Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Nagoya, Japan.
Br J Psychol. 2013 Nov;104(4):577-84. doi: 10.1111/bjop.12021. Epub 2013 Jan 16.
Sexual selection may affect human altruistic behaviour. Evolutionary psychology predicts that human mate preference reflects sexual selection. We investigated sex differences in preference for opposite-sex altruism according to recipient because the reasons for altruistic behaviour differ according to the relationship between actor and recipient. We employed the Self-Report Altruism Scale Distinguished by the Recipient, which was newly developed to evaluate altruism among Japanese undergraduates. We asked participants to evaluate preferences for each item based on the recipient of the altruistic behaviour (family members, friends or acquaintances, and strangers). Preference for opposite-sex altruism differed according to recipient, gender of the participant, and relationship type, and several significant interactions were observed among these factors. We suggest that whereas women use a potential partner's altruism towards strangers as a costly signal of their resource-holding potential when choosing a mate, they consider altruism towards family when they are in a long-term relationship to ensure that resources are not allocated to non-relatives.
性选择可能会影响人类的利他行为。进化心理学预测，人类的择偶偏好反映了性选择。我们根据接受者的不同，研究了异性对利他行为的偏好差异，因为利他行为的原因因行为者与接受者之间的关系而异。我们使用了新开发的《受助者区分的自我报告利他主义量表》来评估日本大学生中的利他主义。我们要求参与者根据利他行为的接受者（家庭成员、朋友或熟人以及陌生人）来评估对每个项目的偏好。异性利他行为的偏好因接受者、参与者的性别和关系类型而异，并且这些因素之间存在几个显著的相互作用。我们认为，女性在选择伴侣时，将潜在伴侣对陌生人的利他行为视为其资源持有潜力的昂贵信号，但当她们处于长期关系中时，她们会考虑对家人的利他行为，以确保资源不会分配给非亲属。
