From Wikipedia, borrowed from Buss 'The evolution of desire'
In biology and psychology, the term Coolidge effect describes phenomonena seen in many species whereby males show continuously high sexual performance given the introduction of new receptive females[1] (e.g. Brown, 1974 [2]). The sex difference that the effect refers to is explained by Bateman's principle (In biology, Bateman's principle is the theory that females almost always invest more energy into producing offspring than males, and that therefore in most species females are a limiting resource over which the other sex will compete. A single male can easily fertilize all a female's eggs: she will not produce more offspring by mating with more than one male. A male is capable of fathering more offspring than any female can bear, if he mates with several females. By and large, a male's reproductive success increases with each female he mates with, whereas a female's reproductive success is not increased nearly as much by mating with more males. This results in sexual selection, in which males compete with each other, and females become choosy in which males to mate with.).
The term comes from an old joke according to which President Calvin Coolidge and his wife allegedly visited a government farm one day and were taken around on separate tours. Mrs. Coolidge, passing the chicken pens, inquired of a supervisor whether the lone rooster was sufficient, given the many hens in the chicken flock.
"Yes", the man said, "the rooster works very hard."
Mrs. Coolidge then asked, "Really? The rooster works very hard? Every day?"
"Oh, yes," the man said. "Dozens of times a day."
"Interesting!" Mrs. Coolidge replied, "Be sure to tell that to the President!"
Some time later the President, passing the same pens, was told about the roosters — and about his wife's remark. "Same hen every time?", he asked.
"Oh, no, a different one each time," the supervisor replied.
"Tell that," Coolidge said with a sly nod, "to Mrs. Coolidge."
In biology and psychology, the term Coolidge effect describes phenomonena seen in many species whereby males show continuously high sexual performance given the introduction of new receptive females[1] (e.g. Brown, 1974 [2]). The sex difference that the effect refers to is explained by Bateman's principle (In biology, Bateman's principle is the theory that females almost always invest more energy into producing offspring than males, and that therefore in most species females are a limiting resource over which the other sex will compete. A single male can easily fertilize all a female's eggs: she will not produce more offspring by mating with more than one male. A male is capable of fathering more offspring than any female can bear, if he mates with several females. By and large, a male's reproductive success increases with each female he mates with, whereas a female's reproductive success is not increased nearly as much by mating with more males. This results in sexual selection, in which males compete with each other, and females become choosy in which males to mate with.).
The term comes from an old joke according to which President Calvin Coolidge and his wife allegedly visited a government farm one day and were taken around on separate tours. Mrs. Coolidge, passing the chicken pens, inquired of a supervisor whether the lone rooster was sufficient, given the many hens in the chicken flock.
"Yes", the man said, "the rooster works very hard."
Mrs. Coolidge then asked, "Really? The rooster works very hard? Every day?"
"Oh, yes," the man said. "Dozens of times a day."
"Interesting!" Mrs. Coolidge replied, "Be sure to tell that to the President!"
Some time later the President, passing the same pens, was told about the roosters — and about his wife's remark. "Same hen every time?", he asked.
"Oh, no, a different one each time," the supervisor replied.
"Tell that," Coolidge said with a sly nod, "to Mrs. Coolidge."
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