Sex Wars: Evolved Psychological Sex Differences and Sexual Conflict in the Contexts of Infidelity, Persuasion, and Hip-Hop Song Lyrics

Although researchers agree that humans exhibit behavioral sex differences, there
remains controversy over whether these sex differences are socially constructed or
are the product of divergent evolutionary selection pressures on the psychologies
of men and women. Through four studies, this dissertation presents evidence that
behavioral sex differences have their origin in divergent evolutionary selection
pressures and that these sex differences lead to conflict between the sexes. The
first two studies investigate a type of sexual infidelity known as human mate
poaching. The third study investigates the use of physical attractiveness as a tactic
to persuade opposite-sex individuals. The fourth study documents expressions of
hypothesized evolved psychological sex differences and sexual conflict in the
lyrics of songs from hip-hop artists. The final chapter considers a social constructivist account for the origin of behavioral sex differences and argues that
an evolutionary psychological account has greater explanatory power.