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On the evolutionary origins of differences in sexual preferences
A novel explanation of the evolutionary process leading to the appearance of differences in sexual preferences is proposed. The explanation is fully general: it is not specific to any particular type of sexual preferences, nor to any species or population. It shows how different sexual preferences c...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2015
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4439540/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26052290 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00628 |
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author | Ryabko, Daniil Reznikova, Zhanna |
author_facet | Ryabko, Daniil Reznikova, Zhanna |
author_sort | Ryabko, Daniil |
collection | PubMed |
description | A novel explanation of the evolutionary process leading to the appearance of differences in sexual preferences is proposed. The explanation is fully general: it is not specific to any particular type of sexual preferences, nor to any species or population. It shows how different sexual preferences can appear in any large group-living population in which sexual selection is sufficiently strong in each sex. The main idea is that the lack of interest toward a member of the opposite sex may be interpreted as a signal of popularity, and thus of reproductive success. It is then boosted by the Fisher runaway process far beyond the point where it becomes costly, resulting in a generalized trait—lack of interest toward the opposite sex. If the interest diverts toward other targets then different sexual preferences emerge. This hypothesis is placed into the context of other works on different sexual preferences in animals; supporting evidence from the literature is reviewed and additional research needed to confirm or refute the hypothesis in any given species is outlined. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-4439540 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2015 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-44395402015-06-05 On the evolutionary origins of differences in sexual preferences Ryabko, Daniil Reznikova, Zhanna Front Psychol Psychology A novel explanation of the evolutionary process leading to the appearance of differences in sexual preferences is proposed. The explanation is fully general: it is not specific to any particular type of sexual preferences, nor to any species or population. It shows how different sexual preferences can appear in any large group-living population in which sexual selection is sufficiently strong in each sex. The main idea is that the lack of interest toward a member of the opposite sex may be interpreted as a signal of popularity, and thus of reproductive success. It is then boosted by the Fisher runaway process far beyond the point where it becomes costly, resulting in a generalized trait—lack of interest toward the opposite sex. If the interest diverts toward other targets then different sexual preferences emerge. This hypothesis is placed into the context of other works on different sexual preferences in animals; supporting evidence from the literature is reviewed and additional research needed to confirm or refute the hypothesis in any given species is outlined. Frontiers Media S.A. 2015-05-21 /pmc/articles/PMC4439540/ /pubmed/26052290 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00628 Text en Copyright © 2015 Ryabko and Reznikova. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
spellingShingle | Psychology Ryabko, Daniil Reznikova, Zhanna On the evolutionary origins of differences in sexual preferences |
title | On the evolutionary origins of differences in sexual preferences |
title_full | On the evolutionary origins of differences in sexual preferences |
title_fullStr | On the evolutionary origins of differences in sexual preferences |
title_full_unstemmed | On the evolutionary origins of differences in sexual preferences |
title_short | On the evolutionary origins of differences in sexual preferences |
title_sort | on the evolutionary origins of differences in sexual preferences |
topic | Psychology |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4439540/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26052290 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00628 |
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