The Fitness Effects of Love

Roberts, Roland G.

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002249

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“…Ihle et al . 12 (and other authors commenting on his work 19 , 20 ) suggested that because humans mate for life (or long periods), and the male plays a significant role in raising offspring, Homo sapiens should also show the fitness benefits of non-arranged mating. Ethical constraints prevent us from conducting similar human experiments to those done on birds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Free mate choice does not influence reproductive success in humans

Sorokowski

Groyecka

Karwowski

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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The effect of free mate choice on the relative magnitude of fitness benefits has been examined among various species. The majority of the data show significant fitness benefits of mating with partners of an individual’s own choice, highlighting elevated behavioral compatibility between partners with free mate choice. Similarities between humans and other species that benefit from free mate choice led us to hypothesize that it also confers reproductive benefits in Homo sapiens. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a study among three indigenous societies—the Tsimane’, Yali, and Bhotiya—who employ natural birth control. In all three samples, we compared the marriages arranged by parents with the non-arranged ones in terms of number of offspring. Here, we show that there were no significant relationships between type of marriage and the total number of alive children and number of dead children among the three sampled groups. The presented study is the first to date to examine the fitness benefits of free mate choice in humans. In discussion we present limitations of our research and discuss the possibility of love having a beneficial influence in terms of the number of offspring.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%