The evolution of human mating: Trade-offs and strategic pluralism
2000/08/01 by Steven W. Gangestad, Jeffry A. Simpson · 1,836 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Animal Behavior and Reproduction #Biology #Ecology #Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation #Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior #Evolutionary biology #Evolutionary psychology #Genetics #Inclusive fitness #Mate choice #Mating #Offspring #Pregnancy #Term (time)
paper · doi:10.1017/s0140525x0000337x
published in Behavioral and Brain Sciences 23(4), 573-587 (Cambridge University Press)
openalex publication_date 2000/08/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
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.
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