Mutual mate choice drives the desirability of altruism in relationships

Abstract

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Giving Guys Get the Girls: Men Appear More Desirable to the Opposite Sex When Displaying Costly Donations to the Homeless

“…Whilst there are a number of established adaptive explanations as to why we help others at a cost to ourselves (Alexander 1987;Buss 2004;Hamilton 1964;Maynard Smith 1964;Trivers 1971), these theories tend to focus on helping kin or involve reciprocation. More recently, the literature has suggested that, in some part, altruism may also be driven through sexual selection, specifically through female mate choice (Bhogal et al 2016;Farrelly and King 2019;Iredale et al 2008;Van Vugt and Iredale 2013). For example, we see sexual differences in the way in which altruism is expressed.…”

“…However, the answer is not always so clear cut. In a recent study by Farrelly and King (2019), when men and women viewed images of the opposite sex accompanied by different altruistic scenarios, both men and women rated those who were described as altruistic as more desirable as a mate.…”

Gender or Helper? Teens Career Choices Between Gender and Altruism

“…The typical instrument used to explore gender differences in altruistic behaviour is the Dictator Game (DG), where dictators' donations are taken as a measure of the individual's general altruistic tendencies (Brañas-Garza, 2006, 2007Brañas-Garza et al, 2018;Charness & Gneezy, 2008;Croson & Gneezy, 2009;Farrelly et al, 2016;Farrelly & King, 2019). Recently qualitative interviews were introduced to collect occupational values, gender stereotypes and altruism: surveys and web-surveys estimated valuebased goals that are mainly accepted at different levels.…”

“…Some lines of research have considered the social representation of altruism in relation to gender: many studies in psychology and economics aim to explore differences in altruism's gender beliefs and their effects upon behaviour (Boschini et al, 2018;Salgado, 2018;Croson & Gneezy, 2009). Others focus on the role that altruism plays in the choice of partners, above all in women's preferences and in long-term relationships (Farrelly & King, 2019;Farrelly et al, 2016;Kelly & Dunbar, 2001). In these studies, simple economic games, such as the Dictator Game, were used to examine the impact of gender on altruistic behaviour.…”

Further support for the role of heroism in human mate choice.

“…This could be due to the fact that the most research finds that women are attracted to men who display benefit-provisioning behavior (see Bhogal, Farrelly, Galbraith, Manktelow, & Bradley, 2020; Bhogal et al, 2019; Farrelly, Lazarus, & Roberts, 2007; Phillips, Barnard, Ferguson, & Reader, 2008). However, there is some (although limited) research showing that men are attracted to women who display benefit-provisioning behavior (although this effect is generally more prominent in women than men; see Bhogal, Bartlett, & Farrelly, 2019; Farrelly & King, 2019). However, because of the majority of research showing the importance of heroism in female mate choice, we expected women to find heroism more desirable than men.…”