Animal Signalling Theory 101 – The Handicap Principle. 12 November, 2010 Anne Leave a comment. (Zahavi 1977; Zahavi & Zahavi 1997), is the handicap principle. Evidence for the stress-linked immunocompetence handicap hypothesis in humans. Tests of the stress-linked immunocompetence handicap hypothesis in human male faces. Zahavi's original formulation of the handicap principle was rather vague with respect to precisely why costly signals were inherently believable. The immunocompetence handicap hypothesis was formulated 12 years ago in an attempt to offer a proximate mechanism by which female choice of males could be expla ri THE ROYAL -II$ SOCIETY The immunocompetence handicap hypothesis: testing the genetic predictions Jotchim Kurtz* and Klaus Peter Sauer The handicap hypothesis, which was formulated in 1975 by A. Zahavi (Zahavi 1975), assumes that, under certain conditions, it may be advantageous for the female to. Costly signalling and Zahavi's handicap principle in animal communication: sexual selection, signalling among relatives, and in human communication. Sexual selection is a mode of natural selection where typically members of. Although the sexy son hypothesis indicates that females. the handicap principle of. The handicap principle is a hypothesis originally proposed in 1975 by biologist Amotz Zahavi to explain how evolution may lead to honest or reliable signaling. Zahavi's handicap principle is an argument for sexual selection in which the costliness of the male character, such as a peacock's tail for example, is positively.