The success of the Chinese One-Child policy and its rural adaptations in changing reproductive behavior and bringing about a dramatic fertility decline is unquestionable. However, an important but as yet unanswered question is the extent to which the strict implementation of such policies over the past two decades has been successful in changing fertility preferences. Using data from two overla...

According to the dual mating hypothesis, women possess two overlapping suites of mate-choice mechanisms: one leading to preferences for sexually desirable men who have high-fitness genes and one leading to preferences for men who are able to invest in a woman and her children. Evidence increasingly demonstrates that women's preference for sexual desirability (but not investment attractiveness) ...

This study sought to determine fertility preferences and their predictors among women living with HIV. A survey of 295 women aged 18 to 49 years living with HIV, and attending two HIV/AIDS clinics in the Kumasi metropolis, was conducted between July and August 2012. We administered questionnaires, and retrieved records of clinical status for review. We conducted multiple logistic regressions wi...

Previous research on contemporary childbearing has identified a strong relationship between environmental conditions, such as economic deprivation, and early fertility. Less is known, however, about the social-psychological mechanisms that mediate these environmental predictors of early fertility at the individual level and the extent to which they are consistent with life history theory. The a...

Women prefer both the scent of symmetrical men and masculine male faces more during the fertile (late follicular and ovulatory) phases of their menstrual cycles than during their infertile (e.g., luteal) phases. Men's behavioral displays in social settings may convey signals that affect women's attraction to men even more strongly. This study examined shifts in women's preferences for these beh...

Background: Iran has experienced a great variation in women status in recent years. There is a little information on how and why advancing gender equality and equity and the empowerment of women play a role in recent fertility reduction in the country. This study was conducted to gain an insight into the role of gender beliefs and women empowerment in couples’ experiences of fertility in Mashha...

We report the initial findings of a research programme on the fertility and reproductive health of both men and women in rural Gambia. The reproductive experiences of men and women in the population studied were very different. During the period 1993-97, the total fertility rates were 12.0 for men and 6.8 for women. For men fertility began later, reached higher levels and continued into older a...

Few aspects of biology are linked to so many evolutionary conflicts as sperm production and fertilization. Segregation distortion and maternal inheritance of cytoplasmic genes, causing maladapted males, are common sources of variation in the competitive ability of sperm, leading males to vary in their intrinsic fertility. Here, I theoretically analyze the effect of such variation in male intrin...