A problem of choice

SELECTING a mate is perhaps a daunting task, but is it really that complex? Lee Dugatkin, a behavi6ural ecologist at the University of Louisville, us, fixes up Trinidadian guppies on dates in aquariums and probes the sociobiology of these creatures. His study seeks to determine the criteria employed by female guppies in choosing a romantic partner.

Offered a choice between a male who is macho and dashingly bright and one who is plain and homely, the obvious candidate, one presumes, would be the former. But ironically, it is the latter which has females vying for his attention. Dugatkin looks at the role played by genes and environment in an animal's choice of partner. Earlier researches had shown that in several animals including guppies, females preferred a male already surrounded by other females. From an evolutionary perspective, it is safer for females to follow her peers. Even though she may not get to mate with a superior partner, she does not get away with a lowly prize, when compared to her fellows.

But on experimenting, Dugatkin figured that there were limits to which such a rationale could hold because females were indeed capable of differentiating between a worthwhile date and one who did not deserve her attention. Therefore, their decisions were based on a delicate balance between two issues: the security that comes from going along with one's peers and the desire to find a genetically fit mate.

Female guppies are most attracted to brightly- coloured males (having superior genes). To study how far this tendency could sustain itself in a social environment, Dugatkin arranged adjacent aquariums to present an illusion which would make it appear as though the drabber males seemed to have female company while the brighter ones did not. He kept careful track of the effect of this illusion on the females - to see if they preferred the company of the lone but attractive male or the more popular simpleton.

He repeated the experiments with variously pigmented males in order to assess the critical level of 'unattractivity' which still secured attention. The results revealed that males with pigmentation that was 24 per cent lesser than normal could overcome their commonplace looks if accompanied by a female. But those whose pigmentation was 40 per cent less than normal, found it difficult to attract a female. According to Judith Stamps, an animal behaviourist at the University of California at Davis, us, who studied desert lizards, this tendency of mimicking others does not hold true for mature females. According to her, "Someone who is naive and has never done it before is more likely to use the choices of other individuals."

Dugatkin has not tried studying the sociobiology of mate choice among humans but there are other studies which indicate that some of these behavioural responses may ring true in the case of human beings too. Psychologist William Graziano of Texas A&M University, us, found that women rejected a good-looking male when they were told that he had earlier been rejected by other females.

Other studies on human behaviour suggest that aesthetic preferences are partly inherited and partly based on socio-cultural aspects. Michael Cunningham of the University of Louisville found that men from many cultures prefered women with small noses, full hair, widely-set eyes and big smiles, traits considered to be indicators of genetic fitness. Women, on the other hand prefer men with thick eyebrows, strong chins and an evidence of the ability to grow a beard.

But Dugatkin feels that among humans, a species with complex cultures, social influences are more likely to influence mate selection. While humans can enhance their image using artificial means, animals cannot. Therefore, even though one might find it difficult to distinguish biology from sociology in human behaviour, research does suggest that a bit of culture can make up for the lack of good looks.

A study to this effect was conducted by John Marshall Townsend of Syracuse University in New York, us. The study, which invo 'Ived more than 200 college students was intended to ascertain the attractiveness of certain cultural types to members of the opposite sex. To introduce the social variable, some of the models were dressed up in fast-food uniforms while others were attired in professional clothes and rolex watches. It is also to be noted that all these models had previously ranked as being either homely or good-looking. The results revealed that women preferred the professionally- clad homely men to the handsome ones dressed in fast-food uniforms. Men on the other hand seemed to base their preferences on the woman's beauty rather than attire. Townsend, however, did not rule out the role played by factors like intelligence and compatibility in clinching a long-term relationship even though physical attributes were a major criteria for mate selection. According Jo Robert Gibson, a behavioural ecologisTwith the University of California at Los Angeles, there is a third factor which may determine an animal's choice of mate and which is sometimes overlooked by studies on the same. In addition to genetic fitness and cultural popularity - both of which help produce and protect offspring - the animal might have more immediate concerns. For example, as Gibson points out, if predators were prowling ar6und, it may be a better bet to hang around with the plain-looker rather than with the flashy orange Adonis. The same might hold true in the case of humans.

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