It is generally believed that success in male-male competition genuinely reflects high quality and that female preference for dominant males should therefore be widespread. However, recent studies suggest that male dominance is not always attractive and that it does not necessarily predict superior parental quality, better genes or other forms of benefit to females. In fact, the costs of choosing a dominant male can sometimes outweigh the benefits. When traits selected by male-male competition do not reflect overall mate quality, females are expected to use other choice cues and might occasionally prefer subordinate males. Thus, male-male competition and female choice can sometimes work in different, or even opposing, directions.

中文翻译：

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女性应该优先选择男性吗？

人们普遍认为，男女竞争的成功真正反映了高质量，因此，女性对优势男性的偏爱应该得到广泛传播。但是，最近的研究表明，男性的优势地位并不总是很吸引人，它不一定预示着更高的父母素质，更好的基因或对女性有利的其他形式。实际上，选择优势男性的成本有时会超过收益。当男性和男性竞争者选择的特征不能反映出整体的配偶质量时，则预期雌性会使用其他选择线索，并且偶尔会偏爱下属的雄性。因此，男女竞争和女性选择有时可以朝着不同甚至相反的方向发展。