The effective selfing model is a mathematical model that describes the mating system of a plant population in terms of the degree of self-fertilisation present.
[1][2] It was developed in the 1980s by Kermit Ritland, as an alternative to the simplistic mixed mating model.
When both these criteria are met, plants will tend to be closely related to the near neighbours with which they mate, resulting in significant inbreeding.
The effective selfing model takes into account the potential for inbreeding to occur as a result of outcrossing between closely related plants, by considering the extent of kinship between mates.
However this parameter, termed the effective selfing rate, is often a more accurate measure of the proportion of self-fertilisation than the corresponding parameter in the mixed mating model.