Gettler Lee T, Rosenbaum Stacy, Hoegler Dennis Sarah, Bechayda Sonny Agustin, Kuzawa Christopher W
Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA.
Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
R Soc Open Sci. 2025 May 7;12(5):241713. doi: 10.1098/rsos.241713. eCollection 2025.
Humans exhibit variation in their strategic expression of longer-term versus shorter-term mating strategies, including sociosexuality, which is defined as their interest and engagement in sexual activity outside of committed partnerships. There is substantial interest in the factors that drive variation in these strategies between individuals. Early life energetic conditions and psychosocial adversity may play key roles in shaping the expression of shorter-term mating strategies, particularly for males, given male-male mating competition. Drawing on a multi-decade study in the Philippines, we tested for links between males' early life growth/maturation, adult skeletal muscle mass and childhood experiences of adversity with age at sexual debut ( = 965) and adult sociosexuality ( = 1594 obs.). Males who experienced more favourable childhood energetics had sex earlier and had more unrestricted sociosexuality, but these patterns were explained by males' adult skeletal muscle mass. Males who were more maturationally advanced in adolescence also had younger ages at sexual debut and more unrestricted sociosexuality. We did not find evidence supporting the hypothesis that males exposed to early life adversity (family instability and sibling death) and favourable energetic conditions would show 'faster' life history strategies. Our findings point to the importance of developmental growth and maturation trajectories in energetically challenging ecologies to males' later-life mating strategies.
人类在其长期与短期交配策略的策略性表达上存在差异，包括社会性取向，社会性取向被定义为他们在忠诚伴侣关系之外对性活动的兴趣和参与度。人们对驱动个体间这些策略差异的因素有着浓厚兴趣。鉴于雄性间的交配竞争，早年的能量状况和心理社会逆境可能在塑造短期交配策略的表达中起关键作用，尤其是对男性而言。基于在菲律宾进行的一项长达数十年的研究，我们测试了男性早年生长/成熟情况、成年骨骼肌质量以及童年逆境经历与首次性行为年龄（样本量 = 965）和成年社会性取向（观测值 = 1594）之间的联系。童年能量状况更有利的男性更早发生性行为且社会性取向更开放，但这些模式可以由男性的成年骨骼肌质量来解释。青春期成熟度更高的男性首次性行为的年龄也更小，且社会性取向更开放。我们没有找到证据支持这样的假设，即早年经历逆境（家庭不稳定和兄弟姐妹死亡）且能量状况有利的男性会表现出“更快”的生活史策略。我们的研究结果指出，在充满能量挑战的生态环境中，发育成长和成熟轨迹对男性后期交配策略具有重要意义。
