Inter-sexual mate competition in three cultures

Darwinian sexual selection theory holds that mate selection occurs inter-sexually, and mate competition occurs intra-sexually for opposite-sex partners. We demonstrate that inter-sexual mate competition can also occur among humans at appreciable rates that vary by culture. In Canada, inter-sexual ma...

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Published inPloS one Vol. 15; no. 7; p. e0236549
Main Authors Semenyna, Scott W, Gómez Jiménez, Francisco R, VanderLaan, Doug P, Vasey, Paul L
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Public Library of Science 29.07.2020
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects
Adolescent
Adult
Age
Aged
Biology and Life Sciences
Bisexual
Bisexuality
Canada
Competition
Competition (Psychology)
Competitive Behavior
Emotional behavior
Ethnography
Female
Gender
Humans
Male
Males
Mate selection
Men
Middle Aged
People and places
Psychological research
Sex
Sexual behavior
Sexual partners
Sexual Partners - psychology
Sexual selection
Social Sciences
Women
Young Adult
Canada
Mexico
Samoa
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Summary:Darwinian sexual selection theory holds that mate selection occurs inter-sexually, and mate competition occurs intra-sexually for opposite-sex partners. We demonstrate that inter-sexual mate competition can also occur among humans at appreciable rates that vary by culture. In Canada, inter-sexual mate competition was both rare and inconsequential. However, data from two disparate non-Western cultures-Samoa and the Istmo Zapotec (Oaxaca, Mexico)-show that women frequently compete with feminine same-sex attracted males to acquire and maintain masculine male mates (i.e., men). Inter-sexual mate competition most commonly involved feminine males attempting to poach women's masculine male sexual partners. During these interactions, women and feminine males both attempted to manipulate the man who was the object of sexual competition; feminine males attempted to entice the target man, whereas women engaged in guarding and emotionally punitive behaviours. We do not anticipate that inter-sexual mate competition will be common in most species or across all cultures. However, when males and females prefer the same sexual partners, who themselves behave in a bisexual manner, then inter-sexual mate competition can ensue.
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Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
These authors also contributed equally to this work
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0236549