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Cited by 57Animal Behavior and ReproductionEvolutionary Psychology and Human BehaviorEvolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation

The DOI matches its Crossref record.

Mate Choice: The Evolution of Sexual Decision Making from Microbes to Humans

Rosenthal, Gil G.·2017·Princeton University Press eBooks
DOI 10.23943/princeton/9780691150673.001.0001
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Abstract

The popular consensus on mate choice has long been that females select mates likely to pass good genes to offspring. This book overturns much of this conventional wisdom. Providing the first synthesis of the topic in more than three decades, and drawing from a wide range of fields, including animal behavior, evolutionary biology, social psychology, neuroscience, and economics, the book argues that “good genes” play a relatively minor role in shaping mate choice decisions and demonstrates how mate choice is influenced by genetic factors, environmental effects, and social interactions. Looking at diverse organisms, from protozoans to humans, the book explores how factors beyond the hunt for good genes combine to produce an endless array of preferences among species and individuals. The book explains how mating decisions originate from structural constraints on perception and from nonsexual functions, and how single organisms benefit or lose from their choices. Both the origin of species and their fusion through hybridization are strongly influenced by direct selection on preferences in sexual and nonsexual contexts. The book broadens the traditional scope of mate choice research to encompass not just animal behavior and behavioral ecology but also neurobiology, the social sciences, and other areas. Focusing on mate choice mechanisms, rather than the traits they target, the book offers a groundbreaking perspective on the proximate and ultimate forces determining the evolutionary fate of species and populations.

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Crossref · 10.23943/princeton/9780691150673.001.0001

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  • Most human relationships undergo similar progressions: attraction, decision to pursue a relationship, bond formation, and maintenance.

    “Although no two relationships are alike, most undergo similar progressions. When people are still strangers, a relationship begins with attraction followed, in time, by a decision to pursue a relationship with an individual [72,73].”

    From The Neurobiology of Love and Pair Bonding from Human and Animal Perspectives (2023) · cites this paper as [72]

  • In animals, mate choice is driven by the initial attraction of potential mates and the evaluation of their reproductive fitness through various modalities.

    “In animals, mate choice is driven by the initial attraction of potential mates and the evaluation of their reproductive fitness through various modalities [72,85].”

    From The Neurobiology of Love and Pair Bonding from Human and Animal Perspectives (2023) · cites this paper as [72]

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Metadata

Authors
Rosenthal, G. G.
Corresponding author
Rosenthal, Gil G.
ORCID
Rosenthal, Gil G.
Venue
Princeton University Press eBooks
Publisher
Princeton University Press
Published
2017-07-18
DOI
10.23943/princeton/9780691150673.001.0001
OpenAlex
W4247787071
Cited by
57
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 5 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 1
FWCI
2.64
Type
book
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Princeton University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation
Keywords
mate choice, good genes hypothesis, female mate preference, sexual selection, social interaction, hybridization, origin of species

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