Cooperation as a Sexual Selection Trait: Insights from Gender-Specific Mate Preferences

Yıl 2025, Cilt: 22 Sayı: 5, 1076 - 1087, 30.09.2025

Ahmet Yasin Şenyurt , Fatma Akbulut

https://doi.org/10.26466/opusjsr.1712911

Öz

Cooperation is considered an essential component of natural selection due to its critical role in ensuring the survival of individuals and communities. However, whether cooperation is also a trait favored in the context of sexual selection remains an ongoing debate in evolutionary psychology. This study examined whether cooperative behavior increases individual attractiveness during the mate selection process. Participants were recruited through convenience sampling via Google Forms. In the first study, 199 participants were randomly assigned to one of three levels of cooperation. The results revealed that female participants preferred men who displayed cooperative behavior. In the second study, the effect of cooperation was evaluated together with the gender of the individuals involved. A total of 230 participants watched videos depicting different cooperation scenarios and evaluated the target person as a potential partner. The findings indicated that women found men who cooperated with both men and women more attractive, whereas men showed a preference only for women who cooperated with other women. In conclusion, cooperation is perceived differently by men and women within the framework of sexual selection, and particularly women regard cooperative behavior as a strong indicator of attractiveness.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Cooperation , sexual selection theory , gender differences , altruism

Destekleyen Kurum

This study was supported by the Balıkesir University Scientific Research Projects Program (project number 2024/054).

Cinsel Seçilim Özelliği Olarak İşbirliği: Cinsiyete Özgü Eş Seçim Tercihleri

Öz

İş birliği, bireylerin ve toplulukların hayatta kalmasını sağlamadaki kritik rolü nedeniyle doğal seçilimin vazgeçilmez bir unsuru olarak görülmektedir. Ancak iş birliğinin aynı zamanda cinsel seçilim açısından da tercih edilen bir özellik olup olmadığı konusu, evrimsel psikolojide güncelliğini koruyan bir tartışma alanıdır. Bu çalışmada, iş birliğinin cinsel seçilim sürecinde bireyin çekiciliğini artırıp artırmadığı araştırılmıştır. Katılımcılar, Google Forms aracılığıyla ulaşılan ulaşılabilirlik örneklemesi yöntemiyle belirlenmiştir. Birinci çalışmada 199 katılımcı rastgele olarak üç farklı iş birliği düzeyinden birine atanmış ve sonuçlar, kadınların iş birliği sergileyen erkekleri daha çok tercih ettiğini göstermiştir. İkinci çalışmada ise iş birliğinin etkisi, iş birliği yapılan kişilerin cinsiyetiyle birlikte incelenmiştir. Bu kapsamda 230 katılımcı, iş birliği senaryolarını içeren videoları izleyerek hedef kişiyi potansiyel partner olarak değerlendirmiştir. Bulgular, kadınların hem erkeklerle hem de kadınlarla iş birliği yapan erkekleri daha çekici bulduğunu, erkeklerin ise yalnızca kadınlarla iş birliği yapan kadınları daha çok tercih ettiğini ortaya koymuştur. Sonuç olarak, iş birliğinin cinsel seçilim bağlamında farklı cinsiyetlerde farklı biçimlerde değerlendirildiği ve özellikle kadınların iş birliği davranışını güçlü bir çekicilik unsuru olarak gördüğü anlaşılmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Cinsel Seçilim Kuramı , işbirliği , cinsiyet farklılıkları , özgecilik

Destekleyen Kurum

Bu çalışma, Balıkesir Üniversitesi Bilimsel Araştırma Projeleri Programı tarafından desteklenmiştir (proje numarası 2024/054).

Kaynakça

• Bressler, E. R., Martin, R. A., & Balshine, S. (2006). Production and appreciation of humor as sexually selected traits. Evolution and Human Behavior, 27(2), 121-130. https://doi.org/10.-1016/j.evolhumbehav.2005.09.001
• Buss, D. M. & Barnes, M. (1986). Preferences in human mate selection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50(3), 559-570.
• Buss, D. M., & Schmitt, D. P. (1993). Sexual Strategies Theory: An evolutionary perspective on human mating. Psychological Review, 100(2), 204–232. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.100.2.204
• Buss, D. M. (1989). Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 12, 1-49.
• Buss, D. M. (1998). Sexual Strategies Theory: Historical Origins and Current Status. The Journal of Sex Research, 35 (1), 19-31. Downloaded from: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-4499%281998%2935%3A1%3C19%3ASSTHOA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-B
• Covas, R., & Doutrelant, C. (2019). Testing the Sexual and Social Benefits of Cooperation in Animals. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 34(2), 112–120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2018.-11.006
• Eshel, I., & Cavalli-Sforza, L. L. (1982) . Assortment of encounters and evolution of cooperativeness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 79:1331–1335.
• Farrelly, D., Lazarus, J., & Roberts, G. (2007). Altruists Attract. Evolutionary Psychology, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/147470490700500205
• Floría, L. M., Gracia-Lázaro, C., Gómez-Gardeñes, J., & Moreno, Y. (2009). Social network reciprocity as a phase transition in evolutionary cooperation. Physical Review E., 79(2), 26106. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.79.026106
• Gündoğdu Aktürk, E. (2010). Attachment figure transference, caregiving styles and marital satisfaction in arranged and love marriages. [Master of Science, Middle East Technical University]. Downloaded from https://open.metu.edu.tr/handle/11511/19867
• Jonason, P. K., & Buss, D. M. (2012). Avoiding entangling commitments: Tactics for implementing a short-term mating strategy. Personality and Individual Differences, 52(5), 606-610.
• Minervini, B. P. ve McAndrew, F. T. (2006). The mating strategies and mate preferences of mail order brides. Cross-Cultural Research, 40(2), 111-129.
• Nowak M. A. (2006). Five rules for the evolution of cooperation. Science (New York, N.Y.), 314(5805), 1560–1563. https://doi.org/10.-1126/science.1133755
• Patten, M. M. (2010). Levels of Selection, in Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior( Eds. Michael D. Breed, Janice Moore). Academic Press, 272-276. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-045337-8.00112-1.
• Phillips, T., Barnard, C., Ferguson, E., & Reader, T. (2008). Do humans prefer altruistic mates? Testing a link between sexual selection and altruism toward non-relatives. British Journal of Psychology, 99(4), 555–572. doi:10.1348/-000712608x298467
• Pilot, M. (2005). Altruism as an advertisement – a model of the evolution of cooperation based on Zahavi’s handicap principle. Ethology Ecology & Evolution, 17(3), 217–231. https://doi.org/10.1080/08927014.2005.9522593
• Roberts G. (2008). Evolution of direct and indirect reciprocity. Proceedings. Biological Sciences, 275(1631), 173–179. https://doi.org/10.1098/-rspb.2007.1134
• Riolo, R., Cohen, M. & Axelrod, R. (2001). Evolution of cooperation without reciprocity. Nature, 414, 441–443 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038-/35106555
• Sachs, J. L., Mueller, U. G., Wilcox, T. P., & Bull, J. J. (2004). The evolution of cooperation. The Quarterly Review of Biology, 79(2), 136-160.
• Tan, L., Li, N. & Tan, K. (2024). Cash, crowds, and cooperation: The effects of population density and resource scarcity on cooperation in the dictator game. Evolution and Human Behavior, 45. DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2024.04.009.
• Tognetti, A., Berticat, C., Raymond, M., & Faurie, C. (2012). Sexual Selection of Human Cooperative Behaviour: An Experimental Study in Rural Senegal. PLoS ONE, 7(9), https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0044403
• Seyfarth, R. M., & Cheney, D. L. (1984). Grooming, alliances and reciprocal altruism in vervet monkeys. Nature, 308(5959), 541–543. https://doi.org/10.1038/308541a0
• Symons, D. (1979). The evolution of human sexuality. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Üzümçeker, E., Gezgin, G. N., & Akfırat, S. (2019). Sosyal ve evrimsel psikolojide insan özgeciliği bilmecesi [The puzzle of human altruism in social and evolutionary psychology]. Yaşam Becerileri Psikoloji Dergisi, 3(5), 93-110.
• Whyte, S., Brooks, R. C., Chan, H. F., & Torgler, B. (2021). Sex differences in sexual attraction for aesthetics, resources, and personality across age. PloS one, 16(5), e0250151. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250151
• Zahavi, A. (1975). Mate selection – a selection for a handicap. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 53, 205–214.
• Zahavi, A. & Zahavi, A. (1997). The Handicap Principle: a Missing Piece of Darwin's Puzzle. Oxford University Press, New York.