Synonyms
Definition
Obligatory parental investment refers to the amount of time, energy, and resource expenditures that organisms are minimally required to make in order to ensure offspring survival.
Introduction
Throughout evolutionary history, offspring survival has posed a main adaptive challenge. In some species, this selection pressure has resulted in sex-differentiated forms of parental investment. This chapter describes obligatory parental investment, explores asymmetries in obligatory parental investment between males and females, describes examples of such differences across a range of species, and briefly highlights the implications of such differences in terms of human sexual strategies and conflicts.
Parental Investment Theory
Parental investment is defined as an expenditure of resources made by parents that increases their offspring’s fitness at the expense of channeling their resources to other fitness avenues, such as their own...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Borgia, G. (1985). Bower destruction and sexual competition in the satin bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 18, 91–100.
Buss, D. M., & Schmitt, D. P. (1993). Sexual strategies theory: An evolutionary perspective on human mating. Psychological Review, 100(2), 204–232.
Clark, R. D., & Hatfield, E. (1989). Gender differences in receptivity to sexual offers. Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality, 2(1), 39–55.
Darwin, C. (1871). The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. London: John Murray.
Goetz, A. T., & Shackelford, T. K. (2009). Sexual conflict in humans: Evolutionary consequences of asymmetric parental investment and paternity uncertainty. Animal Biology, 59(4), 449–456.
Haselton, M. G., & Buss, D. M. (2000). Error management theory: A new perspective on biases in cross-sex mind reading. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(1), 81.
Johns, J. E. (1969). Field studies of Wilson’s phalarope. The Auk, 86(4), 660–670.
Le Boeuf, B. J. (1974). Male-male competition and reproductive success in elephant seals. American Zoologist, 14(1), 163–176.
Li, N. P., & Kenrick, D. T. (2006). Sex similarities and differences in preferences for short-term mates: What, whether, and why. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90(3), 468.
Trivers, R. L. (1972). Parental investment and sexual selection. In Sexual selection and the descent of man 1871–1971 (pp. 136–179). Chicago: Aldine Publishing.
Wilson, A. B., Ahnesjo, I., Vincent, A. C., & Meyer, A. (2003). The dynamics of male brooding, mating patterns, and sex roles in pipefishes and seahorses (family Syngnathidae). Evolution, 57(6), 1374–1386.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this entry
Cite this entry
Kheng, C.K., Yong, J.C., Li, N.P. (2018). Obligatory Parental Investment. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1992-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1992-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences