Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

Living Edition

Male-Male Competition or Male Provisioning?

  • Alex StraftisEmail author
  • Peter Gray
Living reference work entry
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_150-1



The degree to which a male allocates resources towards competing with male conspecifics or providing indirect care towards mates and/or offspring in order to boost his reproductive fitness.


Same-sex competition and intersexual choice are key components of sexual selection. Trivers (1972) proposed that, in sexually reproducing species, intrasexual selection and intersexual choice are related to sex-specific investments (energy, resources, time) in offspring. Sex differences in fitness opportunities and payoffs contribute to sex differences in mating strategies (Geary 2010). In many mammalian species, females are the more ecological sex, meaning their reproductive function is more directly tied to availability of resources like food and safety. Conversely, male reproductive function is more directly tied to reproductive opportunities, contributing to higher...



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Copyright information

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.UNLVLas VegasUSA
  2. 2.Department of AnthropologyUniversity of Nevada-Las VegasLas VegasUSA

Section editors and affiliations

  • Gayle Brewer
    • 1
  1. 1.School of PsychologyUniversity of Central LancashirePrestonUK