Male mating signaling in social dilemma Games

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12938845
AutoresNiels Holm Jensen (0000-0002-3392-8580, Aarhus University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2013
Volumen11
Número3
Páginas131-150
Fecha de publicación2013-09-01
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Evolutionary Psychology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1789-2082 • E-ISSN: 2060-5587
EditorialAkadémiai Kiadó (PUBLISHER • HU)
DOI10.1556/jep.11.2013.3.3
OpenAlexW2064593563
IdiomaIT
Referencias citadas76

According to sexual selection theory and costly signaling theory, men benefit from signaling costly mate qualities to attractive women. To date, several studies have investigated whether men use conspicuous altruism to attract women, but the findings are mixed. This study investigated whether men being observed by an attractive woman engage in competitive economic altruism in three social dilemma games—the Dictator Game, Trust Game (2nd mover), and Public Goods Game—in comparison to men being observed by a non-attractive woman. Results showed that altruistic contributions in the games were not significantly larger in the attractive observer group than in the non-attractive observer group. Exploratory analyses did reveal, however, that amongst participants with an attractive observer only, dispositional generosity had a strongly positive effect on altruism while dispositional dominance had a negative effect on altruism. Moderating effects of key individual differences suggest that the mixed findings within the empirical literature may be attributed to the existence of multiple male courtship signaling strategies. As such, the findings suggest a promising way for future studies to identify different signaling strategies, but until the findings can be replicated with specific hypothesis-driven studies they should be considered with caution

Altruism (biology · Biology · Courtship · Dictator game · Dilemma · Generosity · Social dilemma · Ultimatum game · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology · Ecology