Experiments in the field : Religious signaling and mate choice in Mauritius
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2019 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | From the standpoint of human mate choice theory, male traits that can be deemed as behavioral sexually-selected signals include physical prowess, risk-taking, or bold behavior. Collective rituals involving intense physical effort and suffering may provide an ideal arena for displaying such behaviors. Thus, participation in such rituals might provide an important cue for mate selection, functioning as a manifestation of boldness, physical prowess, dependability, or loyalty to a group. However, there is a paucity of research on the association between the cost of ritual participation and perceived attractiveness of an individual, i.e., mate selection. Field experiments offer the advantage of studying phenomena in the context, where they naturally occur. The researchers can, therefore, benefit from the fact that their project's design will respond to said context, thus increasing its ecological validity. In particular, Mauritius provides an ideal field site for the study of ritual signaling, as its Tamil community engages in very intense Kavadi ceremony. Consequently, to uncover the causal relations between ritual displays and partner choice, we decided to test our ideas experimentally in this community. |
| Related projects: |