Major histocompatibility complex-associated odour preferences and human mate choice: near and far horizons

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is a core part of the adaptive immune system. As in other vertebrate taxa, it may also affect human chemical communication via odour-based mate preferences, with greater attraction towards MHC-dissimilar partners. However, despite some well-known findings, the available evidence is equivocal and made complicated by varied approaches to quantifying human mate choice. To address this, we here conduct comprehensive meta-analyses focusing on studies assessing i] genomic mate selection, ii] relationship satisfaction and iii] odour preference. Analysis of genomic studies reveals no association between MHC-dissimilarity and mate choice in actual couples; however, MHC effects appear to be independent of genomic background. The effect of MHC-dissimilarity on relationship satisfaction was not significant and we found evidence for publication bias in studies on this area. There was also no significant association between MHC-dissimilarity and odour preferences. Finally, combining effect sizes from all genomic, relationship satisfaction, odour preference and previous mate choice studies into an overall estimate showed no overall significant effect of MHC similarity on human mate selection. Based on these findings, we make a set of recommendations for future studies, focusing both on aspects that should be implemented immediately and those that lurk on the far horizon. We need larger samples with greater geographical and cultural diversity, that control for genome-wide similarity. We also need more focus on mechanisms of MHC-associated odour preferences and on MHC-associated pregnancy loss

An Analysis of the Matching Hypothesis in Networks

The matching hypothesis in social psychology claims that people are more likely to form a committed relationship with someone equally attractive. Previous works on stochastic models of human mate choice process indicate that patterns supporting the matching hypothesis could occur even when similarity is not the primary consideration in seeking partners. Yet, most if not all of these works concentrate on fully-connected systems. Here we extend the analysis to networks. Our results indicate that the correlation of the couple's attractiveness grows monotonically with the increased average degree and decreased degree diversity of the network. This correlation is lower in sparse networks than in fully-connected systems, because in the former less attractive individuals who find partners are likely to be coupled with ones who are more attractive than them. The chance of failing to be matched decreases exponentially with both the attractiveness and the degree. The matching hypothesis may not hold when the degree-attractiveness correlation is present, which can give rise to negative attractiveness correlation. Finally, we find that the ratio between the number of matched couples and the size of the maximum matching varies non-monotonically with the average degree of the network. Our results reveal the role of network topology in the process of human mate choice and bring insights into future investigations of different matching processes in networks

The role of human body movements in mate selection

It is common scientific knowledge, that most of what we say within a conversation is not only expressed by the words meaning alone, but also through our gestures, postures, and body movements. This non-verbal mode is possibly rooted firmly in our human evolutionary heritage, and as such, some scientists argue that it serves as a fundamental assessment and expression tool for our inner qualities. Studies of nonverbal communication have established that a universal, culture-free, non-verbal sign system exists, that is available to all individuals for negotiating social encounters. Thus, it is not only the kind of gestures and expressions humans use in social communication, but also the way these movements are performed, as this seems to convey key information about an individuals quality. Dance, for example, is a special form of movement, which can be observed in human courtship displays. Recent research suggests that people are sensitive to the variation in dance movements, and that dance performance provides information about an individuals mate quality in terms of health and strength. This article reviews the role of body movement in human non-verbal communication, and highlights its significance in human mate preferences in order to promote future work in this research area within the evolutionary psychology framework

Colour for behavioural success

Colour information not only helps sustain the survival of animal species by guiding sexual selection and foraging behaviour but also is an important factor in the cultural and technological development of our own species. This is illustrated by examples from the visual arts and from state-of-the-art imaging technology, where the strategic use of colour has become a powerful tool for guiding the planning and execution of interventional procedures. The functional role of colour information in terms of its potential benefits to behavioural success across the species is addressed in the introduction here to clarify why colour perception may have evolved to generate behavioural success. It is argued that evolutionary and environmental pressures influence not only colour trait production in the different species but also their ability to process and exploit colour information for goal-specific purposes. We then leap straight to the human primate with insight from current research on the facilitating role of colour cues on performance training with precision technology for image-guided surgical planning and intervention. It is shown that local colour cues in two-dimensional images generated by a surgical fisheye camera help individuals become more precise rapidly across a limited number of trial sets in simulator training for specific manual gestures with a tool. This facilitating effect of a local colour cue on performance evolution in a video-controlled simulator (pick-and-place) task can be explained in terms of colour-based figure-ground segregation facilitating attention to local image parts when more than two layers of subjective surface depth are present, as in all natural and surgical images

The Ribbon of Love: Fuzzy-Ruled Agents in Artificial Societies

The paper brings two motivations to the theoretical explorations of social analysis. The first is to enrich the agent based computational sociology by incorporating the fuzzy set theory in to the computational modeling. This is conducted by showing the importance to include the fuzziness into artificial agent’s considerations and her way acquiring and articulate information. This is continued with the second motives to bring the Darwinian sexual selection theory – as it has been developed broadly in evolutionary psychology – into the analysis of social system including cultural analysis and other broad aspects of sociological fields. The two was combined in one computational model construction showing the fuzziness of mating choice, and how to have computational tools to explain broad fields of social realms. The paper ends with some opened further computer program development

Evolution of Co-operation When the Strategies are Hidden: The Human Mating Game

Defection is frequently seen in co-operative systems [1-3]. Game theoretical solutions to stabilize cooperation rely on reciprocity and reputation in iterated games[4-5]. One of the basic requirements for reciprocity or reputation building is that the strategies of players and the resulting payoffs should be open at the end of every interaction. For games in which the strategies and payoffs remain hidden, these stabilizing factors are unlikely to work. We examine the evolution of cooperation for hidden-strategy games using human mating game as an example. Here faithful parenting can be considered as cooperation and extra-pair mating (EPM) or cuckoldry as defection. Cuckoldry may get exposed only occasionally and the genetic benefits of cuckoldry also remain hidden from the players. Along with mate guarding, social policing is enabled in humans by language and gossiping. However, social policing can be invaded by second order free riders. We suggest that opportunistic blackmailing, which is unique to hidden strategy games can act as a keystone strategy in stabilizing co-operation. This can counteract free riding and stabilize policing. A game theoretical model results into a rock - paper – scissor (R-P-S) like situation with no evolutionary stable strategy (ESS). Simulations result into a stable or stably oscillating polymorphism. Obligate monogamy is an essential trait in the co-existence. In a gender difference model too, polymorphism is seen in both genders but with different traits predominating in the two genders. The model explains intra-gender, inter-gender as well as cross cultural variability in mating strategies in humans

I like who you like, but only if I like you: Female character affects mate-choice copying.

Mate-choice copying is shown when women imitate the mate-choice preferences of other women. We propose that the preferences of women with a pleasant character should be more influential than those of women with an unpleasant character and further suggest that this should apply only when the female demonstrates active interest in the male, rather than disinterest. Here, we presented women as having either a pleasant or unpleasant character and found that observing pleasant women looking at men increased women’s preferences for those men, while observing unpleasant women looking at men had no effect on women’s preferences. Furthermore, the effect of being looked at by a pleasant woman was heightened when she was smiling. This suggests that judgements of facial attractiveness can be socially influenced and that character affects the degree of influence

Hearing Emergence: Towards Sound-Based Self-Organisation

A fascination for models derived from natural organisation of organisms has a long history of influence in the arts. This paper discusses emergence as a complex behaviour and its manifestations in the sonic domain. We address issues inherent in the use of visual/spatial metaphors for sonic representation and propose an approach based on sound interaction within biological complex systems