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Birthrights and Bloodlines

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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science
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Synonyms

Ancestry; Castes; Clan; Ethnicity; Heraldry; Heritage; Inheritance; Inherited status; Lineage; Parental investment; Pedigree; Primogeniture; Royal lineages; Ruling class

Definition

The way ancestry influences social behaviors and interactions.

Introduction

Humans receive three crucial things from their ancestors: their genes, their kin, and their traditions (Lyle Steadman, 1981, personal communication). Like all forms of life, humans are tremendously influenced by the genes they inherit from their ancestors. Starting at conception, these genes interact with countless aspects of the environment, in complex ways that are just beginning to be understood, to form the physiological and behavioral phenotype of the individual. Like many species, a key aspect of the environmental factors influencing a human’s development is the closely related kin, both living ancestors (e.g., parents and grandparents) and co-descendants of those ancestors (e.g., aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and...

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Correspondence to Jeremy Rowles .

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

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Rowles, J., Palmer, C.T. (2016). Birthrights and Bloodlines. 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_3084-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3084-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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