Definition
Intra-sexual competition (in both females and males) for access to the resources necessary for female reproduction and parental investment.
Introduction
In the context of sexual selection, females compete more intensely for resources and males compete more intensely for mates. Females can compete with each other for access to resources and/or express biased selection for males that control resources. On the other hand, males can compete for mates by controlling the resources that females desire.
The nature and distribution of the desired resources can influence the institution of different mating systems (who mates with whom). In particular, males that can monopolize resources can also monopolize mates. This can establish a conflict of interest between males and females, as males benefit by having more mates and females benefit by limiting resource...
References
Clutton-Brock, T. (2009). Sexual selection in females. Animal Behaviour, 77(1), 3–11.
Emlen, S. T., & Oring, L. W. (1977). Evolution of mating systems. Science, 197(4300), 215–223.
Fisher, M. L. (2013). Women’s intrasexual competition for mates. In M. L. Fisher, J. R. Garcia, & S. L. Chang (Eds.), Evolution’s empress: Darwinian perspectives on the nature of women. New York: Oxford University Press.
Fisher, M. L., & Moule, K. R. (2013). A new direction for intrasexual competition research: Cooperative versus competitive motherhood. Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology, 7(4), 318–325.
Hartung, J., Dickemann, M., Melotti, U., Pospisil, L., Scott, E. C., Smith, J. M., & Wilder, W. D. (1982). Polygyny and inheritance of wealth. Current Anthropology, 23(1), 1–12.
Kaplan, H. S., Hooper, P. L., & Gurven, M. (2009). The evolutionary and ecological roots of human social organization. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, B: Biological Sciences, 364(1533), 3289–3299.
Liesen, L. (2013). The Tangled Web She Weaves. In M. L. Fisher, J. R. Garcia, & S. L. Chang (Eds.), Evolution’s empress: Darwinian perspectives on the nature of women. New York: Oxford University Press.
Mulder, M. B. (1992). Women’s strategies in polygynous marriage. Human Nature, 3(1), 45–70.
Reichard, M., Le Comber, S. C., & Smith, C. (2007). Sneaking from a female perspective. Animal Behaviour, 74(4), 679–688.
Stockley, P., & Bro-Jørgensen, J. (2011). Female competition and its evolutionary consequences in mammals. Biological Reviews, 86(2), 341–366.
Stockley, P., & Campbell, A. (2013). Female competition and aggression: Interdisciplinary perspectives. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, B: Biological Sciences, 368(1631). https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0073
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Heap, S. (2020). Competition for Resources Desired by Females. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1981-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1981-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences