Moscow University
Anthropology
Bulletin
Anthropology
Bulletin
1) RAS Miklukho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Leninsky av., 32a, Moscow, 119334, Russia; 2) National Research University Higher School of Economics, Myasnitskaya st., 20, Moscow, 101000, Russia; 3) Russian State University for the Humanities, Miusskaya sq., 6, build. 2, Moscow, 125047, Russia
Semenova Olga V., Researcher, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-0015-243X; m4248296@yandex.ru; Butovskaya Marina L., corresponding member RAS, prof., DSc.; ORCID ID: 0000-0002-5528-0519; marina.butovskaya@gmail.com. .
Introduction. The ubiquitous population shift to urban areas all over the globe, and the concurrent growth in population density, have had a profound effect on the nature of the human environment. The theory of sexual selection predicts that important aspects of the mating system such as intra-sexual competition, mate choice and parental care can be density-dependent. The goal of this study was to analyze the specifics of male sexual behavior in a modern industrial society. The objective of the study was to evaluate the parameters of sexual selection in a male sample under changing population density (in conditions of intensive urbanization processes). Materials and methods. Data for the study were collected via an anonymous online survey in 2019. Our sample comprised 273 adult males. Quantitative analysis was conducted in programming software R using the “Lme4” package. Results. The analyses indicates that higher levels of urbanization in the subject’s place of residence corresponds to significant increase in the number of sexual partners which is in turn associated with a growth in variability in individual levels of pre-copulatory sexual success. Discussion. Our finding shows that the process of sexual selection is heavily influenced by the number of potential mates. We concluded that the pressure of sexual selection among males rises in a big city or a metropolis. The theory predicts that under the pressure of increasing strength of sexual selection the development of competitive traits in the selected sex could be detected, which in turn diminish its parental investment. As an evolutional outcome, urbanization and a growth of population density can induce the replacement of cooperative biparental care models and the establishing the uniparental care – female only care models.
sexual selection; population density; polygamy; monogamy; urbanization; parental investment
DOI: 10.32521/2074-8132.2020.1.098-107
Цит.: Semenova O.V., Butovskaya M.L. Urbanization and the growth of the intensity of sexual selection among males in modern Russia // Moscow University Anthropology Bulletin (Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seria XXIII. Antropologia), 2020; 1/2020; с. 98-107
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