“The Logic of Ménage à Trois,” Magnus Enquist, Risa H. Rosenberg, and Hans Temrin, Proceedings of the Royal Society, Biological Sciences, vol. 265, no. 1396, April 7, 1998, pp. 609–13. Enquist and two colleagues were awarded the 2003 Ig Nobel Prize in interdisciplinary research for their 2002 report “Chickens Prefer Beautiful Humans.” The 1998 monograph reports [AIR 16:1]:
The explanation usually given for unfaithful female behavior is that most females are unable to bond with a male they would prefer as genetic father to their offspring. To secure male assistance the female therefore pairs with an available male but also copulates with males of supposedly higher genetic quality. Here we offer an alternative evolutionary explanation for female infidelity, which does not rely upon this “Good Genes” hypothesis of female choice. We show with a simple model that in an evolutionary game between three players, a male, a female, and a male lover, solutions exist in which the female can secure more assistance from her mate by being receptive to other males.