Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 25, 2026

Using the FishSim Animation Toolchain to Investigate Fish Behavior: A Case Study on Mate-Choice Copying In Sailfin Mollies
Published on: November 8, 2018
Sexual selection and the opportunity cost of free mate choice
1University of Nicosia, 46 Makedonitissas Ave., 1700, Nicosia, Cyprus. m.apostolou@gmail.com.
Abstract:
The model of sexual selection under parental choice has been proposed to account for the control that parents exercise over their children's mating decisions. The present paper attempts to formalize and advance this model with the purpose of providing a better understanding of how parental choice mandates the course of sexual selection. In particular, in the proposed formulation, free mate choice involves an opportunity cost which motivates parents to place their children's mate choices under their control. When they succeed in doing so, they become a significant sexual selection force, as traits that appeal to parents in an in-law are selected and increase in frequency in the population. The degree of parental control over mating, and thus the strength of sexual selection under parental choice, is positively predicted by the size of the opportunity cost of free mate choice. The primary factors that affect the level of opportunity cost vary between society types, affecting the strength of parental choice as a sexual selection force.
Related Concept Videos
Mate Choice
Natural Selection and Mating Preferences
Females, due to their biological roles in conception, pregnancy, and nursing,...
Criticisms of the Evolutionary Perspective
Evolutionary psychology provides one explanation for these findings, suggesting...
Types of Selection
Relationship Formation
Close Relationships and Culture

