Rituals as signals of mate quality

Warning

This publication doesn't include Faculty of Economics and Administration. It includes Faculty of Arts. Official publication website can be found on muni.cz.
Authors

XYGALATAS Dimitrios MAŇO Peter KUNDT Radek KUNDTOVÁ KLOCOVÁ Eva

Year of publication 2022
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Arts

Citation
Web https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cresp.2022.100048
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cresp.2022.100048
Keywords ritual; evolution; costly signaling; Mauritius
Description Public ritual acts convey strategic information about the qualities of ritual actors. Although a prolific literature has examined their role in coordinating collective action in a variety of contexts, one of the most common communicative functions of ritual behavior in nature, i.e. its role in signaling mate quality, has received limited empirical attention in humans. Moreover, some of the particularities of human mating, such as the difference between short- and long-term pair bonding and the role of family pressure in mate selection, have also been relatively neglected in the context of ritual. We conducted an experiment to study mate preferences among Tamil Hindus in Mauritius. We found that men who practice religious rituals are perceived as better potential short- and long-term mates by young women as well as by parents, and that the latter prioritize those who practice more costly rituals.
Related projects:

You are running an old browser version. We recommend updating your browser to its latest version.