Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

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.*