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Youth and Fertility

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

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Synonyms

Age; Likelihood of conception

Definition

A range of physical cues (e.g., waist-to-hip ratio) convey important information about the age of a potential mate and their ability to reproduce.

Introduction

The selection of a high quality mate is of fundamental importance. In particular, the identification of healthy, sexually mature, fertile individuals enhances reproductive success. Hence, a range of physical cues advertise these qualities. The current entry highlights the manner in which a range of physical features (i.e., waist-to-hip ratio, fluctuating asymmetry, and voice) signal youth and fertility. Previous research indicates that cues (and the attractiveness of these cues) are often related. For example, those with attractive faces tend to have attractive bodies (Thornhill and Grammer 1999), odor (Rikowski and Grammer 1999), and voices (Collins and Missing 2003). This may reflect the influence of the same underlying mechanism, for example, the sex hormones which shape male...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

    Gayle Brewer

Authors
  1. Gayle Brewer
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Correspondence to Gayle Brewer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

    Gayle Brewer

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Brewer, G. (2018). Youth and Fertility. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_30-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_30-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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