Social preferences based on sexual attractiveness: a female strategy to reduce male sexual attention

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

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Social preferences based on sexual attractiveness : a female strategy to reduce male sexual attention. / Brask, Josefine Bohr; Croft, Darren P.; Thompson, Katharine; Dabelsteen, Torben; Darden, Safi K.

In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 279, No. 1734, 2012, p. 1748-1753.

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

Brask, JB, Croft, DP, Thompson, K, Dabelsteen, T & Darden, SK 2012, 'Social preferences based on sexual attractiveness: a female strategy to reduce male sexual attention', Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, vol. 279, no. 1734, pp. 1748-1753. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.2212

APA

Brask, J. B., Croft, D. P., Thompson, K., Dabelsteen, T., & Darden, S. K. (2012). Social preferences based on sexual attractiveness: a female strategy to reduce male sexual attention. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 279(1734), 1748-1753. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.2212

Vancouver

Brask JB, Croft DP, Thompson K, Dabelsteen T, Darden SK. Social preferences based on sexual attractiveness: a female strategy to reduce male sexual attention. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2012;279(1734):1748-1753. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.2212

Author

Brask, Josefine Bohr ; Croft, Darren P. ; Thompson, Katharine ; Dabelsteen, Torben ; Darden, Safi K. / Social preferences based on sexual attractiveness : a female strategy to reduce male sexual attention. In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2012 ; Vol. 279, No. 1734. pp. 1748-1753.

Bibtex

@article{d7a846a89e8d4a548250c7f9a96300ff,
title = "Social preferences based on sexual attractiveness: a female strategy to reduce male sexual attention",
abstract = "Male sexual harassment of females is common across sexually reproducing species and can result in fitness costs to females. We hypothesized that females can reduce unwanted male attention by constructing a social niche where their female associates are more sexually attractive than themselves, thus influencing the decision-making of males to their advantage. We tested this hypothesis in the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata), a species with high levels of male sexual harassment. First, we confirmed that non-receptive females were harassed less when they were paired with a more sexually attractive (receptive) female than with another non-receptive female. We then found that, indeed, females exploit this as a strategy to reduce sexual harassment; non-receptive females actively preferred to associate with receptive over non-receptive females. Importantly, when given access only to chemosensory cues, non-receptive females still showed this preference, suggesting that they use information from chemical cues to assess the sexual attractiveness of potential female partners. Receptive females in contrast showed no such preferences. Our results demonstrate that females can decrease male harassment by associating with females that are more sexually attractive than themselves and that they perform active partner choices based on this relative attractiveness. We propose that this strategy is likely to represent an important pathway by which females can construct social niches that influence the decision-making of others to their advantage; in this case, to reduce the sexual harassment they experience.",
author = "Brask, {Josefine Bohr} and Croft, {Darren P.} and Katharine Thompson and Torben Dabelsteen and Darden, {Safi K.}",
year = "2012",
doi = "10.1098/rspb.2011.2212",
language = "English",
volume = "279",
pages = "1748--1753",
journal = "Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences",
issn = "0962-8452",
publisher = "The Royal Society Publishing",
number = "1734",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Social preferences based on sexual attractiveness

T2 - a female strategy to reduce male sexual attention

AU - Brask, Josefine Bohr

AU - Croft, Darren P.

AU - Thompson, Katharine

AU - Dabelsteen, Torben

AU - Darden, Safi K.

PY - 2012

Y1 - 2012

N2 - Male sexual harassment of females is common across sexually reproducing species and can result in fitness costs to females. We hypothesized that females can reduce unwanted male attention by constructing a social niche where their female associates are more sexually attractive than themselves, thus influencing the decision-making of males to their advantage. We tested this hypothesis in the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata), a species with high levels of male sexual harassment. First, we confirmed that non-receptive females were harassed less when they were paired with a more sexually attractive (receptive) female than with another non-receptive female. We then found that, indeed, females exploit this as a strategy to reduce sexual harassment; non-receptive females actively preferred to associate with receptive over non-receptive females. Importantly, when given access only to chemosensory cues, non-receptive females still showed this preference, suggesting that they use information from chemical cues to assess the sexual attractiveness of potential female partners. Receptive females in contrast showed no such preferences. Our results demonstrate that females can decrease male harassment by associating with females that are more sexually attractive than themselves and that they perform active partner choices based on this relative attractiveness. We propose that this strategy is likely to represent an important pathway by which females can construct social niches that influence the decision-making of others to their advantage; in this case, to reduce the sexual harassment they experience.

AB - Male sexual harassment of females is common across sexually reproducing species and can result in fitness costs to females. We hypothesized that females can reduce unwanted male attention by constructing a social niche where their female associates are more sexually attractive than themselves, thus influencing the decision-making of males to their advantage. We tested this hypothesis in the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata), a species with high levels of male sexual harassment. First, we confirmed that non-receptive females were harassed less when they were paired with a more sexually attractive (receptive) female than with another non-receptive female. We then found that, indeed, females exploit this as a strategy to reduce sexual harassment; non-receptive females actively preferred to associate with receptive over non-receptive females. Importantly, when given access only to chemosensory cues, non-receptive females still showed this preference, suggesting that they use information from chemical cues to assess the sexual attractiveness of potential female partners. Receptive females in contrast showed no such preferences. Our results demonstrate that females can decrease male harassment by associating with females that are more sexually attractive than themselves and that they perform active partner choices based on this relative attractiveness. We propose that this strategy is likely to represent an important pathway by which females can construct social niches that influence the decision-making of others to their advantage; in this case, to reduce the sexual harassment they experience.

U2 - 10.1098/rspb.2011.2212

DO - 10.1098/rspb.2011.2212

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 22158959

VL - 279

SP - 1748

EP - 1753

JO - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

SN - 0962-8452

IS - 1734

ER -

ID: 48809840