Female Infidelity and Paternal Uncertainty
Evolutionary Perspectives on Male Anti-Cuckoldry Tactics

How males deal with the consequences of raising a child they unknowingly did not sire.

Steven M. Platek (Edited by), Todd K. Shackelford (Edited by)

9780521845380, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 3 August 2006

258 pages, 6 b/w illus.
25.4 x 17.8 x 1.5 cm, 0.668 kg

"...a virtual treasure trove of fun things to know and tell about the sneaky ways in which male biology goes to war against its intrasexual competition.... In summary, Female Infidelity and Parental Uncertainty is a nice addition to the field and indispensable for anyone doing research on human sexual relationships. It will also prove accessible and interesting to the more casual reader who simply wants to know more about how natural selection has shaped everything from the biochemistry of semen to the behavior patterns of jealous males to help males avoid the gnawing insecurity and evolutionary damage that accompanies life as a cuckold.
Francis T. McAndrew, The Journal of Mind and Behavior

Although commonly believed that males are more promiscuous than females, new research has revealed that female infidelity is a common occurrence throughout the animal kingdom. Female Infidelity and Paternal Uncertainty is the first book to address how males deal with the consequences of female infidelity and the strategies they have evolved to try to avoid the possibility of raising an offspring they unknowingly did not sire. Each chapter deals with a specific evolved strategy developed to aid males in either limiting opportunities for their mate to be unfaithful or to 'correct' the by-products of infidelity should it occur. With sections including mate guarding, intra-vaginal tactics and paternity assessment, this book will appeal to researchers and graduate students in behavioral biology, evolutionary psychology, human sexuality, anthropology, sociology, reproductive health and medicine.

Part I. Introduction and Overview: 1. Introduction to theory and research on anti-cuckoldry tactics: overview of current volume Steven M. Platek and Todd K. Shackelford
2. Coevolution of paternal investment and cuckoldry in humans David Geary
Part II. Mate Guarding: 3. Evidence for adaptations for female extra-pair mating in humans: thoughts on current status and future directions Steven W. Gangestad
4. When we hurt the ones we love: predicting violence against women from men's mate retention tactics Todd K. Shackelford and Aaron Goetz
5. Sexual coercion and forced in-pair copulation as anti-cuckoldry tactics in humans Aaron Goetz and Todd K. Shackelford
Part III. Intra-vaginal Tactics: Semen Displacement and Sperm Competition: 6. Sperm competition and its evolutionary consequences Aaron Goetz and Todd K. Shackelford
7. The semen displacement hypothesis: semen hydraulics and the intra-pair copulation proclivity model of female infidelity Gordon G. Gallup Jr. and Rebecca L. Burch
8. Psychobiology of human semen Rebecca Burch and Gordon G. Gallup, Jr.
9. Mate retention, semen displacement, and sperm competition: tactics to prevent and correct female infidelity Aaron Goetz, et al.
10. Preeclampsia and other pregnancy complications as an adaptive response to unfamiliar semen Jennifer A. Davis and Gordon G. Gallup Jr.
Part IV. Assessing Paternity: Paternal Resemblance: 11. Paternal resemblance and the social mirror Rebecca Burch et al.
12. Children on the mind: sex differences in neural correlates of facial resemblance Steven M. Platek and Jaime W. Thomson.

Subject Areas: Animal behaviour [PSVP], Cognition & cognitive psychology [JMR], Behavioural theory [Behaviourism JMAL]