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. 2020 Jul 29;15(7):e0236549.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0236549. eCollection 2020.

Inter-sexual mate competition in three cultures

Scott W Semenyna  1 , Francisco R Gómez Jiménez  1 , Doug P VanderLaan  2   3 , Paul L Vasey  1
Affiliations

Inter-sexual mate competition in three cultures

Scott W Semenyna et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Darwinian sexual selection theory holds that mate selection occurs inter-sexually, and mate competition occurs intra-sexually for opposite-sex partners. We demonstrate that inter-sexual mate competition can also occur among humans at appreciable rates that vary by culture. In Canada, inter-sexual mate competition was both rare and inconsequential. However, data from two disparate non-Western cultures-Samoa and the Istmo Zapotec (Oaxaca, Mexico)-show that women frequently compete with feminine same-sex attracted males to acquire and maintain masculine male mates (i.e., men). Inter-sexual mate competition most commonly involved feminine males attempting to poach women's masculine male sexual partners. During these interactions, women and feminine males both attempted to manipulate the man who was the object of sexual competition; feminine males attempted to entice the target man, whereas women engaged in guarding and emotionally punitive behaviours. We do not anticipate that inter-sexual mate competition will be common in most species or across all cultures. However, when males and females prefer the same sexual partners, who themselves behave in a bisexual manner, then inter-sexual mate competition can ensue.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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Grants and funding

Various stages of this research were supported by grants awarded by the University of Lethbridge Research Development Fund (www. uleth.ca; grant number 13261), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (www. sshrc.ca; grant number 41182) to PLV. SWS was supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Canadian Graduate Scholarship Doctoral Award (www. sshrc.ca; grant number 767-2016-2485). FRGJ was supported by a Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research (G2017031591840826) as well as National Geographic (https://www.nationalgeographic.org/funding-opportunities/; grant number HJ-017ER-17). DPV was supported by a National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/index_eng.asp) Canadian Graduate Scholarship. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.