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Krems JA, Claessens S, Fales MR, Campenni M, Haselton MG, Aktipis A. An agent-based model of the female rivalry hypothesis for concealed ovulation in humans. Nat Hum Behav 2021; 5:726-735. [PMID: 33495572 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-020-01038-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2019] [Accepted: 12/17/2020] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
After half a century of debate and few empirical tests, there remains no consensus concerning why ovulation in human females is considered concealed. The predominant male investment hypothesis states that females were better able to obtain material investment from male partners across those females' ovulatory cycles by concealing ovulation. We build on recent work on female competition to propose and investigate an alternative-the female rivalry hypothesis-that concealed ovulation benefited females by allowing them to avoid aggression from other females. Using an agent-based model of mating behaviour and paternal investment in a human ancestral environment, we did not find strong support for the male investment hypothesis, but found support for the female rivalry hypothesis. Our results suggest that concealed ovulation may have benefitted females in navigating their intrasexual social relationships. More generally, this work implies that explicitly considering female-female interactions may inspire additional insights into female behaviour and physiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaimie Arona Krems
- The Oklahoma Center for Evolutionary Analysis (OCEAN), Department of Psychology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA
| | - Scott Claessens
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.,Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.,Interdisciplinary Cooperation Initiative, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Melissa R Fales
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Marco Campenni
- Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.,Interdisciplinary Cooperation Initiative, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.,Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Martie G Haselton
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Department of Communication, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Institute for Society and Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Athena Aktipis
- Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA. .,Interdisciplinary Cooperation Initiative, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA. .,Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA. .,Arizona Cancer Evolution Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA. .,Biodesign Center for Biocomputation, Security and Society, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
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The More Fertile, the More Creative: Changes in Women's Creative Potential across the Ovulatory Cycle. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:ijerph18105390. [PMID: 34070114 PMCID: PMC8158362 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18105390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Revised: 05/08/2021] [Accepted: 05/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Creative thinking is a defining human feature. It provides novel solutions and as such undoubtedly has contributed to our survival. However, according to signaling theory, creativity could also have evolved through sexual selection as a potential fitness indicator. In our study, we tested one implication of this theory. Specifically, we hypothesized that if creativity can serve as a signal of women’s fitness, then we should observe an increase in creative thinking in the fertile phase of the ovulatory cycle compared to other non-fertile phases. In our study (N = 751), we tested creative potential throughout the ovulatory cycle. We found a positive correlation between the probability of conception and both creative originality and flexibility. Importantly, we also tested the mediating role of arousal in the relationship between the probability of conception and creative thinking. The results of our study are discussed in terms of signaling theory, through which women advertise their fitness with their creativity.
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Abstract
Proponents of the singularity hypothesis have argued that there will come a point at which machines will overtake us not only in intelligence but that machines will also have emotional capabilities. However, human cognition is not something that takes place only in the brain; one cannot conceive of human cognition without embodiment. This essay considers the emotional nature of cognition by exploring the most human of emotions—romantic love. By examining the idea of love from an evolutionary and a physiological perspective, the author suggests that in order to account for the full range of human cognition, one must also account for the emotional aspects of cognition. The paper concludes that if there is to be a singularity that transcends human cognition, it must be embodied. As such, the singularity could not be completely non-organic; it must take place in the form of a cyborg, wedding the digital to the biological.
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