Definition
Current versus future reproduction trade-offs are derived from life history theory and refer to the differential costs and benefits associated with reproducing now at an expense to future reproduction or reproducing later at an opportunity cost to present fertility.
Introduction
Life history theory provides the theoretical underpinning for considering the trade-offs in current versus future reproductive strategies. Natural and sexual selection have shaped life history patterns of individuals in particular contexts that directly affect their reproductive physiology such as age of sexual maturation and rate of reproductive senescence, in addition to their fitness-influencing behaviors such as age of first reproduction, number of offspring, and parental investment decisions (Figueredo et al. 2006). In biology, it is widely believed that fertility and mortality trade-off against...
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References
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Rucas, S.L. (2020). Current Versus Future Reproduction Trade-Offs. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_1620
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_1620
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