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Grandfather Investment Versus Grandmother Investment

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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

Synonyms

Alloparenting; Biased grandparental investment; Grandparental involvement; Sex effect

Definition

The investment of grandfathers and grandmothers includes different types of support and resources grandparents can target toward their grandchildren. Grandparental investments can include different types of actions, for instance, financial transfers, emotional support, and care. Grandparents can invest in their grandchildren either directly or indirectly via a third party (e.g., via the grandchildren’s parents). Typically, grandfathers tend to invest less in their grandchildren than grandmothers, except when comparing paternal grandmother’s and maternal grandfather’s investment.

Introduction

Grandparents share, on average, 25% of the same genes with their grandchildren, and thus, they can increase their inclusive fitness by investing time and resources in their descendants. Nonetheless, all grandparent types tend not to be in the same position with each other in their relations...

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References

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Correspondence to Antti O. Tanskanen .

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Tanskanen, A.O., Danielsbacka, M. (2018). Grandfather Investment Versus Grandmother 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_2349-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2349-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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