Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T20:59:19.330Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Intergenerational conflict over grandparental investment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 April 2010

Tim W. Fawcett
Affiliation:
Theoretical Biology Group, University of Groningen, 9750 AA Haren, The Netherlands. [email protected]/biol/[email protected]/biol/theobio GRIP, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, H3T 1J7, Canada. [email protected]
Pieter van den Berg
Affiliation:
Theoretical Biology Group, University of Groningen, 9750 AA Haren, The Netherlands. [email protected]/biol/[email protected]/biol/theobio
Franz J. Weissing
Affiliation:
Theoretical Biology Group, University of Groningen, 9750 AA Haren, The Netherlands. [email protected]/biol/[email protected]/biol/theobio
Justin H. Park
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TU, United Kingdom. [email protected]://jhpark.psy.bris.ac.uk
Abraham P. Buunk
Affiliation:
Department of Social Psychology, University of Groningen, 9712 TS Groningen, The Netherlands. Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1000 GC Amsterdam, The Netherlands. [email protected]

Abstract

Selection on grandparental investment is more complex than Coall & Hertwig (C&H) propose. Patterns of investment are subject to an intergenerational conflict over how resources should be distributed to maximize fitness. Grandparents may be selected to distribute resources unevenly, while their descendants will be selected to manipulate investment in their own favor. Here we outline the evolutionary basis of this conflict.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Apostolou, M. (2007) Sexual selection under parental choice: The role of parents in the evolution of human mating. Evolution and Human Behavior 28:403–09.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buunk, A. P., Park, J. H. & Dubbs, S. L. (2008) Parent-offspring conflict in mate preferences. Review of General Psychology 12:4762.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buunk, A. P., Park, J. H. & Duncan, L. A. (in press) Cultural variation in parental influence on mate choice. Cross-Cultural Research. (DOI: 10.1177/1069397109337711) CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedman, D., Hechter, M. & Kreager, D. (2008) A theory of the value of grandchildren. Rationality and Society 20(1):3163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laferrère, A. & Wolff, F.-C. (2006) Microeconomic models of family transfers. In: Handbook of the economics of giving, altruism and reciprocity, vol. 2: Applications, ed. Kolm, S. C. & Ythier, J. M., pp. 889969. Handbooks in Economics 23. North-Holland/Elsevier.Google Scholar
Trivers, R. L. (1974) Parent–offspring conflict. American Zoologist 14:249–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van den Berg, P., Fawcett, T. W., Weissing, F. J. & Buunk, A. P. (2009) A theoretical approach to the parent-offspring conflict over mate choice. European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association (EHBEA) meeting, April 6–8, 2009, St Andrews, UK.Google Scholar