Physics – Physics and Society
Scientific paper
2012-01-27
Sci. Rep. 2, 370 (2012)
Physics
Physics and Society
5 pages, 3 figures, contains electronic supplementary material
Scientific paper
10.1038/srep00370
Social networks have turned out to be of fundamental importance both for our understanding human sociality and for the design of digital communication technology. However, social networks are themselves based on dyadic relationships and we have little understanding of the dynamics of close relationships and how these change over time. Evolutionary theory suggests that, even in monogamous mating systems, the pattern of investment in close relationships should vary across the lifespan when post-weaning investment plays an important role in maximising fitness. Mobile phone data sets provide us with a unique window into the structure of relationships and the way these change across the lifespan. We here use data from a large national mobile phone dataset to demonstrate striking sex differences in the pattern in the gender-bias of preferred relationships that reflect the way the reproductive investment strategies of the two sexes change across the lifespan: these differences mainly reflect women's shifting patterns of investment in reproduction and parental care. These results suggest that human social strategies may have more complex dynamics than we have tended to assume and a life-history perspective may be crucial for understanding them.
Barabasi Albert-László
Dunbar Robin I. M.
Kaski Kimmo K.
Kertesz Janos
Palchykov Vasyl
No associations
LandOfFree
Sex differences in intimate relationships does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Sex differences in intimate relationships, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Sex differences in intimate relationships will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-344464