Author's Response Gangestad, S.W. & Simpson, J.A.: Evolution and human mating
Trade-offs, the allocation of reproductive effort, and the evolutionary psychology of human mating
Steven W. Gangestad a1andJeffry A. Simpson a2 a1 Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131
sgangest@unm.edu a2 Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843
jas@psyc.tamu.edu.
Abstract
This response reinforces several major themes in our target article: (a) the importance of sex-specific, within-sex variation in mating tactics; (b) the relevance of optimality thinking to understanding that variation; (c) the significance of special design for reconstructing evolutionary history; (d) the replicated findings that women's mating preferences vary across their menstrual cycle in ways revealing special design; and (e) the importance of applying market phenomena to understand the complex dynamics of mating. We also elaborate on three points: (1) Men who have indicators of genetic fitness may provide more direct benefits when female demand for extra-pair and short-term sex is very low; (2) both men and women track ecological cues to make mating decisions; and (3) more research on female orgasm is needed.
