Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–3Cite as

Paternity Uncertainty Hypothesis

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:

  • 211 Accesses

Synonyms

“Cads and dads”; Cuckoldry; Parental investment; Paternal discrepancy; Paternity certainty

Definitions

Imperfect probability that fathers are investing resources in offspring that carry their own genetic material, as compared to complete female certainty.

Introduction

Paternity uncertainty hypothesis is a construct in behavioral ecology and evolutionary psychology, used to explain differential investment in offspring between the sexes. The hypothesis states that due to the nature of internal fertilization, a male inseminator cannot be fully assured (consciously or otherwise) of the genetic identity of what are seemingly his offspring. This lack of certainty will further extend to resource and time investment differences between maternal and paternal familial lineages (Buss 2012).

Paternity Uncertainty

Behaviors related to mating and offspring investment should be governed ecologically: an organism will invest energy, time, and resources to promote its own viability and...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  • Bishop, D. I., Meyer, B. C., Schmidt, T. M., & Gray, B. R. (2009). Differential investment behavior between grandparents and grandchildren: The role of paternity uncertainty. Evolutionary Psychology, 7(1), 66–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bressan, P. (2002). Why babies look like their daddies: Paternity uncertainty and the evolution of self-deception in evaluating family resemblance. Acta Ethologica, 4, 113–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buss, D. M. (2012). Evolutionary psychology (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson Allyn & Bacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buss, D. M., Larsen, R. J., Westen, D., & Semmelrolh, J. (1992). Sex differences in jealosy: Evolution, physiology, and psychology. Psychological Science, 3(1), 251–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang, L., Lu, H. J., Lee, L. N. Y., Li, T., & Sui, S. S. (2010). Patrilocal residence and father–child resemblance beliefs in relation to paternal investment. Parenting: Science and Practice, 10, 274–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daly, M., & Wilson, M. I. (1982). Whom are newborn babies said to resemble? Ethology and Sociobiology, 3, 69–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaulin, J. C., McBurney, D. H., & Brakeman-Wartell, S. L. (1997). Matrilateral biases in the investment of aunts and uncles: A consequence and measure of paternity uncertainty. Human Nature, 8, 139–151.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Trivers, R. L. (1972). Parental investment and sexual selection. In B. Campbell (Ed.), Sexual selection and the descent of man, 1871–1971 (pp. 136–179). Chicago: Aldine-Atherton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trivers, R. L. (2011). The folly of fools. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Western Illinois University-Quad Cities, Moline, IL, USA

    Ryan Colclasure

Authors
  1. Ryan Colclasure
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ryan Colclasure .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL, USA

    Curtis Dunkel

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this entry

Cite this entry

Colclasure, R. (2017). Paternity Uncertainty Hypothesis. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2267-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2267-1

  • 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

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation