The Comparative Biopsychology of Non-Conceptive Sex: Developmental and Evolutionary Perspectives

有人说，繁殖是推动进化的引擎。然而，不直接导致生殖的非受孕性活动在人类和非人类动物中普遍存在。乍一看，这种行为的存在似乎使基本的进化论失效，比如性选择，后者预测行为进化是为了促进生殖。那么，为什么生物要进行非受孕的性行为呢？回答这个问题代表了心理学中一个突出的悖论。 我的研究计划的长期目标是了解为什么一些物种经常进行非受孕的性行为，以及这种行为对整个交配系统的进化后果是什么。为了实现这一目标，我对同性恋行为经常表达并且经常以非适应性方式表达的灵长类物种进行了跨物种和跨文化的研究。我研究了日本猕猴的种群，在这些种群中，除了生殖性行为外，两性都经常从事同性恋和非受孕的异性行为。我还在萨摩亚进行人类研究，在这种文化中，吸引同性的变性人被确定为“第三”性别(FA‘afafine)。FA‘afafine只与男性发生性行为，而男性通常也与女性发生性行为。 值得注意的是，我的工作展示了其他研究人员直到最近才正式承认具有生物学意义的东西；即生殖性和非受孕性是协调发展和进化的，相互铰链和相互影响。通过阐明生殖性和非受孕性之间的动态相互作用，我的研究为人类和其他动物的性行为的发展和进化提供了变革性的新思维方式。 在加拿大和其他地方，关于性别多样性的性质存在着大量的公开辩论。这是“天然的”吗？这是“正常的”吗？这应该在社会上得到容忍吗？性少数群体的成员是否应该享有与异性恋多数群体平等的人权？ 这些讨论经常发生在个人政治和道德驱动的信息真空中，但与任何证据无关。我走进现实世界，收集与许多公开辩论的问题相关的数据。通过这样做，我的研究有助于纠正有偏见或错误的观点，并提供了一个基于证据的对性别多样性的理解的基础。通过积极地通过国家和国际媒体传播我的研究成果，我促进了关于性别多样性的更明智和客观的公开对话，并为基于证据的决策提供了基础。

It has been said that reproduction is the engine that drives evolution. Nevertheless, non-conceptive sexual activity that does not lead directly to reproduction is widespread among human and non-human animals. At first glance, the existence of such behavior seems to invalidate basic evolutionary theories, like sexual selection, which predict that behavior evolves to facilitate reproduction. Why, then, do organisms engage in non-conceptive sex? Answering this question represents one of the outstanding paradoxes in psychology. The long-term goal of my research program is to understand why some species routinely engage in non-conceptive sexual behavior, and what the evolutionary consequences of such behavior are for mating systems as a whole. To achieve this goal, I conduct cross-species and cross-cultural research on primate species in which homosexual behavior is frequently expressed and often in a non-adaptive manner. I study Japanese macaque populations in which both sexes regularly engage in homosexual and non-conceptive heterosexual behavior, in addition to reproductive sex. I also conduct human research in Samoa, a culture in which same-sex attracted transgendered males are identified as a “third” gender (fa’afafine). Fa’afafine only engage in sexual activity with masculine men, who, in turn, commonly engage in sexual activity with women as well. Significantly, my work demonstrates what other researchers have only recently come to formally acknowledge as biologically relevant; namely, that reproductive and non-conceptive sex develop and evolve in concert, hinging and impinging on each other. By illuminating the dynamic interplay between reproductive and non-conceptive sex, my research furnishes transformative new ways of thinking about the development and evolution of sexuality in humans and other animals. There is an enormous amount of pubic debate in Canada and elsewhere about the nature of sexual diversity. Is it “natural”? Is it “normal”? Should it be socially tolerated? Should members of sexual minorities have human rights that are equal to those of the heterosexual majority? All too often these discussions occur in an information vacuum that is driven by personal politics and morality, but divorced from any evidence. I go out into the real world and collect data relevant to many of the issues that are being debated publically. In doing so, my research helps to correct biased or erroneous views and provides a basis upon which an evidence-based understanding of sexual diversity can be situated. By actively disseminating my research results through the national and international media, I facilitate more intelligent and objective public conversations about sexual diversity and furnish a foundation upon which evidence-based decision-making can occur.