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The Evolution of Human Homosexual Behavior.

Kirkpatrick, Plato, Lévi-Strauss

    Current Anthropology
    |February 7, 2001
    PubMed
    Summary
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    Homosexuality may have evolved through reciprocal altruism, where same-sex alliances offer reproductive advantages. While kin selection and parental manipulation have less support, homosexual behavior is partly linked to human affiliation.

    Area of Science:

    • Evolutionary Psychology
    • Anthropology
    • Behavioral Biology

    Background:

    • Homosexuality poses an evolutionary paradox, challenging traditional views of adaptedness measured by reproductive success.
    • Understanding the evolutionary origins of nonreproductive homosexual behavior requires examining various adaptationist hypotheses.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To review and compare three adaptationist hypotheses for the evolution of homosexuality.
    • To assess the evidence for kin selection, parental manipulation, and reciprocal altruism in explaining homosexual behavior.

    Main Methods:

    • Review of existing anthropological literature.
    • Comparison of theoretical adaptationist hypotheses with empirical evidence.
    • Analysis of nonhuman primate behavior for insights into same-sex alliances.

    Related Experiment Videos

    Main Results:

    • Little evidence supports the kin selection hypothesis, as homosexual members do not appear to confer reproductive advantages through offspring care.
    • The parental manipulation hypothesis shows some support, with instances of parental control over children's reproductive decisions, including encouragement of homosexual behavior.
    • The strongest support is for reciprocal altruism, where homosexual behavior facilitates and maintains same-sex alliances that offer reproductive benefits, as observed in nonhuman primates.

    Conclusions:

    • Homosexual behavior is partly an emergent quality of the human propensity for same-sex affiliation, with evolutionary roots in reciprocal altruism and same-sex alliances.
    • While adaptationist explanations provide partial insights, they do not fully account for the complexity of human sexual behavior, which is also influenced by social and historical factors.