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Do mothers also "manipulate" grandparental care?
Mari V Busch1, Sandra Olaisen1, Ina Jeanette Bruksås1
1Department of Marine and Arctic Biology, UiT-The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
Peerj
|November 28, 2018
Summary
Parents show gendered biases in describing grandchild-grandparent resemblance, potentially influencing grandparental investment. Daughters emphasize resemblance more than sons, suggesting a subtle bias in family dynamics.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Psychology
- Behavioral Ecology
- Human Behavior
Background:
- Paternity uncertainty explains higher maternal grandparent investment, but proximate mechanisms are unclear.
- Understanding biases in grandparental investment is crucial for evolutionary and behavioral studies.
- Previous research highlights the paternity uncertainty hypothesis for grandparental investment differences.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate proximate mechanisms behind biased grandparental investment.
- Examine gender differences in emphasis on grandchild-grandparent resemblance descriptions.
- Determine if mothers perceive greater resemblance between children and their parents (grandparents) compared to fathers.
Main Methods:
- Surveyed grandparents regarding their perceptions of grandchild-grandparent resemblance.
- Analyzed expressed opinions and intensity of resemblance descriptions by parents.
- Compared beliefs about child-grandparent resemblance between mothers and fathers.
Main Results:
- Daughters emphasized grandchild-grandparent resemblance more frequently and intensely than sons.
- Mothers perceived greater resemblance between their children and grandmothers compared to fathers' perceptions.
- This resemblance bias was not observed for grandfathers, indicating a specific maternal bias.
Conclusions:
- A sexual bias exists in parental opinions and descriptions of grandchild-grandparent resemblance, even in gender-equal societies.
- This resemblance bias may not be conscious but could influence grandparental investment strategies.
- The 'manipulative mother hypothesis' may offer a complementary explanation to paternity uncertainty for biased alloparenting.
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