scholarly journals A multivariate analysis of women's mating strategies and sexual selection on men's facial morphology

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 191209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tessa R. Clarkson ◽  
Morgan J. Sidari ◽  
Rosanna Sains ◽  
Meredith Alexander ◽  
Melissa Harrison ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Mating Strategies ◽  
Facial Morphology ◽  
Mate Value ◽  
Significant Positive Association ◽  
Facial Masculinity ◽  
Moral Disgust

The strength and direction of sexual selection via female choice on masculine facial traits in men is a paradox in human mate choice research. While masculinity may communicate benefits to women and offspring directly (i.e. resources) or indirectly (i.e. health), masculine men may be costly as long-term partners owing to lower paternal investment. Mating strategy theory suggests women's preferences for masculine traits are strongest when the costs associated with masculinity are reduced. This study takes a multivariate approach to testing whether women's mate preferences are context-dependent. Women ( n = 919) rated attractiveness when considering long-term and short-term relationships for male faces varying in beardedness (clean-shaven and full beards) and facial masculinity (30% and 60% feminized, unmanipulated, 30% and 60% masculinized). Participants then completed scales measuring pathogen, sexual and moral disgust, disgust towards ectoparasites, reproductive ambition, self-perceived mate value and the facial hair in partners and fathers. In contrast to past research, we found no associations between pathogen disgust, self-perceived mate value or reproductive ambition and facial masculinity preferences. However, we found a significant positive association between moral disgust and preferences for masculine faces and bearded faces. Preferences for beards were lower among women with higher ectoparasite disgust, providing evidence for ectoparasite avoidance hypothesis. However, women reporting higher pathogen disgust gave higher attractiveness ratings for bearded faces than women reporting lower pathogen disgust, providing support for parasite-stress theories of sexual selection and mate choice. Preferences for beards were also highest among single and married women with the strongest reproductive ambition. Overall, our results reflect mixed associations between individual differences in mating strategies and women's mate preferences for masculine facial traits.

Who gets mad and who feels bad? Mate value discrepancies predict anger and shame in response to transgressions in romantic relationships

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (10) ◽  
pp. 2963-2982 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cari D. Goetz ◽  
Nestor M. Maria
Keyword(s):  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
Relationship Satisfaction ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Mate Value ◽  
Committed Relationships ◽  
Relational Transgressions ◽  
Medium Level ◽  
Theories Of Emotions

Mate value discrepancies (MVDs) predict multiple outcomes in romantic relationships, including relationship satisfaction, jealousy, and forgiveness. We tested the hypotheses that MVDs would predict anger and shame in response to both medium and strong transgressions within romantic relationships. Participants in long-term committed relationships read scenarios describing relational transgressions and rated how much anger and shame they would feel if they were either the victim or the perpetrator of the transgressions in their current relationship. We found partial support for our hypotheses. Victims of medium-level transgressions were angrier the more alternative potential mates there were that were closer to their ideal mate preferences than their current partner. Perpetrators of strong transgressions felt more shame the higher in mate value their partner was compared to them. Results suggest that different MVDs may predict different outcomes in relationships and highlight the importance of using functional theories of emotions to predict individual differences in emotional responses.

scholarly journals Sexual selection on color and behavior within and between cichlid populations: Implications for speciation

2012 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 475-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Pauers ◽  
Jeffrey S. Mckinnon
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Reproductive Isolation ◽  
Assortative Mating ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Separate Experiment ◽  
Color Patterns ◽  
Male Behavior ◽  
Female Population ◽  
Different Color

Abstract Sexual selection is widely viewed as playing a central role in haplochromine cichlid speciation. Hypothetically, once divergent mate preferences evolve among populations of these fishes, reproductive isolation follows and the populations begin to behave as different species. Various studies have examined patterns of assortative mating among species and sometimes populations, but few have examined variation in directional preferences, especially among populations of the same species. We investigated mate choice behavior in two populations of Labeotropheus fuelleborni, a Lake Malawi endemic. We test whether mating preferences between populations are based on the same traits and in the same direction as preferences within populations. We examine the potential contributions of two classes of trait, color patterns and behaviors, to reproductive isolation. When females chose between either two males of their own population, or two from another, female preferences were generally similar (for the female population) across the two contexts. Mate choice patterns differed between (female) populations for a measure of color, but only modestly for male behavior. In a separate experiment we simultaneously offered females a male of their own population and a male from a different population. In these trials, females consistently preferred males from their own population, which were also the males that displayed more frequently than their opponents, but not necessarily those with color traits suggested to be most attractive in the previous experiment. Thus directional preferences for chroma and related aspects of color may be important when females are presented with males of otherwise similar phenotypes, but may play little role in mediating assortative mating among populations with substantially different color patterns. A preference for male behavior could play some role in speciation if males preferentially court same-population females, as we have observed for the populations studied herein.

scholarly journals Giving Guys Get the Girls: Men Appear More Desirable to the Opposite Sex When Displaying Costly Donations to the Homeless

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
Wendy Iredale ◽  
Keli Jenner ◽  
Mark Van Vugt ◽  
Tammy Dempster
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Positive Parenting ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Mate Quality ◽  
Opposite Sex ◽  
Short And Long Term

One of the evolutionary adaptive benefits of altruism may be that it acts as an honest (reliable) signal of men’s mate quality. In this study, 285 female participants were shown one of three video scenarios in which a male target took £30 out of a cash machine (ATM) and gave either a lot (£30), a little (£1), or nothing to a homeless man. The participants rated the male target on his attractiveness, their short- and long-term mate preferences towards him, and the degree to which they thought he was likely to possess various parenting qualities. The results showed that, regardless of whether the man was described as rich or poor, participants rated him as being more attractive when he donated money, but only when the donation was costly (£30). In addition, altruism was shown to be important in long-term, but not short-term mate choice, and displays of altruism were associated with positive parenting qualities. It is argued that displays of altruism act as a reliable (honest) mate signal for a potential long-term parental partner.

scholarly journals Lonely hearts or sex in the city? Density-dependent effects in mating systems

2006 ◽  
Vol 361 (1466) ◽  
pp. 319-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Kokko ◽  
Daniel J Rankin
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Mating Systems ◽  
Sex Role ◽  
Mate Guarding ◽  
Mating Strategies ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Density Dependent ◽  
Basic Ideas

Two very basic ideas in sexual selection are heavily influenced by numbers of potential mates: the evolution of anisogamy, leading to sex role differentiation, and the frequency dependence of reproductive success that tends to equalize primary sex ratios. However, being explicit about the numbers of potential mates is not typical to most evolutionary theory of sexual selection. Here, we argue that this may prevent us from finding the appropriate ecological equilibria that determine the evolutionary endpoints of selection. We review both theoretical and empirical advances on how population density may influence aspects of mating systems such as intrasexual competition, female choice or resistance, and parental care. Density can have strong effects on selective pressures, whether or not there is phenotypic plasticity in individual strategies with respect to density. Mating skew may either increase or decrease with density, which may be aided or counteracted by changes in female behaviour. Switchpoints between alternative mating strategies can be density dependent, and mate encounter rates may influence mate choice (including mutual mate choice), multiple mating, female resistance to male mating attempts, mate searching, mate guarding, parental care, and the probability of divorce. Considering density-dependent selection may be essential for understanding how populations can persist at all despite sexual conflict, but simple models seem to fail to predict the diversity of observed responses in nature. This highlights the importance of considering the interaction between mating systems and population dynamics, and we strongly encourage further work in this area.

scholarly journals Sex differences in human mate preferences vary across sex ratios

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1955) ◽  
pp. 20211115
Author(s):  
Kathryn V. Walter ◽  
Daniel Conroy-Beam ◽  
David M. Buss ◽  
Kelly Asao ◽  
Agnieszka Sorokowska ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Mating Strategies ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Opposite Sex ◽  
Divorce Rates ◽  
Power Of Choice ◽  
Human Mating ◽  
The Relationship

A wide range of literature connects sex ratio and mating behaviours in non-human animals. However, research examining sex ratio and human mating is limited in scope. Prior work has examined the relationship between sex ratio and desire for short-term, uncommitted mating as well as outcomes such as marriage and divorce rates. Less empirical attention has been directed towards the relationship between sex ratio and mate preferences, despite the importance of mate preferences in the human mating literature. To address this gap, we examined sex ratio's relationship to the variation in preferences for attractiveness, resources, kindness, intelligence and health in a long-term mate across 45 countries ( n = 14 487). We predicted that mate preferences would vary according to relative power of choice on the mating market, with increased power derived from having relatively few competitors and numerous potential mates. We found that each sex tended to report more demanding preferences for attractiveness and resources where the opposite sex was abundant, compared to where the opposite sex was scarce. This pattern dovetails with those found for mating strategies in humans and mate preferences across species, highlighting the importance of sex ratio for understanding variation in human mate preferences.

Mate Choice and Mating Preferences

Mate Choice ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gil G. Rosenthal
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Animal Communication ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Unified Approach ◽  
Mating Preferences ◽  
Basic Framework ◽  
Preference Functions ◽  
Key Questions

This chapter first sets out the book's purpose, which is to present a conceptually unified approach to thinking about what Darwin termed the “taste for the beautiful.” It begins by describing a basic framework for thinking about mate choice and mate preferences. It then provides an outline for how the book attempts to address key questions about how they work, how they evolve, and how they act simultaneously as targets and agents of selection. Topics discussed include the meaning of mate choice; mate choice as distinct from sexual selection; preference and antipathy underlie realized mate choices; preference functions; stages of mate choice; and mate choice as a problem in animal communication.

Variation in Women’s Mate Preferences Over the Development of a Monogamous Relationship Corresponds with Changes in Men’s Life History Strategy (Author's Accepted Version)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Owens ◽  
Helen Driscoll ◽  
Daniel Farrelly
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Mating Strategies ◽  
Mating Effort ◽  
Monogamous Relationship ◽  
Parenting Effort ◽  
The Relationship

Much research has examined how men’s mating strategies change over the development of a relationship consistent with predictions from Life History Theory. Specifically, research shows both physiological and behavioural indicators of mating effort decrease once men are mated, and further once they become fathers, unless they remain engaged in mating effort. This switch from mating to parenting effort is sexually selected, and therefore the corresponding shifts in women should be examined, though to date, women’s short- or long-term mate preferences have been studied as separate entities rather than as a transition from short- to long- term. We examined how women’s mate preferences changed over the development of a relationship, to see if they varied consistently with what is known about variation in men’s mating effort. Vignettes detailed four key milestones in the development of a relationship and women rated the importance of the man at each stage displaying indicators of mating or parenting effort. Women increasingly prioritised indicators of parenting effort in men as the relationship developed, consistent with what is known about men’s reduction in mating effort in favour of parenting effort over the development of a relationship. The results support predictions from Life History Theory and highlight the interacting mutually reinforcing nature of sexually selected behaviours.

scholarly journals Sexual selection and religion: Can the evolution of religion be explained in terms of mating strategies?

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A Van Slyke ◽  
Konrad Szocik
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mating Strategies ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Selection Theory ◽  
Basic Assumptions ◽  
Sexual Selection Theory ◽  
Evolution Of Religion ◽  
Human Mating

This article considers the application of sexual selection theory to the study of religion by discussing the basic concepts and theories in sexual selection and then outlines possibilities of its application to the study of the evolution of religion. The first section outlines basic principles in the sexual selection account, including the evolution of human mating strategies based on dimorphism, gender differences in human mating strategies, and the role of different cultural activities in mating dynamics. Such an overview may be useful for the readers who are less familiar with the basic assumptions of the sexual selection theory. The remaining sections demonstrate how religion may function as a signal for mating qualities associated with a long-term mating strategy and how different facets of religiosity may help to support long-term mating strategies. The key idea of the article is that there are good reasons to try to explain the evolution of at least some of the components of religion in terms of sexual selection.

scholarly journals Aesthetic evolution by mate choice: Darwin's really dangerous idea

2012 ◽  
Vol 367 (1600) ◽  
pp. 2253-2265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard O. Prum
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Null Model ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Good Genes ◽  
Aesthetic Theory ◽  
Communication Signal ◽  
Direct Benefits ◽  
Selection Research ◽  
Aesthetic Evolution

Darwin proposed an explicitly aesthetic theory of sexual selection in which he described mate preferences as a ‘taste for the beautiful’, an ‘aesthetic capacity’, etc. These statements were not merely colourful Victorian mannerisms, but explicit expressions of Darwin's hypothesis that mate preferences can evolve for arbitrarily attractive traits that do not provide any additional benefits to mate choice. In his critique of Darwin, A. R. Wallace proposed an entirely modern mechanism of mate preference evolution through the correlation of display traits with male vigour or viability, but he called this mechanism natural selection. Wallace's honest advertisement proposal was stridently anti-Darwinian and anti-aesthetic. Most modern sexual selection research relies on essentially the same Neo-Wallacean theory renamed as sexual selection. I define the process of aesthetic evolution as the evolution of a communication signal through sensory/cognitive evaluation, which is most elaborated through coevolution of the signal and its evaluation. Sensory evaluation includes the possibility that display traits do not encode information that is being assessed, but are merely preferred. A genuinely Darwinian, aesthetic theory of sexual selection requires the incorporation of the Lande–Kirkpatrick null model into sexual selection research, but also encompasses the possibility of sensory bias, good genes and direct benefits mechanisms.

scholarly journals Testing Mate Choice Hypotheses in a Transitional Small Scale Population

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynda Boothroyd ◽  
Jean-Luc Jucker ◽  
Tracey Thornborrow ◽  
Martin Tovee ◽  
Carlota Batres ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Facial Structure ◽  
Scale Population ◽  
Sexual Selection Theory ◽  
Objective Tests

Objective: Tests of theories of mate choice often rely on data gathered in White, industrialised samples and this is especially the case for studies of facial attraction. Our understanding of preferences for sexual dimorphism is currently in flux and a number of hypotheses require testing in more diverse participant samples. The current study uses opportunistically gathered facial dimorphism preference data from c. 300 participants in rural Nicaragua. We assess hypotheses drawn from sexual selection theory, and from more recent approaches which consider the impacts of economic development and cultural ‘modernisation’ on mate preferences. Methods: Participants verbally reported demographic data, and indicated preferences for five male and five female pairs of faces manipulated to differ in sexually dimorphic facial structure based on a sample of Salvadoran individuals.Results and conclusions: Pending

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