Assortative mating and the evolution of desirability covariation

Daniel Conroy-Beam, James R. Roney, Aaron W. Lukaszewski, David M. Buss, K. Asao, Agnieszka Sorokowska, P. Sorokowski, T. Aavik, G. Akello, Mohammad Madallh Alhabahba, Charlotte Alm, Naumana Amjad, A. Anjum, Chiemezie S. Atama, D. Atamtürk Duyar, Richard Ayebare, Carlota Batres, Mons Bendixen, A. Bensafia, Anna BertoniB. Bizumic, Mahmoud Boussena, Marina Butovskaya, Seda Can, Katarzyna Cantarero, Antonin Carrier, H. Cetinkaya, I. Croy, Rosa María Cueto, Marcin Czub, Silvia Donato, D. Dronova, Seda Dural, I. Duyar, B. Ertugrul, Agustín Espinosa, Ignacio Estevan, Carla Sofia Esteves, Luxi Fang, Tomasz Frackowiak, J. Contreras Garduño, Karina Ugalde González, Farida Guemaz, P. Gyuris, Mária Halamová, I. Herak, Marina Horvat, I. Hromatko, Chin Ming Hui, Raffaella Iafrate, Jas Laile Jaafar, Feng Jiang, Konstantinos Kafetsios, Tina Kavčič, Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair, Nicolas Kervyn, Truong Thi Khanh Ha, Imran Ahmed Khilji, Nils C. Köbis, Hoang Moc Lan, András Láng, Georgina R. Lennard, Ernesto León, T. Lindholm, Trinh Thi Linh, Giulia Lopez, Nguyen Van Luot, Alvaro Mailhos, Zoi Manesi, R. Martinez, Sarah L. McKerchar, Norbert Meskó, Girishwar Misra, C. Monaghan, Emanuel C. Mora, Alba Moya-Garófano, B. Musil, Jean Carlos Natividade, Agnieszka Niemczyk, George Nizharadze, Elisabeth Oberzaucher, Anna Oleszkiewicz, Mohd Sofian Omar-Fauzee, I. E. Onyishi, B. Özener, Ariela Francesca Pagani, Vilmante Pakalniskiene, Miriam Parise, F. Pazhoohi, Annette Pisanski, Katarzyna Pisanski, Edna Ponciano, Camelia Popa, P. Prokop, Muhammad Rizwan, M. Sainz, Svjetlana Salkičević, Ruta Sargautyte, Ivan Sarmány-Schuller, Susanne Schmehl, Shivantika Sharad, Razi Sultan Siddiqui, Franco Simonetti, Stanislava Yordanova Stoyanova, Meri Tadinac, Marco Antonio Correa Varella, Christin Melanie Vauclair, Luis Diego Vega, Dwi Ajeng Widarini, Gyesook Yoo, M. Zaťková, Maja Zupančič

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36 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mate choice lies close to differential reproduction, the engine of evolution. Patterns of mate choice consequently have power to direct the course of evolution. Here we provide evidence suggesting one pattern of human mate choice—the tendency for mates to be similar in overall desirability—caused the evolution of a structure of correlations that we call the d factor. We use agent-based models to demonstrate that assortative mating causes the evolution of a positive manifold of desirability, d, such that an individual who is desirable as a mate along any one dimension tends to be desirable across all other dimensions. Further, we use a large cross-cultural sample with n = 14,478 from 45 countries around the world to show that this d-factor emerges in human samples, is a cross-cultural universal, and is patterned in a way consistent with an evolutionary history of assortative mating. Our results suggest that assortative mating can explain the evolution of a broad structure of human trait covariation.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)479-491
Number of pages13
JournalEvolution and Human Behavior
Volume40
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2019

Keywords

  • Agent-based modeling
  • Assortative mating
  • Cross-cultural studies
  • Trait covariation

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