Female Choice

1
Female Choice
2
Limiting Resource

• Females
• Finite offspring production
• Intersexual selection
• Female choice

3
To Be Considered

• Male dominance and status
• Male resources
• Paternal investment (Dads vs. Cads)

4
Buss (1989)

• Cross cultural
• Women rank current resources, ambition, and
  dominance (social status) highly
• Dominance and resources generally positively
  correlated

5
Sadalla et al. (1987)

• Silent video of two men interacting in office
  environment shown to female subjects
• More dominant male rated as having higher status
  and being more attractive
• Actual attributes of each male controlled for

6
Theory

• Dominant males should produce more offspring than
  submissive males
• More access to females
• Intra- and intersexual competition
• Polygyny
• Maximize inclusive fitness

7
Non-humans and Pre-modern Humans

• Non-humans this generalization seems to hold
  quite well (e.g., Ellis 2002)
• Also, for pre-modern humans (e.g., Boone (1986),
  Borgerhoff Mulder (1990), Voland (1990))
• Problems with application to modern,
  industrialized human populations
• Low socioeconomic classes have more children than
  upper classes

8
Dominance

• Socioeconomic class may not be a good measure of
  dominance
• Humans evolved in small social groups
• Mazur et al. (1984) West Pointers
• Graduation photos and rank 20 years later
• Dominants didnt have more children than
  submissives
• Modern contraception

9
Mazur, Halpern Udry (1994)

• Redirected the question
• Do dominant looking males have more opportunity
  for copulation than submissive males?
• In pre-modern period this would likely correlate
  with higher number of offspring

10
Method

• 3 year longitudinal study
• Male students, starting at grade 7 or 8
• Every 6 months
• Questionnaire on sexual experience
• Assessment of pubertal development
• Dominance rating based on school yearbook photo
• Attractiveness rating
• Self and interviewer ratings

11
Results

• Most sexually active boys are more
• Dominant looking, attractive, pubertally
  developed
• Dominant boys tend to be attractive
• Dominant and attractive boys tend not to wear
  glasses
• Dominance is the best predictor of sexual
  intercourse

12
What Makes a Dominant Teenage Male?

• Dominant faces
• Handsome or muscular
• Oval or rectangular in shape
• Prominent brow and chin
• Submissive faces
• Round (pudgy) or narrow (skinny)
• Less attractive
• Have glasses

13
Implications

• Dominance is the best predictor, although
  attractiveness is also important
• No data here on female choice
• Are females attracted to dominant males?
• Do dominant males make their own opportunities
  for sexual experience?

14
Bogaret Fisher (1995)

• Variability in sexual behaviour
• Physiological, cultural, behavioural explanations
• Between sexes
• Within sexes
• Often larger than between

15
Study

• Used 9 predictor variables
• Age, attractiveness, psychoticism, dominance,
  social intimacy, male hypermasculinity,
  testosterone, sensation seeking, sexual affect
• Recorded number of lifetime sexual partners and
  number of partners in one month from 215 male
  undergraduates
• Question are some of the 9 variables redundant?

16
Results

• Significant positive correlation between number
  of lifetime sexual partners and
• Positive sexual affect, antisocial tendencies,
  physical attractiveness, sensation seeking, and
  testosterone
• Age, sensation seeking, and testosterone account
  for 25-30 of the variation

17
Townsend, Kline, Wasserman (1995)

• University age males and females with high sexual
  activity
• Males with greatest number of sexual partners
  were star athletes, fraternity leaders, other
  high profile positions

18
Status

• Male success depended upon their status being
  high and being known
• E.g., football and basketball stars had greater
  access to women than rugby and lacrosse,
  especially when football and basketball on
  network TV
• Males best success was with female university
  students who knew their status
• Wear varsity jacket to advertise

19
Status and Fitness

• Across species, link between male status and
  fitness
• Symons (1979) argues females mating with such
  males will achieve sons that will be equally
  successful
• Success of university athletes in previous study?

20
Scheib (1994)

• Hypothetical artificial insemination
• Decouples genetic from resource contribution
• Hypothetical dating service (for long-term
  relationship)

21
Heritability

• Physical, health, abilities, then character
• Character/personality not believed to be passed
  by genes
• Value in long-term mate understandable, but
  importance in sperm donor unexpected
• Possibility that it is very difficult to decouple
  psychological mechanisms of long-term choice in
  sperm donor context

22
Age Status

• Buss (1989)
• Preference for males 3.42 years older
• Male RV
• Resources
• Gangestad Buss (1993)
• Slight negative effect on female preference for
  physical attractiveness
• The more wealth men can acquire, the less
  important looks are

23
Bereczkei Csanaky (1996)
Age difference (years) Percent
-27 0.1 -15 0.1 -12 0.2 -11 0.1
-10 0.4 -9 0.1 -8 0.1 -7 0.3
-6 0.6 -5 1.1 -4 0.6 -3 1.1 -2
2.5 -1 3.7 0 8.0 1 8.4 2
14.1 3 11.5 4 12.3 5 7.6 6
6.7 7 5.1 8 3.4 9 3.3 10 2.4
11 1.5 12 0.8 13 1.2 14 0.6
15 0.1 16 0.4 17 0.5 18 0.1
19 0.1 20 0.5 22 0.1
11.4

• Hungarian data set
• Couples with older, higher educated husbands and
  younger, less educated wives had significantly
  longer marriages

Female Mean age age at difference Marriage (years)
17 -5.21 18-20 -4.25 21-23
-3.11 24-28 -2.41 gt28 -5.13
Age difference Mean number at marriage of
children Younger husband 1.68 No age
difference 1.85 Older husband 1.91
- female older male older
24
Hopcroft (2006)

• Status and reproductive success
• Potential fertility
• Reported rates of sex
• Achieved fertility
• Number of biological children claimed
• United States, General Social Surveys (1989-2000)

25
Results

• Income increases frequency of sex for males, but
  not females
• Education decreases potential and achieved
  fertility for males and females
• But, better educated men have more children than
  better educated women

26
Conclusions

• Income increases male/female differences and
  education narrows male/female differences re
  fertility behaviour
• Income, for males, at least may translate to
  proximate and ultimate reproductive success
• Extremes (very poor and very rich) excluded from
  this study, though

27
Testosterone

• Believed to be immunosuppressant (Kanda et al.
  1996)
• Handicap principle
• Male facial features may be honest signal of
  genetic fitness

28
Conflict

• High testosterone males
• Good genes
• Higher number of sexual partners
• Low(er) parental investors

29
Mazur Michalek (1998)

• Measured testosterone in military men
• Testosterone levels drop at time of marriage
• High testosterone males have less stable marriages

30
Gray et al. (2004)

• Compared testosterone levels in males in
  different relationships
• Single males had higher testosterone levels than
  those in established relationships
• Suggests testosterone drops in long-term
  relationships to promote pairbonding

31
Waynforth, Delwadia Camm (2005)

• Facial photos of 45 men
• Measures of facial features (e.g., jaw, eyebrow
  ridge) influenced by testosterone
• Women rated photos for attractiveness
• Only women interested in short-term relationships
  (higher sociosexuality scores) showed preference
  for facial masculinity
• Most preferred less testosterone-driven face

32
Meaning

• Some support for handicap principle
• But, handicap interpretation not the only or the
  most significant factor in female choice
• Changing testosterone levels in males given
  relationship type complicates matter

33
Boothroyd et al. (2005)

• Examined male faces
• Female variables
• Their own attractiveness, phase of menstrual
  cycle, in or out of a current relationship
• Interestingly, female preferences explainable by
  maturity cues as opposed to health cues

34
Multiple Motives Hypothesis

• Cunningham, Barbee, Pike (1990)
• Female choice contradictory
• Want dominant, high status mature male, but also
  want socially approachable, nurturing
  characteristics

35
Dominant Males

• Good defense against other males
• Protection of female, mate guarding
• High aggression
• May be directed at female and/or offspring
• More likelihood of promiscuity/polygyny

36
Four Features

• Neonate
• E.g., large eyes, small nose area
• Mature
• E.g., prominent cheekbones, large chin, thick
  eyebrows
• Expressive
• E.g., large smile
• Grooming
• E.g., high status clothing

37
Ideal Face

• Not an average
• Extreme neonate and mature features combined to
  produce most attractive male faces
• Cute and rugged simultaneously
• Elicits feelings of nurturance and respect in
  women

38
Other Body Attributes

• Want dominant, but not too dominant
• Various features besides facial representative
• Graziano et al. (1978)
• Even tall women prefer men of medium as opposed
  to short, or very tall height
• Horvath (1981)
• Women prefer moderately-broad to non- or very-
  broad shoulders
• Lavrakas (1975)
• Female preference for fit, but not extreme male
  physique

39
Female Alternatives

• Good genes
• Dominant, masculine
• Cads
• Good paternal investment
• Willingness to provide resources
• Dads

40
Dads

• Schmitt Buss (1996)
• Demonstrate helpfulness, honesty, kindness,
  sensitivity
• Good communication skills
• Invoke love and show commitment
• Display resources and/or show potential for
  long-term resource stability

41
Cads

• Buss Schmitt (1993)
• Machismo
• Provide immediate resources as gifts
• Dominance displays
• Show-off
• Dont have or wont invest for long-term

42
Options

• Secure a Dad
• Gain resources
• May not be best genes
• Extrapair copulations (EPCs)
• Mate with Cad
• High quality genes

43
Concealed Ovulation

• Human females lack obvious signs of estrous,
  unusual within the primates (Domb Pagel, 2001)
• Most primates (and other mammals) only mate when
  females are likely to conceive

44
Theories

• Promotes paternal certainty (Alexander Noonan,
  1979)
• Male forced to mate guard and mate with a female
  frequently
• Promotes paternal confusion (Hrdy, 1981)
• Many males mate with female and any could be
  father of offspring reduces infanticide
• Reduces risk that self-aware human females will
  use contraception to avoid risks of pregnancy
  (Burley, 1979)
• Benefits females by allowing for EPCs with higher
  quality males

45
Female Reproductive Cycle

• Normally ovulating women fertile for 6-7 days
  each month
• Sperm can survive for several days in uterus
• Hours after ovulation, conception no longer
  possible
• Females will, however, have sexual intercourse
  throughout their reproductive cycle (i.e.,
  non-reproductive sex) (Bellis Baker 1990 Baker
  Bellis 1995)

46
Female Sexual Desire

• Continuous receptivity, but changing sexual
  desire across the cycle
• Sexual desire peaks in mid-to-late follicular and
  periovulatory phases of cycle (Regan 1996 Slob
  et al. 1996)
• With increased sexual interest mid-cycle, might
  predict increased frequency of female-initiated
  sexual intercourse at mid-cycle

47
Female EPCs

• Baker Bellis (1995)
• Women with long-term sexual partner
• 6 reported last sexual intercourse with
  extrapair partner
• Frequency of EPC was three times more likely to
  occur at mid-cycle
• Gangestad et al. (2001)
• Females more likely to fantasize about extrapair
  partner at mid-cycle

48
Implication

• Females adapted to mate when most likely to
  conceive
• Females in long-term relationships are more
  likely to engage in EPCs when most likely to
  conceive
• Risk of getting caught?
• Heading off on a bit of a tangent here

49
Gangestad Cousins (2001)

• Low FA men rated as attractive only by women
  interested in casual sex
• For long-term relationships, these same women did
  not find low FA men more attractive
• If low FA correlates with higher genetic fitness,
  offers support for idea of females use of traits
  to identify good gene providers

50
Low FA Males as Mates

• Various studies show that low FA males may make
  poor long-term mates
• Have more female partners, produce more
  offspring, more dominant, more likely to get into
  fights, etc. (Waynforth 1998 Gangestad
  Thornhill 1997, Furlow et al. 1998)
• But, might be very good candidates for short-term
  mates (i.e., Cads)

51
Scent Cues

• Several replications (e.g., Gangestad Thornhill
  1998 Rikowski Grammer 1999, Thornhill
  Gangestad 1999)
• Men wear t-shirt for several days
• Women sniff shirts and rank smell for
  attractiveness, sexiness
• Correlate ratings with point in womens cycles
• Mid-cycle women show greater preference for low
  FA males scents

52
Perrett et al. (1998)

• Perrett et al. (1998) found Scottish and Japanese
  women have preference for somewhat feminized
  faces
• However, Penton-Voak et al. (1999) showed that
  this preference breaks down at mid-cycle then
  women show preference for highly masculinized face

53
Implication

• Women are being attracted to higher quality males
  when most likely to conceive
• Shift in Multiple Motives Hypothesis across
  menstrual cycle
• Female choice adapted to optimize female
  reproductive success both in terms of genetic
  fitness of offspring and paternal investment