Evolutionary Perspectives on Maternal Parenting

2021 ◽  
pp. 172-188
Author(s):  
Catherine Salmon ◽  
Jessica Hehman
Keyword(s):  
Parental Investment ◽  
Reproductive Value ◽  
Individual Factors ◽  
Maternal Factors ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Maternal Parenting ◽  
Mating Opportunities ◽  
Child Factors ◽  
Interactive Models ◽  
Evolutionary Perspectives

This chapter focuses on maternal care, including the specialized psychological mechanisms designed to shape maternal solicitude and the various factors to which these mechanisms are sensitive. It identifies factors that influence levels of maternal parental investment. Maternal factors that lead to increased investment include the amount of resources available, potential for future mating opportunities and maternal age, and number of offspring. Child factors that lead to greater investment include reproductive value, age of the child, sex, offspring need, and relatedness to the mother. Although there has been an abundance of research on maternal parental investment, most of the studies have focused on individual factors that influence parental investment levels with only a few investigating interactive models. Therefore, more research investigating interactive models is necessary to better understand under which circumstances mothers would be more or less likely to invest in their offspring.

Selected to Kill in His Name

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yael Sela ◽  
Nicole Barbaro
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Parental Investment ◽  
Mate Guarding ◽  
Wife Beating ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Genital Mutilation ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Evolved Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Sexual Selection Theory

Religion motivates, exacerbates, and even justifies violence. This chapter argues that religious beliefs regarding violence—particularly those of monotheistic, Abrahamic faiths—are shaped by evolved psychological mechanisms. Further, it argues that religiously motivated violence is most likely to occur in evolutionarily relevant contexts. Guided by sexual selection theory and parental-investment theory, it first provides an overview of human sexual selection from an evolutionary perspective. It discusses how and why an evolutionary perspective—and principles of sexual selection and parental investment in particular—may provide a richer understanding of religiously motivated violence. Next follows an overview of research addressing several types of religiously motivated violence such as mate guarding and controlling behaviors, wife beating and uxoricide, honor killing, child abuse and filicide, male and female genital mutilation, war, and terrorism. Finally, it highlights the parallels between religiously motivated violence and evolved psychological mechanisms for violence, concluding with suggestions for future research.

scholarly journals Parental Investment in Children with Chronic Disease: The Effect of Child's and Mother's Age

2007 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 147470490700500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sigal Tifferet ◽  
Orly Manor ◽  
Shlomi Constantini ◽  
Orna Friedman ◽  
Yoel Elizur
Keyword(s):  
Parental Investment ◽  
Maternal Age ◽  
Direct Care ◽  
Reproductive Value ◽  
Negatively Associated ◽  
Investment In Children ◽  
Maternal Age Effect ◽  
Neurological Conditions ◽  
Mother’S Age ◽  
The Impact

Parents do not invest their resources in their children equally. Three factors which elicit differential parental investment are the parent's reproductive value, the child's reproductive value (RV), and the impact of the investment on the child (II). As the child matures, his RV increases while the II may decrease. This raises a question regarding the favored strategy of investment by child age. It was hypothesized that different categories of parental investment generate different age-based strategies. Emotional investment, such as maternal worrying for the child's health, was hypothesized to increase with the child's age, while direct care was hypothesized to decrease with the child's age. Both categories were hypothesized to increase with the mother's age at childbirth. 137 Israeli mothers of children with chronic neurological conditions reported levels of worrying for their child and levels of change in direct care. Maternal worrying about the child's health was positively associated with the child's age at diagnosis and the severity of his illness, and negatively associated with the time from diagnosis. An increase in direct care was positively associated with maternal age at childbirth and illness severity, and negatively associated with the time from diagnosis, and the duration of the marriage. Contrary to the hypothesis, the child's age had no effect on changes in direct care. It appears that in mothers of children with adverse neurological conditions, child and maternal age effect parental investment differently. While the child's age is related to maternal worrying about his health, the mother's age at childbirth is related to changes in direct care.

Principles of Relationship Differentiation

2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 267-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franz J. Neyer ◽  
Cornelia Wrzus ◽  
Jenny Wagner ◽  
Frieder R. Lang
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Parental Investment ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Emotional Closeness ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Relationship Systems ◽  
Partner Relationships

The authors propose a model of relationship differentiation that is based on two psychological mechanisms, the regulation of emotional closeness and the monitoring of reciprocity. Both combined are expected to define relationship systems of differential reproductive significance: Relative to others, kin relationships are predicted by higher closeness and lower reciprocity, cooperative (non-kin) relationships by lower closeness and higher reciprocity, and partner relationships by both higher closeness and higher reciprocity. These assumptions could be confirmed by two studies involving 455 young adults and 171 middle-aged couples from different family forms (i.e., traditional and patchwork families, involuntary and motivated childless couples). Effects varied primarily due to parental investment such that parental partners become less distinguishable from kin, or, in other words, more like “elected kin”. Results highlight the flexibility of relationship differentiation.

scholarly journals Stability and value of male care for offspring: is it worth only half the trouble?

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 234-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lutz Fromhage ◽  
John M McNamara ◽  
Alasdair I Houston
Keyword(s):  
Game Theory ◽  
Parental Investment ◽  
Population Model ◽  
Fertilization Success ◽  
Theory Model ◽  
Evolutionary Stability ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Male Care ◽  
Mating Opportunities ◽  
The Cost

Models of parental investment often assume a trade-off for males between providing care and seeking additional mating opportunities. It is not obvious, however, how such additional matings should be accounted for in a consistent population model, because deserting males might increase their fertilization success at the cost of either caring males, other deserting males or both. Here, we present a game theory model that addresses all of these possibilities in a general way. In contrast to earlier work, we find that the source of deserting males' additional matings is irrelevant to the evolutionary stability of male care. We reject the claim that fitness gains through male care are intrinsically less valuable than those through desertion, and that the former must therefore be down-weighted by 1/2 when compared with the latter.

scholarly journals Nest defense and parental investment in Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia)

2016 ◽  
Vol 94 (7) ◽  
pp. 473-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Morrell ◽  
K.M. Johnson ◽  
C.E. Tarwater ◽  
P. Arcese
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Parental Investment ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Alarm Call ◽  
Nest Defense ◽  
Melospiza Melodia ◽  
Reproductive Value ◽  
Parental Age ◽  
Altricial Birds ◽  
Age And Sex

Individual variation in nest defense behaviour is common in altricial birds, but despite clear predictions about why such variation exists, there is no consensus on its causes. We tested for an influence of five predictors of individual variation in nest defense behaviour, including time of season, offspring age, parental age and sex, and clutch size in a well-studied Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia (A. Wilson, 1810)) population. We recorded parental responses to a standardized human approach and used model selection to assess support for each predictor. Parents tended to approach observers less closely and alarm-call less as the breeding season progressed, indicating a modest seasonal decline in parental nest defense, which is consistent with the hypothesis that the reproductive value of offspring influenced parental defense behaviour. Clutch size effect estimates were insignificant, but it was weakly supported as a predictor of nest defense, which is expected if parental investment in defense and current reproductive effort are positively related. Offspring age, as well as parental age and sex, received little or no support as affecting parent nest defense. Our results offer limited support for the hypothesis that the reproductive value of offspring affects parental nest defense.

Residual reproductive value and parental investment

1983 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 311-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gloria C. Biermann ◽  
Raleigh J. Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Parental Investment ◽  
Reproductive Value ◽  
Residual Reproductive Value

An Introduction to Evolutionary Perspectives on Religion

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
James R. Liddle ◽  
Todd K. Shackelford
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Costly Signaling ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Group Cooperation ◽  
Costly Signaling Theory ◽  
Evolved Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Complementary Nature ◽  
Evolution Of Religion ◽  
Counterintuitive Concepts ◽  
Evolutionary Perspectives

Given that religious beliefs and behaviors are so pervasive and have such a powerful influence, it is vital to try to understand the psychological underpinnings of religiosity. This chapter introduces the topic of evolutionary perspectives on religion, beginning with an attempt to define “religion,” followed by a primer on evolutionary psychology and the concept of evolved psychological mechanisms. With this framework in place, the chapter then provides an overview of key adaptationist and byproduct hypotheses of various components of religion, highlighting the complementary nature of these hypotheses and their roles in forming a cohesive understanding of the evolution of religion. Concepts introduced in this chapter include hyperactive agency detection, minimally counterintuitive concepts, in-group cooperation, costly signaling theory, gods as moralizing agents, and cultural evolution.

Parent-Offspring Feeding Relationship of Coots (Fulica Atra) in a Varying Environment

Behaviour ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 132 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 519-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan A. Amat
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Parental Investment ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Reproductive Value ◽  
Lower Survival ◽  
Investment Theory ◽  
Fulica Atra ◽  
Cost Benefit Ratio ◽  
The Cost

AbstractPredictions derived from parental investment theory indicate that when the reproductive value of offspring decreases, parental investment should also decrease. If so, it should be expected that in adverse years, parental investment should be lower, given the lower survival prospects of chicks, than in more favourable years. I tested this by recording the frequency with which coots (Fulica atra) fed their chicks during a ten years period in a set of lakes that experienced considerable interannual variations in water levels. Contrary to the prediction, I found that during drier years, chicks were fed more frequently than during wetter years, in which self-feeding by chicks was more frequent. The reason for this could be that for coots the crucial factor for improving reproductive success is the quality rather than the quantity of chicks, and by increasing parental effort during more adverse years, the lower survival prospects of chicks could be attenuated. However, late in the breeding season, when fledging success is lower, chicks were fed by their parents less frequently than in the early breeding season. This could be related to a change in the cost/benefit ratio, itself independent of offspring quality, that parents experience when rearing chicks late in the season due to the start of plumage moult.

scholarly journals Nest defence behavioural reaction norms: testing life-history and parental investment theory predictions

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 182180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bert Thys ◽  
Yorick Lambreghts ◽  
Rianne Pinxten ◽  
Marcel Eens
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Parental Investment ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Path Model ◽  
Nest Defence ◽  
Reproductive Value ◽  
Stabilizing Selection ◽  
Trade Offs

Predation is the primary source of reproductive failure in many avian taxa and nest defence behaviour against predators is hence an important aspect of parental investment. Nest defence is a complex trait that might consistently differ among individuals (personality), while simultaneously vary within individuals (plasticity) according to the reproductive value of the offspring. Both complementary aspects of individual variation can influence fitness, but the causality of links with reproductive success remains poorly understood. We repeatedly tested free-living female great tits ( Parus major ) for nest defence (hissing) behaviour across the nesting cycle, by presenting them with a model predator. Hissing behaviour was highly repeatable but, despite population-level plasticity, we found no support for individual differences in plasticity. Path analysis revealed that repeatable differences in hissing behaviour had no direct effect on nest success or fledgling number. However, our best supported path-model showed that more fiercely hissing females laid smaller clutches, with clutch size in turn positively influencing fledgling number, suggesting that females are most likely facing a trade-off between investment in nest defence and reproduction. Strong stabilizing selection for optimal plasticity, in combination with life-history trade-offs, might explain the high repeatability of nest defence and its link with reproductive success.

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