ArticlePhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2017
Causes and consequences of adult sex ratio imbalance in a historical U.S. population.
Article in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed.
- High rates of polygyny do not lock large proportions of men out of the marriage market.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Article
- First Partner Choice in a Native Minority: The Role of Own and Parental Ethnolinguistic Affiliation.European journal of population = Revue europeenne de demographie · 2024Article
- Sex ratios and gender norms: why both are needed to understand sexual conflict in humans.Evolutionary human sciences · 2024Review
- Sex ratios and union formation in the historical population of the St. Lawrence Valley.PloS one · 2022Article
- Sex differences in human mate preferences vary across sex ratios.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2021Article
- Do Local Sex Ratios Approximate Subjective Partner Markets? : Evidence from the German Family Panel.Human nature (Hawthorne, N.Y.) · 2021Article
- Sex roles and sexual selection: lessons from a dynamic model system.Current zoology · 2018Article
- Population changes in residential clusters in Japan.PloS one · 2018Article
- Not all sex ratios are equal: the Fisher condition, parental care and sexual selection.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2017Review
- Adult sex ratios and reproductive strategies: a critical re-examination of sex differences in human and animal societies.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2017Article
- Adult sex ratio and social status predict mating and parenting strategies in Northern Ireland.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2017Article
- Adult sex ratios and partner scarcity among hunter-gatherers: implications for dispersal patterns and the evolution of human sociality.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2017Article
- Persistent effect of sex ratios on relationship quality and life satisfaction.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2017Article
- Female-biased sex ratios in urban centers create a "fertility trap" in post-war Finland.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
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Abstract
The responsiveness of individuals to partner availability has been well-documented across the literature. However, there is disagreement regarding the direction of the consequences of sex ratio imbalance. Specifically, does an excess of males or females promote male-male mating competition? In an attempt to clarify the role of the adult sex ratio (ASR) on behaviour, here we evaluate both competing and complimentary expectations derived from theory across the social and biological sciences. We use data drawn from a historical, nineteenth century population in North America and target several life-history traits thought to be affected by partner availability: age at first birth, relationship status, completed fertility and longevity. Furthermore, we assess the role of various contributors to a population's ASR. We find that both the contributors to and consequences of sex ratio imbalance vary over time. Our results largely support predictions of greater male pairbond commitment and lesser male mating effort, as well as elevated bargaining power of women in response to female scarcity. After reviewing our findings, and others from across the literature, we highlight the need to adjust predictions in response to ASR imbalance by the: (i) culturally mediated mating arena, (ii) variable role of demographic inputs across time and place, (iii) constraints to behavioural outcomes across populations, and (iv) ability and accuracy of individuals to assess partner availability.This article is part of the themed issue 'Adult sex ratios and reproductive strategies: a critical re-examination of sex differences in human and animal societies'.
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