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Female Orgasm and In-Pair Copulation

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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

Introduction

Evolutionary analyses of human behavior characterize modern phenotypes as potential products of natural and sexual selection. Within evolutionary psychology, the human female orgasm generates debate as to an adaptive function because, compared to male orgasm and ejaculation, it is not required for fertilization (e.g., Lloyd 2009 and Puts and Dawood 2006). Evolutionary researchers have proposed two main theories offering adaptive explanations for the female orgasm (Puts et al. 2012a). These Mate-Choice Hypotheses argue that female orgasm increases the probability of producing offspring, thereby falling within the purview of natural selection. Of these adaptive hypotheses, the Pair-Bond Hypothesis would increase survival of offspring through women’s selection of long-term mates, while the Sire Choice Hypothesis focuses on orgasm’s potential to increases genetic quality of offspring through women’s selection of high-quality mates. We describe these models to frame current...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, New College of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, Arizona State University, Glendale, AZ, USA

    Candace Jasmine Black & Desirae Taylor

  2. Department of Psychological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

    Emily Anne Patch

Authors
  1. Candace Jasmine Black
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  2. Emily Anne Patch
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  3. Desirae Taylor
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Correspondence to Candace Jasmine Black .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, MI, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO, USA

    Brian B Boutwell

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Black, C.J., Patch, E.A., Taylor, D. (2019). Female Orgasm and In-Pair Copulation. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3665-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3665-1

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