Testing evolutionary theories of discriminative grandparental investment

R. Kaptijn; F. Thomése; A.C. Liefbroer; M. Silverstein

doi:10.1017/S0021932012000612

Testing evolutionary theories of discriminative grandparental investment

R. Kaptijn, F. Thomése, A.C. Liefbroer, M. Silverstein

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Onderzoeksoutput: Bijdrage aan wetenschappelijk tijdschrift/periodieke uitgave › Artikel › Wetenschappelijk › peer review

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This study tests two evolutionary hypotheses on grandparental investments differentiated by the child's sex: the paternity uncertainty hypothesis and the Trivers–Willard hypothesis. Data are from two culturally different countries: the Dutch Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (n=2375) and the Chinese Anhui Survey (n=4026). In the Netherlands, grandparental investments are biased towards daughters' children, which is in accordance with the paternity uncertainty hypothesis. But in China, grandparental investments are biased towards sons' children, which is in conflict with the paternity uncertainty hypothesis. This study found no support for the Trivers–Willard hypothesis. These results raise doubts over the relevance of paternity uncertainty as an explanation of a grandparental investment bias towards daughters' children that is often found in Western populations. The results suggest that discriminative grandparental investments are better understood as the outcome of cultural prescriptions and economic motives.

Originele taal-2	Engels
Pagina's (van-tot)	289-310
Tijdschrift	Journal of Biosocial Science
Volume	45
Nummer van het tijdschrift	3
DOI's	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021932012000612
Status	Gepubliceerd - 2013

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Testing evolutionary theories of discriminative grandparental investment

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