NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • Is love between equals possible? This modern classic is a delightful intellectual love story that explores the deepest canyons of romantic love even as it asks large questions about society, geopolitics, and the mystery of what men and women really want. “Luminous…Few books evoke the state of love at its apogee.” —The New York Times Book Review “The best rendering of erotic politics…since D.H. Lawrence…The voice of Rush’s narrator is immediate, instructive and endearing.” —The New York Review of Books The narrator of this splendidly expansive novel of high intellect and grand passion is an American anthropologist at loose ends in the South African republic of Botswana. She has a noble and exacting mind, a compelling waist, and a busted thesis project. She also has a yen for Nelson Denoon, a charismatic intellectual who is rumored to have founded a secretive and unorthodox utopian society in a remote corner of the Kalahari—one in which he is virtually the only man. What ensues is an exhilarating quest and an exuberant comedy of manners: “A dryly comic love story about grown-up people who take the life of the mind seriously.” —Newsweek

This book examines the causes and consequences of different mating patterns in man with particular reference to historical, biological, medical and demographic factors. Each of these reference points are covered in carefully edited and integrated papers for advanced students and research workers in human biology and genetics.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Part 1. Introduction. D. Buss, Foreword. Preface. G. Geher, G. Miller, J. Murphy, Mating Intelligence: Towards an Evolutionarily Informed Construct. Part 2. Mate Search and Mating Intelligence. L. Penke, P.M. Todd, A.P. Lenton, B. Fasolo, How Self-assessments Can Guide Human Mating Decisions. C. De Backer, J. Braeckman, L. Farinpour, Mating Intelligence in Personal Ads. Part 3. Strategic Flexibility in Mating Intelligence. N. Li, Intelligent Priorities: Adaptive Long- and Short-Term Mate Preferences. D. Nettle, H. Clegg, Personality, Mating Strategies, and Mating Intelligence. M. OSullivan, Deception and Self-deception as Strategies in Short and Long-term Mating. V.A. Weekes-Shackelford, J.A. Easton, E.A. Stone, How Having Children Affects Mating Psychology. Part 4. Mental Fitness Indicators and Mating Intelligence. M.C. Keller, The Role of Mutations in Human Mating. A. Shaner, G. Miller, J. Mintz, Mental Disorders as Catastrophic Failures of Mating Intelligence. Part 5. Mating Intelligence and Other Individual Differences. S.B. Kaufman, A. Kozbelt, M.L. Bromley, G. Miller, The Role of Creativity and Humor in Mate Selection. J.J. Casey, J. Garrett, M.A. Brackett, S. Rivers, Emotional Intelligence, Relationship Quality, and Partner Selection. S. Kanazawa, Mating Intelligence and General Intelligence as Independent Constructs. Part 6. The Ecological Context of Mating Intelligence. J. Ash, G.G. Gallup, Jr., Brain Size, Intelligence, and Paleoclimatic Variation. A.J. Figueredo, B.H. Brumbach, D.N. Jones, J.A. Sefcek, G. Vásquez, W.J. Jacobs, Ecological Constraints on Mating Tactics. Part 7. Conclusions. G. Miller, Mating Intelligence: Frequently Asked Questions. G. Geher, M.A. Camargo, S. ORourke, Mating Intelligence: An Integrative Model and Future Research Directions.

Psychologists often paint a picture of human mating as visceral, instinctual. But that's not the whole story. In courtship and display, sexual competition and rivalry, we are also guided by what Glenn Geher and Scott Barry Kaufman call Mating Intelligence--a range of mental abilities that have evolved to help us find the right partner. Mating Intelligence is at work in our efforts to form, maintain, and end relationships. It guides us in flirtation, foreplay, copulation, finding and choosing a mate, and many other behaviors. In Mating Intelligence Unleashed, psychologists Geher and Kaufman take readers on a fascinating tour of the crossroads of mating and intelligence, drawing on cutting-edge research on evolutionary psychology, intelligence, creativity, personality, social psychology, neuroscience, and more. The authors show that despite what you may read in the latest issue of Maxim, Playboy, Vogue, or GQ, physical attractiveness isn't the whole story. Human mating draws on a range of mental skills and attributes--from the creative use of pick-up lines, to displays of charisma, intelligence, humor, personality, and compassion. Along the way, the authors shed new light on age-old questions, such as: What role does personality play in mating? Which traits are attractive--and which traits repulse? How do people really choose mates? How do men and women deceive each other? How important is emotional intelligence? Why do people create art--and does it have anything to do with sex? Do nice guys really finish last? Since Glenn Geher coined the term Mating Intelligence in 2006, it has drawn a great deal of media attention, ranging from a Psychology Today cover story to articles in the New Scientist, the Washington Times, the Huffington Post, and elsewhere. Now, in Mating Intelligence Unleashed, readers will have the first full account of this revolutionary new approach to dating, mating, and love.

The scientific study of human mating has mushroomed over the past three decades, and this growth in turn has generated a proliferation of evolving literature revealing fresh discoveries about mate attraction, mate choice, mate retention, marital satisfaction, jealousy, infidelity, intimate partner violence, breakups, internet dating, cyberstalking, and sexual coercion. In The Oxford Handbook of Human Mating, editor David M. Buss showcases contributions from the best and the brightest scientists in the field, providing up-to-date summaries of theories and empirical evidence of the science of human mating strategies. Much of the research in the field is guided by sexual selection theory. Over 150 years after Darwin's proposal of sexual selection theory, it has become the most important overarching theoretical framework for the scientific study of the mating strategies of all sexually reproducing species, including humans. A mountain of research centered around Darwin's classic book has documented the many complexities of human mate competition and mate choice; how these processes differ between the sexes; and how they differ as a function of sex ratio, mate value, social contexts, ovulation cycles, personality characteristics, and cultural norms and mating rituals. Thus, the science is now ripe for a collection of work by eminent scholars in the field. David M. Buss is a leading researcher and pioneer in the study of human mating strategies, and he applies his expertise to the curation of this volume, which includes major sections covering theories of human mating; mate selection and mate attraction; mate competition; sexual conflict in mating; human pair bonding; the endocrinology of mating; and mating in the modern world.

Insects display a staggering diversity of mating and social behaviours. Studying these systems provides insights into a wide range of evolutionary and behavioural questions, such as the evolution of sex, sexual selection, sexual conflict, and parental care. This edited volume provides an authoritative update of the landmark book in the field, The Evolution of Insect Mating Systems (Thornhill and Alcock, 1983), which had such a huge impact in shaping adaptationist approaches to the study of animal behaviour and influencing the study of the evolution of reproductive behaviour far beyond the taxonomic remit of insects. This accessible new volume brings the empirical and conceptual scope of the original book fully up to date, incorporating the wealth of new knowledge and research of the last 30 years. It explores the evolution of complex forms of sex determination in insects, and the role of sexual selection in shaping the evolution of mating systems. Selection arising via male contest competition and female choice (both before and after copulation) are discussed, as are the roles of parasites and pathogens in mediating the strength of sexual selection, and the role that parental care plays in successful reproduction. The Evolution of Insect Mating Systems is suitable for both graduate students and researchers interested in insect mating systems or behaviour from an evolutionary, genetical, physiological, or ecological perspective. Due to its interdisciplinary and concept-driven approach, it will also be of relevance and use to a broad audience of evolutionary biologists.

This book reviews the relationship of mating systems with other aspects of vertebrate biology. It presents many stimulating new perspectives and ideas on mating systems studies. While many of the authors present some of their own research, in all cases they underline the general relevance of their work and speculate on future directions of scientific inquiry.