Materteral and Avuncular Tendencies in Samoa

Androphilia refers to sexual attraction and arousal to adult males, whereas gynephilia refers to sexual attraction and arousal to adult females. In Independent Samoa, androphilic males, most of whom are effeminate or transgendered, are referred to as fa’afafine, which means “in the manner of a woman.” Previous research has established that fa’afafine report significantly higher avuncular tendencies relative to gynephilic men. We hypothesized that Samoan fa’afafine might adopt feminine gender role orientations with respect to childcare activity. If so, then the fa’afafine’s femininity might be a proximate mechanism for promoting their elevated avuncular tendencies. Our analyses indicated that fa’afafine had significantly higher willingness to assist in the childcare of nieces and nephews than childless women, mothers, or men, none of whom differed from each other on this measure. Thus, femininity does not appear to explain the fa’afafine’s pattern of avuncular tendencies, nor the women’s pattern of materteral (i.e., aunt-like) tendencies, relative to gynephilic men. We discuss how the fa’afafine “third” gender status might influence the expression of their elevated avuncular tendencies.

Doug P. VanderLaanEmail:

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Paul L. Vasey   Ph.D, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Lethbridge. His research interests and publications focus on issues pertaining to non-conceptive sexuality as viewed from a bio-social, cross-species, cross-cultural perspective. Each autumn since 2000, he has conducted field research on female homosexual behavior in free-ranging Japanese macaques at Arashiyama, Japan and prior to that he conducted similarly themed research for five years on a captive colony of Japanese macaques derived from the Arashiyama population. Since 2003, he has worked every summer with the fa’afafine community of Independent Samoa, examining developmental and evolutionary aspects of male androphilia. He co-edited (with Volker Sommer) Homosexual Behaviour in Animals: An Evolutionary Perspective (Cambridge University Press). Doug P. VanderLaan   M.Sc., is a Ph.D candidate in the Department of Psychology at the University of Lethbridge. He conducts field research in Independent Samoa on the development and evolution of same-sex sexuality in males. He has also conducted field research at Arashiyama, Japan, on same-sex mounting between free-ranging immature male Japanese macaques. Doug was awarded the University of Lethbridge School of Graduate Studies Medal of Merit for his M.Sc. thesis on the mate retention behavior of Canadian men and women in homosexual and heterosexual relationships.