Mate Choice and Genetic Quality: A Review of the Heterozygosity Theory

2007 ◽  
pp. 189-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bart Kempenaers
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Genetic Quality

scholarly journals Adiposity, compared with masculinity, serves as a more valid cue to immunocompetence in human mate choice

2013 ◽  
Vol 280 (1751) ◽  
pp. 20122495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus J. Rantala ◽  
Vinet Coetzee ◽  
Fhionna R. Moore ◽  
Ilona Skrinda ◽  
Sanita Kecko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Good Genes ◽  
Secondary Sexual Traits ◽  
Genetic Quality ◽  
Secondary Sexual Trait ◽  
Sexual Traits ◽  
Handicap Hypothesis ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Secondary Sexual

According to the ‘good genes’ hypothesis, females choose males based on traits that indicate the male's genetic quality in terms of disease resistance. The ‘immunocompetence handicap hypothesis’ proposed that secondary sexual traits serve as indicators of male genetic quality, because they indicate that males can contend with the immunosuppressive effects of testosterone. Masculinity is commonly assumed to serve as such a secondary sexual trait. Yet, women do not consistently prefer masculine looking men, nor is masculinity consistently related to health across studies. Here, we show that adiposity, but not masculinity, significantly mediates the relationship between a direct measure of immune response (hepatitis B antibody response) and attractiveness for both body and facial measurements. In addition, we show that circulating testosterone is more closely associated with adiposity than masculinity. These findings indicate that adiposity, compared with masculinity, serves as a more important cue to immunocompetence in female mate choice.

scholarly journals Mate choice for genetic quality when environments vary: suggestions for empirical progress

Genetica ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 134 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luc F. Bussière ◽  
John Hunt ◽  
Kai N. Stölting ◽  
Michael D. Jennions ◽  
Robert Brooks
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Genetic Quality ◽  
Empirical Progress

scholarly journals Female mate choice across spatial scales: influence of lek and male attributes on mating success of blue-crowned manakins

2009 ◽  
Vol 276 (1663) ◽  
pp. 1875-1881 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renata Durães ◽  
Bette A. Loiselle ◽  
Patricia G. Parker ◽  
John G. Blake
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Female Choice ◽  
Mating Success ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Genetic Quality ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
Genetic Benefits

Lekking males compete for females within and among leks, yet female choice is expected to work differently at each of these spatial scales. We used paternity analyses to examine how lek versus male attributes influence mate choice in the blue-crowned manakin Lepidothrix coronata . We tested the hypotheses that females prefer (i) to mate at larger leks where a larger number of potential mates can be assessed, (ii) to mate with unrelated or highly heterozygous males expected to produce high-quality offspring, (iii) to mate with males that display at higher rates, and that (iv) display honestly reflects male genetic quality. Our results show that (i) males at larger leks are not more likely to sire young, although females nesting close to small leks travel further to reach larger leks, (ii) siring males are not less related to females or more heterozygous than expected, (iii) within a lek, high-display males are more likely to sire young, and (iv) both male heterozygosity and display rate increased with lek size, and as a result display does not reliably reflect male genetic quality across leks. We suggest that female mate choice in this species is probably driven by a Fisherian process rather than adaptive genetic benefits.

scholarly journals Cues of upper body strength account for most of the variance in men's bodily attractiveness

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1869) ◽  
pp. 20171819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Sell ◽  
Aaron W. Lukazsweski ◽  
Michael Townsley
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Upper Body ◽  
Genetic Quality ◽  
Physical Strength ◽  
Fighting Ability ◽  
Resource Holding Power ◽  
Crucial Component ◽  
Body Strength ◽  
Upper Body Strength ◽  
Reproductive Consequences

Evolution equips sexually reproducing species with mate choice mechanisms that function to evaluate the reproductive consequences of mating with different individuals. Indeed, evolutionary psychologists have shown that women's mate choice mechanisms track many cues of men's genetic quality and ability to invest resources in the woman and her offspring. One variable that predicted both a man's genetic quality and his ability to invest is the man's formidability (i.e. fighting ability or resource holding power/potential). Modern women, therefore, should have mate choice mechanisms that respond to ancestral cues of a man's fighting ability. One crucial component of a man's ability to fight is his upper body strength. Here, we test how important physical strength is to men's bodily attractiveness. Three sets of photographs of men's bodies were shown to raters who estimated either their physical strength or their attractiveness. Estimates of physical strength determined over 70% of men's bodily attractiveness. Additional analyses showed that tallness and leanness were also favoured, and, along with estimates of physical strength, accounted for 80% of men's bodily attractiveness. Contrary to popular theories of men's physical attractiveness, there was no evidence of a nonlinear effect; the strongest men were the most attractive in all samples.

scholarly journals Mate choice for genetic quality: a test of the heterozygosity and compatibility hypotheses in a lek-breeding bird

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.B. Ryder ◽  
W.P. Tori ◽  
J.G. Blake ◽  
B.A. Loiselle ◽  
P.G. Parker
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Breeding Bird ◽  
Genetic Quality

Humans copy social information in mate choice decisions

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Skyler S. Place ◽  
Peter M. Todd ◽  
Lars Penke ◽  
Jens B. Asendorpf
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Social Information

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

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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