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Selection Pressures as a Function of Age

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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

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Synonyms

Hamilton’s forces; Scaling factors

Definition

The strength of natural selection on mortality and fecundity varies across ages.

Introduction

The insight that natural selection should be weaker with age was originally proposed by Ronald A. Fisher (1930) in A Genetical Theory of Natural Selection. In this groundbreaking book, Fisher fused Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection with Gregor Mendel’s theory of particulate inheritance – a fundamental insight in the modern synthesis in biology. Fisher, however, did not fully explore how the force of selection differs across ages. That exploration would have to wait for decades, when biological theorists (Medawar 1952; Williams 1957) realized that weakening in the force of selection with age could explain how evolution not only could – but should – result in aging: the decrease of fecundity or increase in mortality with age. Soon thereafter, William D. Hamilton (1966) provided theoretical clarity on the issue by explaining...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Bryan L. Koenig

Authors
  1. Bryan L. Koenig
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bryan L. Koenig .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland Univ Dept of Psycholgy, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana Weekes-Shackelford

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

    Todd K. Shackelford

  3. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Koenig, B.L. (2016). Selection Pressures as a Function of Age. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3016-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3016-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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