Abstract
In the current chapter, I will argue that there are good reasons to believe that alleles which predispose for same-sex attraction, constitute mutated copies of genes coding for attraction, which are expressed in both sexes. Subsequently, I will introduce the weak negative selection pressures hypothesis, which postulates that a number of factors present in ancestral human societies weakened negative selection pressures exercised on these alleles. One factor is the small phenotypic effect that each allele predisposing for same-sex attraction has; thus, those who carry one or few such alleles are predominantly heterosexual. In effect, these alleles experience weak negative selection pressures, because they have only a small effect on the phenotype. In addition, alleles that predispose for attraction to women (men) in women (men) would be shielded from negative selection if they are found inside men (women). Moreover, I will argue that, the importance of having a family and the lack of institutionalized same-sex options, motivate people to marry heterosexually. In effect, alleles predisposing for same-sex attraction may had weak effect in diverting mating effort toward same-sex outlets. In addition, ancestral human societies were limited in size, and there were few same-sex outlets available, so people with same-sex attractions would have to satisfy their needs on opposite-sex outlets.
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Apostolou, M. (2020). The Weak Negative Selection Pressures Hypothesis. In: The Evolution of Same-Sex Attraction. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53925-2_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53925-2_8
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