Strategic partner choice

Studies Hypergamy and Strategic Pluralism

Steven W. Gangestad and Jeffry A. Simpson. “The evolution of human mating: Trade-offs and strategic pluralism”. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x0000337x.

The evolution of human mating: Trade-offs and strategic pluralism

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 August 2019

Recent evidence suggests that men with features signaling genetic benefits to offspring should be preferred by women as short-term mates ...

Abstract

During human evolutionary history, there were “trade-offs” between expending time and energy on child-rearing and mating, so both men and women evolved conditional mating strategies guided by cues signaling the circumstances. Many short-term matings might be successful for some men; others might try to find and keep a single mate, investing their effort in rearing her offspring. Recent evidence suggests that men with features signaling genetic benefits to offspring should be preferred by women as short-term mates, but there are trade-offs between a mate's genetic fitness and his willingness to help in child-rearing. It is these circumstances and the cues that signal them that underlie the variation in short- and long-term mating strategies between and within the sexes.