Promiscuity in an evolved pair-bonding system: Mating within and outside the Pleistocene box
Behavioral and brain sciences, vol. 28, no. 2, 2005, pp. 290–291
Abstract
Across mammals, when fathers matter, as they did for hunter-gatherers, sex-similar pair-bonding mechanisms evolve. Attachment fertility theory can explain Schmitt’s and other findings as resulting from a system of mechanisms affording pair-bonding in which promiscuous seeking is part. Departures from hunter-gatherer environments (e.g., early menarche, delayed marriage) can alter dating trajectories, thereby impacting mating outside of pair-bonds.
