Monday, May 22, 2006
Men Pay Deadly Price to Attract Women
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Different life expectancies of men and women is ancient and universal. Like ancient times, today's male too has to compete aggressively for female attention, and that costs them something. Male physiology, shaped by eons of sexual competition, is putting the guys at a disadvantage in longevity.
Why women live longer than women are attributed to males competing for a mate, according to University of Michigan researchers.
"Women live longer in almost every country, and the sex difference in lifespan has been recognized since at least the mid-18th century," said Daniel J. Kruger, a research scientist in the U-M School of Public Health and the Institute for Social Research. "It isn't a recent trend; it originates from our deep evolutionary history."
The mortality gap is also found among common chimps and many other species. Kruger and co-author Randolph Nesse argue that the difference in life expectancy stems from the biological imperative of attracting mates.
"This whole pattern is a result of sexual selection and the roles that males and females play in reproduction," Kruger said, "Females generally invest more in offspring than males and are more limited in offspring quantity, thus males typically compete with each other to attract and retain female partners."
Researchers say that in common chimps, the greatest difference in mortality rates for males and females occurs at about 13 years of age, when the males are just entering the breeding scene and competing aggressively for social status and females.
From the tail of the peacock to the blinged-out SUV, males compete aggressively for female attention, and that costs them something. In modern times methods have changed, like human males don't have to fight physically to get a mate but pressures to attract a mate still remain.
Male physiology, shaped by eons of sexual competition, is putting the guys at a disadvantage in longevity. Male immune systems are somewhat weaker, and their bodies are less able to process the fat they eat, Kruger said. And behavioral causes---smoking, overeating, reckless driving, violence---set men apart from most women. In fact, modern lifestyles are actually exacerbating the gap between male and female life expectancies. "Because mortality rates in general are going down, behavioral causes of death are ever more prevalent," Kruger said.
Socioeconomic status has greater impact on men. Males who have a lower social standing or those who lack a engage in a riskier pattern of behaviors in an attempt to get ahead, he said.
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