KAMA: A temperature-driven model of mate choice using dynamic partner representations
Category
Journal Article
Authors
French, R. M., Kus, E. T.
Year
2008
Title
KAMA: A temperature-driven model of mate choice using dynamic partner representations
Journal / book / conference
Adaptive Behavior
Abstract
KAMA is a model of mate-choice based on a gradual, stochastic process of building up representations of potential partners through encounters and dating, ultimately leading to marriage. Individuals must attempt to find a suitable mate in a limited amount of time with only partial knowledge of the individuals in the pool of potential candidates. Individuals have multiple-valued character profiles, which describe a number of their characteristics (physical beauty, potential earning power, etc.), as well as preference profiles, that specify their degree of preference for those characteristics in members of the opposite sex. A process of encounters and dating allows individuals to gradually build up accurate representations of potential mates. Individuals each have a "temperature," which is the extent to which they are willing to continue exploring mate-space and which drives individual decision making. The individual-level mechanisms implemented in KAMA produce population-level data that qualitatively matches empirical data. Perhaps most significantly, our results suggest that differences in first-marriage ages and hazard-rate curves for men and women in the West may to a large extent be due to the Western dating practice whereby males ask women out and women then accept or refuse their offer.
Issue
1
Volume
16
Pages
71-95