Evidence of an emerging female preference for an artificial male trait and the potential for spread via mate choice copying inPoecilia latipinna

The problem of measuring trait-preference correlations without disrupting them

Behavioral Ecology ◽

10.1093/beheco/arz122 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 30 (6) ◽

pp. 1518-1521 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

David J Hosken ◽

Alastair J Wilson

Keyword(s):

Sexual Selection ◽

Mate Choice ◽

Selection Process ◽

Genetic Correlations ◽

Female Preference ◽

Experimental Designs ◽

Evolutionary Trajectory ◽

Male Trait ◽

Trait Preference ◽

Kirkpatrick Model

Abstract A key element at the heart of the Fisher–Lande–Kirkpatrick model of the sexual selection process is the genetic correlation between (male) trait and (female) preference. The strength of this association is critical in determining a population’s evolutionary trajectory, which is why estimating its magnitude is so important. In the Lande model, the trait-preference correlation is solely established and maintained by mate choice, and although it is unclear how exclusively mate choice does this in nature, the experimental designs typically employed to measure trait-preference genetic correlations could be systematically weakening estimates by not allowing free mate choice (similarly with husbandry practices). The precise impact of the problem is unknown, and possibly unknowable, but simple solutions can be applied to ensure the accuracy of trait-preference correlation estimates is maximized.

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Are males in a relationship flirted with more? Testing for mate choice copying in humans

10.31234/osf.io/k6gkt ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Niels van de Ven ◽

Monique Maria Henriettte Pollmann ◽

Rob Nelissen ◽

Nadiya Sayenko

Keyword(s):

Mate Choice ◽

Scientific Evidence ◽

Mate Choice Copying ◽

Two Samples ◽

Absolute Measure ◽

Cast Doubt

Ample anecdotal and some scientific evidence suggests that men who enter a relationship feel that they are flirted with more frequently than before they had a partner. This phenomenon has been interpreted as a form of mate choice copying; the idea that females prefer males that are in a relationship with another female. In two samples (N = 271 and N = 396) we replicate that people indicate that flirting increased after entering a relationship. However, on a more absolute measure (how often people feel they are flirted with), we did not find that those in a relationship felt to be flirted with more than those without one. Our findings cast doubt on the interpretation that ours (and similar) findings are support for mate choice copying, and we argue that alternative explanations should be considered.

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