In einer Studie wurde ermittelt, wie sich Status bei den Geschlechtern auswirkt:
Two studies tested the hypothesis that people attend preferentially to high status men (but not women). Participants overestimated the frequency of high status men in rapidly presented arrays (Experiment 1) and fixated their visual attention on high status men in an eye-tracking study (Experiment 2). Neither study showed any evidence of preferential attention to high status women, but there was evidence that physically attractive women captured attention. The results from both studies support evolutionary theories regarding differential prioritization of social status and physical attractiveness in men versus women. These findings illustrate how examination of early-in-the-stream social cognition can provide useful insights into the adapted mind.
Quelle: High Status Men (But Not Women) Capture the Eye of the Beholder
Aus der Studie:
Examination of basic social perceptual processes provides important insights into adaptive constraints on the human mind. Indeed, people are confronted with myriad stimuli and therefore attend primarily to social information that will help them address fundamental adaptive challenges. Whereas physical attractiveness is valued in women to a relatively greater extent than to men (e.g., Li et al., 2002), social status is valued in men to a relatively greater extent than to women (e.g., Sadalla et al., 1987). Several previous investigations have demonstrated attentional bias to physically attractive women (e.g., Maner et al., 2003), but little work has examined potential attentional bias to high status men. If social status is valued in men more so than women, then high status men (but not women) are expected to capture attention. Results from two experiments provided consistent evidence that perceivers vigilantly attended to men displaying cues to high social status. In Experiment 1, limiting participants’ attentional capacity caused them to estimate a higher percentage of high status men within an array of photos. Experiment 2 provided similar evidence using an eyetracking method. In contrast, we found no evidence that high status women captured attention. Taken together, these findings suggest that high status men (but not women) capture attention, particularly under conditions of limited attentional capacity. Although attention was not captured by high status women, it was captured by women who were physically attractive. This is consistent with a large body of literature suggesting that attractive women are preferred as mating partners (by men) and serve as potent intrasexual rivals (for other women). These findings are also consistent with several previous studies suggesting that both men and women attend preferentially to signs of attractiveness in women (e.g., Maner et al., 2007). We also observed some evidence that male physical attractiveness captured attention. Evidence for preferential processing of male attractiveness has varied somewhat across studies (see Maner, DeWall, and Gailliot, 2008; Maner et al., 2007; Maner et al., 2003, 2007). Thus, whereas attention to female attractiveness seems to be consistent across situational contexts and levels of perceptual processing, attention to male attractiveness appears to be more flexible, and may depend on the peculiarities of the situation, the stimuli, and the particular cognitive process under investigation.
Das passt gut zu dem, was man bei einer evolutionären Betrachtung erwarten müsste. Bei intelligenten Gruppentieren sind Bündnisse das wichtigste, da mit der Fähigkeit strategisch zu handeln und Gefälligkeiten zu erwidern eine bessere Koordination möglich ist, mit der nicht mehr das stärkste Lebewesen gewinnt, sondern das, welches die meisten Verbündeten hat. Das ist insbesondere bei Männchen wichtig, da diese in einer starken auch körperlichen intrasexuellen Konkurrenz stehen, was bei (Menschen-) Weibchen eher nicht der Fall ist.
Ich hatte das bereits in einigen Artikel ausgeführt:
- Männerfreundschaften und Koalitionsbildung
- Kooperation und sozialer Status als Partnerwahlkriterium
- Kooperatives Verhalten und Gruppenbildung
Es ist aus dieser Sicht verständlich, dass der Status des Mannes Interesse weckt bzw. das Verhalten statushoher Männer stark beachtet wird. Für die Männer kann es wichtig sein, innerhalb der intrasexuellen Konkurrenz auf dem neusten Stand zu sein und dort eben gerade zu wissen, was die statushohen Männer machen, für Frauen ist dies ebenfalls wichtig und gibt zudem interessante Informationen für die Partnerwahl. Hingegen ist für Frauen die Schönheit innerhalb der intrasexuellen Konkurrenz wesentlich entscheidender, ebenso wie dies für Männer bei Frauen interessanter ist, weil diese von einem Statuszuwachs weniger profitieren.
Alles Evolution 