Borkowska Barbara, Pawlowski Boguslaw
Department of Human Biology, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland.
Evol Psychol. 2014 Aug 26;12(4):769-82. doi: 10.1177/147470491401200407.
Zahavi's handicap principle suggests that only organisms with good genetic quality can afford to engage in costly behaviors. Recreational drug use can be harmful to one's health and therefore might be viewed as a costly signal of one's genetic quality. One of the measurements of genetic quality is bodily symmetry assessed by fluctuating asymmetry. If unhealthy drug use is a behavioral example of Zahavi's handicap principle, then men who use different stimulants or recreational drugs should be more symmetrical than men who do not use them at all or use them only in low quantity. The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between drug use and fluctuating asymmetry. The subjects were 190 young women and 202 young men. Six bilaterally symmetrical traits were measured: length of II-V digits, wrist breadth, and ear height. Questionnaires included questions about smoking, alcohol drinking, drug use, and designer drug use. There was no relationship between bodily symmetry and smoking frequency, alcohol drinking frequency, drug or designer drug use, total substance use, age of smoking initiation, or reason of this initiation. The results indicate that drug use does not reflect genetic quality and does not necessarily relate to the handicap hypothesis.
扎哈维的不利条件原理表明，只有具备良好遗传素质的生物体才有能力从事代价高昂的行为。使用消遣性药物可能对健康有害，因此可能被视为一个人遗传素质的一种代价高昂的信号。遗传素质的一种衡量标准是通过波动不对称性评估的身体对称性。如果不健康的药物使用是扎哈维不利条件原理的一个行为示例，那么使用不同兴奋剂或消遣性药物的男性应该比根本不使用或仅少量使用这些药物的男性更加对称。本研究的目的是检验药物使用与波动不对称性之间的关系。研究对象为190名年轻女性和202名年轻男性。测量了六个双侧对称特征：食指至小指的长度、手腕宽度和耳高。问卷包括有关吸烟、饮酒、药物使用和新型毒品使用的问题。身体对称性与吸烟频率、饮酒频率、药物或新型毒品使用、总体物质使用、开始吸烟的年龄或开始吸烟的原因之间没有关系。结果表明，药物使用并不能反映遗传素质，也不一定与不利条件假说相关。
