ArticleFrontiers in ecology and evolution2018
The Monogamy Paradox: What Do Love and Sex Have to Do With It?
Article in Frontiers in ecology and evolution, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
40 citing papers in PubMed, 85 citations in OpenAlex.
- Oxytocin, Vasopressin and Stress: A Hormetic Perspective.Current issues in molecular biology · 2025Review
- Genetic monogamy in high density populations of a threatened Mediterranean rodent.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The Role of Oxytocin and Oxytocin Gene Receptor Methylation During Withdrawal Therapy in Males With Alcohol Use Disorder.Addiction biology · 2025Article
- PVN-NAc Shell-VP Circuit OT and OTR Neurons Regulate Pair Bonding via D2R and D1R.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025Article
- Article
- Epigenetic aging studies of pair bonding in prairie voles.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Validity of mental and physical stress models.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2024Review
- Comparative analysis of gonadal hormone receptor expression in the postnatal house mouse, meadow vole, and prairie vole brain.Hormones and behavior · 2024Article
- Hearing ability of prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster).The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2024Article
- Methylation of the Oxytocin, Oxytocin Receptor, and Vasopressin Gene Promoters in Tobacco Use Disorder during Cessation.Neuropsychobiology · 2024Article
- Close encounters with oxytocin.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2023Review
- Review
- The genetics of a "femaleness/maleness" score in cardiometabolic traits in the UK biobank.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Partner separation rescues pair bond-induced decreases in hypothalamic oxytocin neural densities.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Article
- Sex matters: The impact of oxytocin on healthy conditions and psychiatric disorders.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2023Article
- Rethinking the Architecture of Attachment: New Insights into the Role for Oxytocin Signaling.Affective science · 2022Review
- Sex, love and oxytocin: Two metaphors and a molecule.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2022Review
- Application of Felid Hair for Non-Invasive Tracking of Animal Reproductive Status and Adrenal Activity.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Article
- Oxytocin and oxygen: the evolution of a solution to the 'stress of life'.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Genetic monogamy is rare-at least at the level of a species-and monogamy can exist in the absence of sexual fidelity. Rather than focusing on mating exclusivity, it has become common to use the term "social monogamy" to describe a cluster of social features, including the capacity for selective and lasting social bonds, central to what humans call "love." Socially monogamous mammals often exhibit selective aggression toward strangers and form extended families. These features of social monogamy in mammals are supported by patterns of hormonal function originating in the neurobiology of maternity, including oxytocin, as well as a more primitive vasopressin pathway. Another key feature of social monogamy is reduced sexual dimorphism. Processes associated with sexual differentiation offer clues to the mysteries surrounding the evolution of monogamy. Although there is consistency in the necessary ingredients, it is likely that there is no single recipe for social monogamy. As reviewed here, genes for steroids and peptides and their receptors are variable and are subject to epigenetic regulation across the lifespan permitting individual, gender and species variations and providing substrates for evolution. Reduced sensitivity to gonadal androgens, and a concurrent increased reliance on vasopressin (for selective defense) and oxytocin (for selective affiliation) may have offered pathways to the emergence of social monogamy.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.