Evolutionary advantage of homosexuality: Super Uncles

[Martinus]

Potential Evolutionary Role for Same-Sex Attraction

ScienceDaily (Feb. 4, 2010) — Male homosexuality doesn't make complete sense from an evolutionary point of view. It appears that the trait is heritable, but because homosexual men are much less likely to produce offspring than heterosexual men, shouldn't the genes for this trait have been extinguished long ago? What value could this sexual orientation have, that it has persisted for eons even without any discernible reproductive advantage?

One possible explanation is what evolutionary psychologists call the "kin selection hypothesis." What that means is that homosexuality may convey an indirect benefit by enhancing the survival prospects of close relatives. Specifically, the theory holds that homosexual men might enhance their own genetic prospects by being "helpers in the nest." By acting altruistically toward nieces and nephews, homosexual men would perpetuate the family genes, including some of their own.

Two evolutionary psychologists, Paul Vasey and Doug VanderLaan of the University of Lethbridge, Canada tested this idea for the past several years on the Pacific island of Samoa. They chose Samoa because males who prefer men as sexual partners are widely recognized and accepted there as a distinct gender category -- called fa'afafine -- neither man nor woman. The fa'afafine tend to be effeminate, and exclusively attracted to adult men as sexual partners. This clear demarcation makes it easier to identify a sample for study.

Past research has shown that the fa'afafine are much more altruistically inclined toward their nieces and nephews than either Samoan women or heterosexual men. They are willing to babysit a lot, tutor their nieces and nephews in art and music, and help out financially -- paying for medical care and education and so forth. In a new study, the scientists set out to unravel the psychology of the fa'afafine, to see if their altruism is targeted specifically at kin rather than kids in general.

They recruited a large sample of fa'afafine, and comparable samples of women and heterosexual men. They gave them all a series of questionnaires, measuring their willingness to help their nieces and nephews in various ways -- caretaking, gifts, teaching -- and also their willingness to do these things for other, unrelated kids. The findings, reported on-line this week in the journal Psychological Science, lend strong support to the kin selection idea. Compared to Samoan women and heterosexual men, the fa'afafine showed a much weaker link between their avuncular -- or uncle like -- behavior and their altruism toward kids generally. This cognitive dissociation, the scientists argue, allows the fa'afafine to allocate their resources more efficiently and precisely to their kin -- and thus enhance their own evolutionary prospects.

To compensate for being childless, each fa'afafine would have to somehow support the survival of two additional nieces or nephews who would otherwise not have existed. "If kin selection is the sole mechanism by which genes for male same-sex sexual attraction are maintained over time," the fa'afafine must be "super uncles" to earn their evolutionary keep, explains Vasey. Consequently, Vasey suggests "that the fa'afafine's avuncularity probably contributes to the evolutionary survival of genes for male same-sex sexual attraction, but is unlikely to entirely offset the costs of not reproducing."

Do these findings have any meaning outside of Samoa? Yes and no. Samoan culture is very different from most Western cultures. Samoan culture is very localized, and centered on tight-knit extended families, whereas Western societies tend to be highly individualistic and homophobic. Families are also much more geographically dispersed in Western cultures, diminishing the role that bachelor uncles can play in the extended family, even if they choose to. But in this sense, the researchers say, Samoa's communitarian culture may be more -- not less -- representative of the environment in which male same-sex sexuality evolved eons ago. In that sense, it's not the bachelor uncle who is poorly adapted to the world, but rather the modern Western world that has evolved into an unwelcoming place.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100204144551.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20sciencedaily%20%28ScienceDaily:%20Latest%20Science%20News%29

Thought I'd post this article, especially as I recall we have speculated about something similar in the past here on Languish.

[The Brain]

Except that gay men are among the most selfish creatures on the planet.

[Razgovory]

Old and stupid.  It's like what's the evolutionary advantage for being born with schizophrenia?  Sometimes something goes wrong in the womb.  Happens all the time.

[The Larch]

That argument can be made for any individual belonging to a social species that stays celibate/does not breed, not necessarily just for homosexuals.

[Eddie Teach]

I think you've posted threads on this subject a half dozen times or so. 

[Zanza]

I think the premise that genes can only survive if they offer a selective advantage is wrong. That would suggest that all genetic disorders would eventually die out, something that is patently not true.

[The Larch]

I think the premise that genes can only survive if they offer a selective advantage is wrong. That would suggest that all genetic disorders would eventually die out, something that is patently not true.

You can thank modern medicine for that. 

[Grallon]

Marty, have you been doing the schtick so long you can't do without?   Or are you actually concerned about all these fag-oriented issues?




G.

[Zanza]

You can thank modern medicine for that. 

I don't get it. 

[The Larch]

You can thank modern medicine for that. 

I don't get it. 

What I mean is that a lot of genetic deficiencies that wold have prevented people from reproducing back in the day are not life threatening anymore, so individuals with them can still live up to reproductive age and breed. Mankind is, in some aspects, special regarding evolution, as it has been able to bypass natural selection in many ways.

[Admiral Yi]

How about Samoan lebiangs, not as helpful?

[Tamas]

the gay-gene if it exists is just a malfunctioning gene, nothing more, nothing less. All these articles trying to drag a meaning for it out of someone's ass just scream insecurity.

[Ed Anger]

TGDR

[Faeelin]

the gay-gene if it exists is just a malfunctioning gene, nothing more, nothing less. All these articles trying to drag a meaning for it out of someone's ass just scream insecurity.

I dunno, man. I wouldn't go rushing to teh gay uncle theory, but it seems to play a role in a sufficiently large number of mammalian and primate species that I wouldn't be surprised if it had some role.

[Tamas]

the gay-gene if it exists is just a malfunctioning gene, nothing more, nothing less. All these articles trying to drag a meaning for it out of someone's ass just scream insecurity.

I dunno, man. I wouldn't go rushing to teh gay uncle theory, but it seems to play a role in a sufficiently large number of mammalian and primate species that I wouldn't be surprised if it had some role.

Or rather, it is not a gene, but a cultural thing.

Like when we had two male dogs: they were always busy biting holes into our fence to get to the neighboring females for some good old time. Then one of them became so old and was small to begin with, that he could not score anymore, so at one time I saw him trying to climb on the other  male. Funniest part was that I (seemed to) saw the utter shock on this other dog's eye.