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Intrasexual Rivalry Among Men

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

Synonyms

Intrasexual competition; Intrasexual selection; Within-sex competition; Within-sex selection

Definition

Intrasexual rivalry is a driving force behind sexual selection. Men’s intrasexual rivalry surrounds competition over reproductive opportunities and resources.

Introduction

Men’s reproductive potential is higher yet more variable than that of women, owing to women’s substantial (and men’s relatively lower) obligatory parental investment. For ancestral men, outcompeting same-sex rivals for access to desirable and varied mating opportunities would have benefited their total reproductive success. Evidence of adaptations for increased intrasexual rivalry among men can be seen in modern human physiology, mating psychology, and related behaviors such as epigamic displays and aggression, which differ between sexes. Mating systems and other contextual factors influence sex differences in competition, such that male rivalry is stronger in polygynous versus monogamous systems, and when...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nipissing University, North Bay, ON, Canada

    Steven Arnocky & Justin M. Carré

Authors
  1. Steven Arnocky
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  2. Justin M. Carré
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Correspondence to Steven Arnocky .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland Univ Dept of Psycholgy, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana Weekes-Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  3. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

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Arnocky, S., Carré, J.M. (2016). Intrasexual Rivalry Among Men. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_874-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_874-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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