Definition
Nepotism is the favoring of kin over nonkin in resource allocation, nurturing, or attention.
Introduction
At first sight, nepotism is quite obviously a product of evolutionary processes, by virtue of being an extension of genetic self-interest. As Forbes (2005, p. 83) puts it, paraphrasing Richard Dawkins: “Children are the vehicles that carry a parent’s genetic immortality.” The evolutionary origins of the word are visible in its ontogeny, a linguistic route from the mid-seventeenth century: nipote “nephew.” The Popes bestowed privileges on their “nephews” who in reality were more often than not their illegitimate sons. This perfectly illustrates the contemporary meaning in social life: patronage in public life on the basis of family relatedness. Some definitions include the favoring of friends, which shall be treated as a special case later in this entry.
Issues and Dilemmas
Yet there are potential conflicts of interest in nepotism, the primary one being the question of...
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Nicholson, N. (2016). Nepotism. 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_3083-1
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