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Differential Investment Behavior between Grandparents and Grandchildren: The Role of Paternity Uncertainty:

Differential Investment Behavior between Grandparents and Grandchildren: The Role of Paternity... Kin selection theory predicts that grandparents will differentially invest in their grandchildren as a function of paternity certainty. This study explored the hypothesis of “discriminative grandparental solicitude” (Euler and Weitzel, 1996; Smith, 1988) in a sample of college students. Students with four living grandparents were asked to indicate the frequency of various behaviors received from or directed to each grandparent. A significant linear trend on a majority of the measures supported this hypothesis. Reported contact and closeness were highest with the maternal grandmother (most genetically certain) and lowest with the paternal grandfather (least genetically certain); maternal grandfathers and paternal grandmothers were intermediate. The “preferential investment hypothesis” (Laham, Gonsalkorale, and von Hippel, 2005) predicts that the investment behavior of the maternal grandfather and the paternal grandmother should differ only when there are cousins through the father's sisters. Contrary to the predictions of this hypothesis, grandchildren did not rate the maternal grandfather consistently higher on any of the indices when more certain investment outlets were available to the paternal grandmother. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Evolutionary Psychology SAGE

Differential Investment Behavior between Grandparents and Grandchildren: The Role of Paternity Uncertainty:

Differential Investment Behavior between Grandparents and Grandchildren: The Role of Paternity Uncertainty:

Evolutionary Psychology , Volume 7 (1): 1 – Jan 1, 2009

Abstract

Kin selection theory predicts that grandparents will differentially invest in their grandchildren as a function of paternity certainty. This study explored the hypothesis of “discriminative grandparental solicitude” (Euler and Weitzel, 1996; Smith, 1988) in a sample of college students. Students with four living grandparents were asked to indicate the frequency of various behaviors received from or directed to each grandparent. A significant linear trend on a majority of the measures supported this hypothesis. Reported contact and closeness were highest with the maternal grandmother (most genetically certain) and lowest with the paternal grandfather (least genetically certain); maternal grandfathers and paternal grandmothers were intermediate. The “preferential investment hypothesis” (Laham, Gonsalkorale, and von Hippel, 2005) predicts that the investment behavior of the maternal grandfather and the paternal grandmother should differ only when there are cousins through the father's sisters. Contrary to the predictions of this hypothesis, grandchildren did not rate the maternal grandfather consistently higher on any of the indices when more certain investment outlets were available to the paternal grandmother.

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References (17)

Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
Copyright © 2022 by SAGE Publications Inc., unless otherwise noted. Manuscript content on this site is licensed under Creative Commons Licenses
ISSN
1474-7049
eISSN
1474-7049
DOI
10.1177/147470490900700109
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Kin selection theory predicts that grandparents will differentially invest in their grandchildren as a function of paternity certainty. This study explored the hypothesis of “discriminative grandparental solicitude” (Euler and Weitzel, 1996; Smith, 1988) in a sample of college students. Students with four living grandparents were asked to indicate the frequency of various behaviors received from or directed to each grandparent. A significant linear trend on a majority of the measures supported this hypothesis. Reported contact and closeness were highest with the maternal grandmother (most genetically certain) and lowest with the paternal grandfather (least genetically certain); maternal grandfathers and paternal grandmothers were intermediate. The “preferential investment hypothesis” (Laham, Gonsalkorale, and von Hippel, 2005) predicts that the investment behavior of the maternal grandfather and the paternal grandmother should differ only when there are cousins through the father's sisters. Contrary to the predictions of this hypothesis, grandchildren did not rate the maternal grandfather consistently higher on any of the indices when more certain investment outlets were available to the paternal grandmother.

Journal

Evolutionary PsychologySAGE

Published: Jan 1, 2009

Keywords: discriminative grandparental solicitude; paternity uncertainty; preferential investment

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