Gene-Culture Coevolution Favours the Emergence of Traditions in Mate Choice through Conformist Social Learning

The emergence of cultural traditions has long been considered dependent on sophisticated social learning mechanisms, particularly conformist transmission exhibiting a disproportionate bias towards majority behaviours. We challenge this assumption by demonstrating that gene-culture coevolutionary dynamics can fundamentally alter the conditions required for tradition formation, especially in the context of mate choice. Using simulation models of mate choice where female preferences are socially transmitted and male traits are genetically inherited, we show that the interaction between cultural and genetic transmission creates novel evolution-ary dynamics. In a first model (hereafter the ‘Cultural Model’) representing classical cultural evolution scenarios, we show that traditions emerge only when conformity disproportionately amplifies majority behaviours. In a second model (hereafter the ‘Gene-Culture Model’), we show that when mate choice depends on both preference and male trait availability – distinguishing preference and choice –, even simple social learning strategies can establish per-sistent traditions. This occurs because of positive frequency-dependent interactions between preferences and traits dynamics that stabilize majority behaviours independently of majority exaggeration. Our findings have broader implications for cultural evolution theory, suggesting that many behaviours depending on resource availability may exhibit tradition-like patterns under less stringent social learning conditions than previously assumed. By distinguishing between preference and choice, and demonstrating the importance of gene-culture interactions, this study advocates for more integrated approaches to understanding cultural evolution that consider the interplay between multiple inheritance systems.