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2 - Coevolution of paternal investment and cuckoldry in humans

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2010

By
David C. Geary
Edited by
Steven M. Platek  and
Todd K. Shackelford
David C. Geary
Affiliation:
University of Missouri – Columbia
Steven M. Platek
Affiliation:
Drexel University, Philadelphia
Todd K. Shackelford
Affiliation:
Florida Atlantic University
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Summary

Introduction

The social dynamics of reproduction emerge as individuals compete for control of the reproductive potential and reproductive investment of members of the opposite sex. Reproductive potential is the individual's ability to invest in the growth, development, and later social and reproductive competencies of offspring and the potential genetic benefits that might be passed to offspring (Alexander, 1987; Geary, 2002). Reproductive investment is the expenditure of the behavioral components (e.g. provisioning) of this potential to enhance to the survival and later reproductive prospects of one offspring at the expense of other offspring or the parent (Trivers, 1972). As identified by Darwin (1871), the dynamics of reproduction – termed sexual selection – take the form of intrasexual competition for access to mates or for control of the resources that potential mates need to reproduce, and intersexual choice of mating partners (see also Andersson, 1994). For most species of mammal, intrasexual competition takes the form of physical contests, whereby males attempt to exclude other males from access to females or access to the resources that females need to reproduce. Intersexual choice often involves female choice of mates, based on the results of male–male competition or on indicators of male genetic fitness or the males' ability and willingness to invest reproductive potential in her offspring.

To the extent that reproductive interests of males and females differ, sexual selection will also involve intersexual conflict, which traditionally involves conflict over the allocation of parental investment (Haig, 1993; Trivers, 1972).

Type
Chapter
Information
Female Infidelity and Paternal Uncertainty
Evolutionary Perspectives on Male Anti-Cuckoldry Tactics
 , pp. 14 - 34
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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