Refereed journal article or data article (A1)

Matrilateral bias of grandparental investment in grandchildren persists despite the grandchildren's adverse early life experiences




List of AuthorsHelle Samuli, Tanskanen Antti O., Coall David A., Danielsbacka Mirkka

PublisherROYAL SOC

Publication year2022

JournalProceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Journal name in sourcePROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

Journal acronymP ROY SOC B-BIOL SCI

Article number 20212574

Volume number289

Number of pages10

ISSN0962-8452

eISSN1471-2954

DOIhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.2574

URLhttps://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2021.2574

Self-archived copy’s web addresshttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/174898985


Abstract
Evolutionary theory predicts a downward flow of investment from older to younger generations, representing individual efforts to maximize inclusive fitness. Maternal grandparents and maternal grandmothers (MGMs) in particular consistently show the highest levels of investment (e.g. time, care and resources) in their grandchildren. Grandparental investment overall may depend on social and environmental conditions that affect the development of children and modify the benefits and costs of investment. Currently, the responses of grandparents to adverse early life experiences (AELEs) in their grandchildren are assessed from a perspective of increased investment to meet increased need. Here, we formulate an alternative prediction that AELEs may be associated with reduced grandparental investment, as they can reduce the reproductive value of the grandchildren. Moreover, we predicted that paternal grandparents react more strongly to AELEs compared to maternal grandparents because maternal kin should expend extra effort to invest in their descendants. Using population-based survey data for English and Welsh adolescents, we found evidence that the investment of maternal grandparents (MGMs in particular) in their grandchildren was unrelated to the grandchildren's AELEs, while paternal grandparents invested less in grandchildren who had experienced more AELEs. These findings seemed robust to measurement errors in AELEs and confounding due to omitted shared causes.

Downloadable publication

This is an electronic reprint of the original article.
This reprint may differ from the original in pagination and typographic detail. Please cite the original version.




Last updated on 2022-06-07 at 15:11