Biosocial theory claims that evolution did not design human psychological sex differences. It argues that these are the result of the allocation of men and women into different sex roles, based on physical differences. This article argues, however, that biosocial theory is not an alternative to evolutionary psychology in the explanation of human psychological sex differences. Specifically, biosocial theory is incompatible with evolutionary reasoning and it ignores findings of hormonal psychology, developmental psychology and comparative psychology. Moreover, by posing the need for special explanations, it violates the principle of Occam's razor. Finally, it does not provide an explanation as to why sex differences in human partner choice are finely tuned to fitness.
Alexander, G.M., & Hines, M. (2002). Sex differences in response to children's toys in nonhuman primates (Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus). Evolution and Human Behavior, 23, 467—479.
2.
Barrett, L., Dunbar, R., & Lycett, J. (2002). Human evolutionary psychology. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
3.
Berenbaum, S.A. (1999). Effects of early androgens on sex-typed activities and interests in adolescents with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Hormones and Behavior, 35, 102—110.
4.
Buss, D.M. (1989). Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures. Behavioral and Brain Sciences , 12, 1—49.
5.
Campbell, A., Shirley, L., & Candy, J. (2004). A longitudinal study of gender-related cognition and behaviour. Developmental Science, 7, 1—9.
6.
Campbell, A., Shirley, L., Heywood, C., & Crook, C. (2000). Infants' visual preference for sex-congruent babies, children, toys and activities: A longitudinal study. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 18, 479—498.
7.
Collaer, M.L., & Hines, M. (1995). Human behavioral sex differences: A role for gonadal hormones during early development? Psychological Bulletin , 118, 55—107.
8.
Darwin, C.R. (1871). The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. London: John Murray.
9.
Eagly, A.H., & Wood, W. (1999). The origins of sex differences in human behavior: Evolved dispositions versus social roles. American Psychologist , 54, 408—423.
10.
Fink, B., & Penton-Voak, I. (2002). Evolutionary psychology of facial attractiveness. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11, 154—158.
11.
Friedman, B.X., Bleske, A.L., & Scheyd, G.J. (2000). Incompatible with evolutionary theorizing. American Psychologist, 55, 1059—1060.
12.
Furnham, A., Moutafi, J., & Baguma, P. (2002). A cross-cultural study on the role of weight and waist-to-hip ratio on female attractiveness. Personality and Individual Differences, 32, 729—745.
13.
Gangestad, S.W., & Cousins, A.J. (2001). Adaptive design, female mate preferences, and shifts across the menstrual cycle. Annual Review of Sex Research , 12, 145—185.
14.
Gangestad, S.W., & Thornhill, R. (1997). The evolutionary psychology of extrapair sex: The role of fluctuating asymmetry. Evolution and Human Behavior , 18, 69—88.
15.
Gangestad, S.W., & Thornhill, R. (2003). Facial masculinity and fluctuating asymmetry. Evolution and Human Behavior, 24, 231—241.
16.
Gangestad, S.W., Thornhill, R., & Yeo, R.A. (1994). Facial attractiveness, developmental stability, and fluctuating asymmetry. Ethology and Sociobiology, 15, 73—85.
17.
Grammer, K., & Thornhill, R. (1994). Human (Homo sapiens) facial attractiveness and sexual selection: The role of symmetry and averageness. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 108, 233—242.
18.
Hines, M., Ahmed, S.F., & Hughes, I.A. (2003). Psychological outcomes and gender-related development in complete androgen insensitivity syndrome. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 32, 93—101.
19.
Hines, M., Brook, C., & Conway, G.S. (2004). Androgen and psychosexual development: Core gender identity, sexual orientation, and recalled childhood gender role behavior in women and men with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH). Journal of Sex Research, 41, 75—81.
20.
Hines, M., Fane, B.A., Pasterski, V.L., Matthews, G.A., Conway, G.S., & Brook, C. (2003). Spatial abilities following prenatal androgen abnormality: Targeting and mental rotations performance in individuals with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 28, 1010—1026.
21.
Hines, M., Golombok, S., Rust, J., Johnston, K.J., Golding, J., & Avon-Longitudinal-Study-of-Parents-&-Children-Study-Team. (2002). Testosterone during pregnancy and gender role behavior of preschool children: A longitudinal, population study . Child Development, 73, 1678—1687.
22.
Hines, M., & Kaufman, F.R. (1994). Androgen and the development of human sex-typical behavior: Rough-and-tumble play and sex of preferred playmates in children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). Child Development , 65, 1042—1053.
23.
Hofstede, G.E. (1998). Masculinity and femininity: The taboo dimension of national cultures. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
24.
Jones, B.C., Little, A.C., Penton-Voak, I.S., Tiddeman, B.P., Burt, D.M., & Perrett, D.I. (2001). Facial symmetry and judgements of apparent health: Support for a `good genes' explanation of the attractiveness—symmetry relationship. Evolution and Human Behavior, 22, 417—429.
25.
Kenrick, D.T., & Li, N. (2000). The Darwin is in the details. American Psychologist, 55, 1060—1061.
26.
Kleyman, E. (2000). From allies to adversaries? American Psychologist, 55, 1061—1062.
27.
Kowner, R. (1996). Facial asymmetry and attractiveness judgment in developmental perspective. Journal of ExperimentalPsychology Human Perception and Performance, 22, 662—675.
28.
Kowner, R. (2001). Psychological perspective on human developmental stability and fluctuating asymmetry: Sources, applications and implications . British Journal of Psychology, 92, 447—469.
29.
Little, A.C., Penton-Voak, I.S., Burt, D.M., & Perrett, D.I. (2002). Evolution and individual differences in the perception of attractiveness: How cyclic hormonal changes and self-perceived attractiveness influence female preferences for male faces. In G. Rhodes & L.A. Zebrowitz (Eds.), Facial attrativeness: Evolutionary,cognitive,and social perspectives (Advances in visual cognition, Vol. 1, pp. 59—90). Westport, CT: Ablex.
30.
Manning, J.T., Koukourakis, K., & Brodie, D.A. (1997). Fluctuating asymmetry, metabolic rate and sexual selection in human males. Evolution andHuman Behavior, 18, 15—21.
31.
McFarland, D. (1993). Animal behaviour: Psychobiology, ethology, and evolution (2nd ed.). New York : Wiley.
32.
Mealey, L., Bridgstock, R., & Townsend, G.C. (1999). Symmetry and perceived facial attractiveness: A monozygotic co-twin comparison. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 151—158.
33.
Miles, C., Green, R., Sanders, G., & Hines, M. (1998). Estrogen and memory in a transsexual population . Hormones and Behavior, 34, 199—208.
34.
O'Brien, M., & Huston, A.C. (1985). Development of sex-typed play behavior in toddlers . Developmental Psychology, 21, 866—871.
35.
Penton-Voak, I.S., Little, A.C., Jones, B.C., Burt, D.M., Tiddeman, B.P., & Perrett, D.I. (2003). Female condition influences preferences for sexual dimorphism in faces of male humans (Homo sapiens). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 117, 264—271.
36.
Pillsworth, E.G., Haselton, M.G., & Buss, D.M. (2004). Ovulatory shifts in female sexual desire. Journal of Sex Research, 41, 55—65.
37.
Plavcan, J.M. (2000). Inferring social behavior from sexual dimorphism in the fossil. Journal ofHuman Evolution, 39, 327—344.
38.
Plavcan, J.M., & van Schaik, C.P. (1997a). Interpreting hominid behavior on the basis of sexual dimorphism. Journal ofHuman Evolution , 32, 345—374.
39.
Plavcan, J.M., & van Schaik, C.P. (1997b). Intrasexual competition and body weight dimorphism in anthropoid primates. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 103, 37—68.
40.
Rhodes, G., Zebrowitz, L.A., Clark, A., Kalick, S.M., Hightower, A., & McKay, R. (2001). Do facial averageness and symmetry signal health ? Evolution and Human Behavior, 22, 31—46.
41.
Singh, D. (1995). Female judgment of male attractiveness and desirability for relationships: Role of waist-to-hip ratio and financial status. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 1089—1101.
42.
Streeter, S.A., & McBurney, D.H. (2003). Waist—hip ratio and attractiveness: New evidence and a critique of a `critical test'. Evolution andHuman Behavior, 24, 88—98.
43.
Sugiyama, L.S. (2004). Is beauty in the context-sensitive adaptations of the beholder? Shiwiar use of waist-to-hip ratio in assessments of female mate value. Evolution andHuman Behavior, 25, 51—62.
44.
Thornhill, R., & Gangestad, S.W. (1993). Human facial beauty: Averageness, symmetry, and parasite resistance. Human Nature, 4, 237—269.
45.
Thornhill, R., Gangestad, S.W., Miller, R., Scheyd, G., McCollough, J.K., & Franklin, M. (2003). Major histocompatibility complex genes, symmetry, and body scent attractiveness in men and women. Behavioral Ecology, 14, 668—678.
46.
van Goozen, S.H.M., Cohen-Kettenis, P.T., Gooren, L.J.G., & Frijda, N.H. (1995). Gender differences in behaviour: Activating effects of cross-sex hormones. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 20, 343—363.
47.
van Goozen, S.H.M., Slabbekoorn, D., Gooren, L.J.G., Sanders, G., & Cohen-Kettenis, P.T. (2002). Organizing and activating effects of sex hormones in homosexual transsexuals. Behavioral Neuroscience, 116, 982—988.
48.
van Goozen, S.H.M., Wiegant, V.M., Endert, E., & Helmond, F.A. (1997). Psychoendocrinological assessment of the menstrual cycle: The relationship between hormones, sexuality, and mood. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 26, 359—382.
49.
Wood, W., & Eagly, A.H. (2002). A cross-cultural analysis of the behavior of women and men: Implications for the origins of sex differences. Psychological Bulletin,128, 699—727.
50.
Zahavi, A., &. Zahavi, A. (1997). The handicap principle: A missing piece of Darwin's puzzle. New York: Oxford University Press.
