The scatterplot in Figure shows the relationship between the importance of attractiveness...

The scatterplot in Figure shows the relationship between the importance of attractiveness in mate choice (as reported by subjects responding to a questionnaire) and the prevalence of six species of parasites (including leprosy, malaria, and filaria) in 29 cultures (Gangestad 1993; Gangestad and Buss 1993). (Statistical techniques have been used to remove the effects of latitude, geographic region, and mean income.) What is the pattern in the graph? Does this pattern make sense from an evolutionary perspective? One of the parasitic diseases is schistosomiasis. There is evidence that resistance to schistosomiasis is heritable (Abel et al. 1991). What do women gain (evolutionarily) by choosing an attractive mate? What do men gain (evolutionarily) by choosing an attractive mate? Can you offer a cultural explanation that could also account for this pattern?

Figure Importance of physical attractiveness in mate choice versus parasite prevalence in 29 human cultures Redrawn from Gangestad (1993).