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广泛存在。乍一看，这种行为的存在似乎使基本的进化理论失效，比如性选择，它预测行为的进化是为了促进繁殖。那么，为什么生物体要进行非受孕性行为呢？对这个问题的纠缠是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从事非概念性的性行为，以及这种行为对整个交配系统的进化后果。为了实现这一目标，我对灵长类动物进行跨物种和跨文化研究，其中同性恋行为经常表达，而且往往是以非适应的方式。我研究的日本猕猴种群中，两性经常从事同性恋和非概念异性恋行为，除了生殖性行为。我还在萨摩亚进行人类研究，在这种文化中，同性吸引的变性男性被确定为“第三”性别（fa'afafine）。Fa'afafine只与男性进行性活动，而男性通常也与女性进行性活动。 值得注意的是，我的工作证明了其他研究人员直到最近才正式承认的生物学相关性;即生殖性和非概念性的发展和进化是一致的，相互铰接和相互影响。通过阐明生殖性和非概念性之间的动态相互作用，我的研究揭示了思考人类和其他动物性发展和进化的变革性新方法。 在加拿大和其他地方，关于性多样性的本质存在大量公开辩论。是“自然”吗？是“正常”吗？社会应该容忍吗？性少数群体成员是否应享有与异性恋多数群体成员平等的人权？ 这些讨论往往发生在信息真空中，由个人政治和道德驱动，但与任何证据无关。我走进真实的世界，收集与许多正在辩论的问题相关的数据。在这样做的过程中，我的研究有助于纠正偏见或错误的观点，并提供了一个基于证据的理解性多样性的基础。通过国家和国际媒体积极传播我的研究成果，我促进了关于性多样性的更明智和客观的公众对话，并提供了一个基于证据的决策可以发生的基础。

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.