Arnocky Steven, Denomme Brittany, Hodges-Simeon Carolyn, Hlay Jessica K, Davis Adam C, Brennan Hillary
Nipissing University, 100 College Drive, P1B8L7 North Bay, ON Canada.
Boston University, 232 Bay State Rd, 02215 Boston, MA USA.
Adapt Human Behav Physiol. 2023;9(1):54-71. doi: 10.1007/s40750-022-00209-4. Epub 2023 Jan 11.
Immunocompetence can influence an organism's reproductive fitness, and thus presumably their desirability as a mate (i.e., mate value). In humans, the link between immunocompetence and mate value has found circumstantial support by way of both expressed mate preferences for healthy partners, and via preferences for attractive phenotypes that are ostensibly linked to immune functioning. We examined whether a biological marker of immunocompetence, salivary immunoglobulin A (sIgA), along with self-reported frequency and severity of symptoms of poor health predicted individuals' reported mate value and mating behavior in a sample of 691 young adults. Our measures of immunocompetence (sIgA and symptoms of poor health) correlated significantly with one another, suggesting sIgA is a viable marker of general immune function in young adults. We then examined the independent contributions of these variables to mate value, controlling for age, sex, and body mass index (BMI). Results showed that sIgA (positively) and poor health (negatively) predicted mate value, but not lifetime number of sex partners or current romantic relationship status. These findings suggest that those with better health and immune function report being more desirable as mating partners but support past research showing null links to reported mating behavior. Together, these findings suggest that more comprehensive work on links between immunocompetence and mating is required.
免疫能力会影响生物体的生殖适应性，因此大概也会影响其作为配偶的吸引力（即配偶价值）。在人类中，免疫能力与配偶价值之间的联系已通过对健康伴侣的明确配偶偏好以及对表面上与免疫功能相关的有吸引力表型的偏好得到了间接支持。我们在691名年轻成年人的样本中，研究了免疫能力的一种生物学标志物——唾液免疫球蛋白A（sIgA），以及自我报告的健康状况不佳症状的频率和严重程度，是否能预测个体报告的配偶价值和交配行为。我们对免疫能力的测量指标（sIgA和健康状况不佳症状）之间存在显著相关性，这表明sIgA是年轻成年人一般免疫功能的一个可行标志物。然后，我们在控制了年龄、性别和体重指数（BMI）的情况下，研究了这些变量对配偶价值的独立贡献。结果显示，sIgA（正向）和健康状况不佳（负向）可预测配偶价值，但不能预测性伴侣的终身数量或当前的恋爱关系状态。这些发现表明，健康状况和免疫功能较好的人报告称自己作为交配伴侣更具吸引力，但支持了过去的研究结果，即与报告的交配行为没有关联。总之，这些发现表明，需要对免疫能力与交配之间的联系进行更全面的研究。
