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Women’s mating preferences
What does awoman really want?
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Outline
I preferences are context-dependent
I female choice for “good genes”I MHC diversityI health and symmetryI masculinity?
I female choice for resources
I female choice for male investment
I women face tradeoffs; preferences are context-dependent
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Female choices: changing times
Rank ordering of mate preferences among Iowa undergrads, across7 decades (from Christine Whelen)
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Female choice for good genes
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Female choice for good genes: Sexual selection for taillength in long-tailed widowbirds
Top: no difference in femalenests in territory beforeexperiment.
Bottom: Mating success wentdown after tails were cut, and upwhen tails were lengthened.Control I (unmanipulated)Control II (cut and re-glued,same length).
from Andersson 1982.
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Female choice for good genes
I Men don’t have fancy feathers. Do women care about “goodgenes”?
I What are “good” genes anyway, and how can a woman tell?
I MHC diversity and pathogen resistance
I fluctuating asymmetry and health
I testosterone and masculine features ?
I Note, just because women attend to these cues doesn’t meanthey evolved through “mate choice” sexual selection.
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Female choice for good genes: MHC diversity
Women judge men heterozygous at MHC loci to be moreattractive and healthy, irrespective of MHC similarity.
(C. Roberts et al. 2005).
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Good genes: health, symmetry, and attractiveness
Women prefer healthy, symmetrical men
Oxidative stress (a health risk factor) in men associated with:
I fluctuating asymmetry (FA)
I women’s ratings of attractiveness, health, and masculinity
(from Gangstad et al. 2010)
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Female choice for good genes may be context-dependent
pathogen prevalence in society by rated importance of physicalattractiveness in a mate. (from Gangestad and Buss)
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Good genes: Is masculinity a sign of good immunity?
I Testosterone (T) promotes masculine features
I Testosterone is thought to suppress the immune system
I Yet some think masculinity signals heritable disease resistance(only “immunocompetent” males can “afford” high T)
I Data on T and immunity are weak and conflicting
I e.g.: Gangestad study (last slide): healthy men were ratedmore attractive and masculine, but did not have higher T
I Most studies find that women do not prefer extrememasculine features. Masculine features probably evolved as asignal to other men (not women) of toughness, not health
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Female choice for good resources
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Female choice for good resources: meat for sex
Female hanging flies mate for a longer time if the male brings alarger prey item for her to eat during copulation. The malebenefits from long copulation because he fertilizes more eggs.
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Female choice for good resources: 37 cultures study37 cultures rated importance (0-3) of “good financial prospect” ina marriage partner. (Buss 1989)
I Sex difference found in 36/37 cultures
I Large cultural differences in importance of financial resources
I Similar sex difference (29/37 cultures) in “ambition andindustriousness”
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Female choice for good resources
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Female choice for male investment
But will he stay around, and how can she know?
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Female choice for male investment
I women accurately assessdmen’s self-reported interestin infants from photograph
I men’s interest in infantscorrelated with desirabilityas long-term mate (notshort-term mate)
I assessment mediated bypositive (happy vs angry)expression(from Roney et al. 2006)
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Female preferences are context-dependent
masculinized feminized
Feminized faces seen as more honest,caring, sensitive.British women prefer more feminized facesin a long-term partnerBritish women prefer more feminized facesthan Jamaican women
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Outline
I preferences are context-dependent
I female choice for “good genes”I MHC diversityI health and symmetryI masculinity?
I female choice for resources
I female choice for male investment
I women face tradeoffs; preferences are context-dependent