy: “What ought to be is what is.”ought to be is what is.”

The Moralistic Fallacy: “What The Moralistic Fallacy: “What ought to be is what is.”ought to be is what is.”

Women ought to be more caring than men... Abortion ought to have no negative

effects... Coercion ought not to be involved in

sexuality... Men and women ought to have the same

sexual agendas...

Wilson on Natural Selection Wilson on Natural Selection and the Human Mindand the Human Mind

Wilson on Natural Selection Wilson on Natural Selection and the Human Mindand the Human Mind

Camus said that the only serious philosophical question is suicide. That is wrong even in the strict sense intended. The biologist, who is concerned with questions of physiology and evolutionary history, realizes that self-knowledge is constrained and shaped by the emotional control centers in the hypothalamus and limbic system of the brain. These centers flood our consciousness with all the emotions--hate, love, guilt, fear, and others--that are consulted by ethical philosophers who wish to intuit the standards of good and evil. What, we are then compelled to ask, made the hypothalamus and limbic system? They evolved by natural selection. The simple biological statement must be pursued to explain ethics and ethical philosophers, if not epistemology and epistemologists, at all depths. (Edward O. Wilson, 1975)

Conspiracies and the Tragedy of the Commons