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Definition
Belsky, Steinberg, and Draper’s (1991; Belsky 2012) theory of the development of reproductive strategies – also known as “psychosocial acceleration theory” – stipulates that the degree to which children experience supportive vs. unsupportive care in their first 5–7 years of life influences their orientation toward others, the timing of their pubertal development (distinguishing fast vs. slow developers), their sexual behavior, the stability of their male-female relationships, the quality of their parenting, and the number of children they bear (i.e., their reproductive strategy), all in the service of dispersing their genes in future generations (i.e., reproductive fitness).
Introduction
Most theory and research concerned with how developmental experiences and environmental exposures influence human development, especially in the early years of life, are guided by a mental-health framework. This presumes that certain environmental...
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References
Belsky, J. (2012). The Development of Human Reproductive Strategies: Progress and Prospects. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21, 310–316.
Belsky, J., Steinberg, L., & Draper, P. (1991). Childhood experience, interpersonal development and reproductive strategy: An evolutionary theory of socialization. Child Development, 62, 647–670.
Belsky, J., Steinberg, L., Houts, R., Friedman, S. L., DeHart, G., Cauffman, E., Roisman, G. I., Halpern-Felsher, B., Susman, E., & The NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (2007). Family rearing antecedents of pubertal timing. Child Development, 78, 1302–1321.
Belsky, J., Steinberg, L., Houts, R. M., Halpern-Felsher, B. L., & The NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (2010). The development of reproductive strategy in females: Early maternal harshness→earlier menarche→increased sexual risk taking. Developmental Psychology, 46, 120–128.
Costello, E. J., Sung, M., Worthman, C., & Angold, A. (2007). Pubertal maturation and the development of alcohol use and abuse. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 88S, S50–S59.
Draper, P., & Harpending, H. (1982). Father absence and reproductive strategy: An evolutionary perspective. Journal of Anthropological Research, 38, 255–273.
Ellis, B., Shirtcliff, E. A., Boyce, W. T., Deardorff, J., & Essex, M. J. (2011). Quality of early family relationships and the timing and tempo of puberty. Development and Psychopathology, 23, 85–99.
Hartman, S., Widaman, K. F., & Belsky, J. (2015). Genetic moderation of effects of maternal sensitivity on girls age of menarche: Replication of Manuck et al. (2011). Development and Psychopathology, 27, 747–756.
James, J., Ellis, B. J., Schlomer, G. L., & Garber, J. (2012). Sex-specific pathways to early puberty, sexual debut and sexual risk-taking: Tests of an integrated evolutionary-developmental model. Developmental Psychology, 48, 687–702.
Manuck, S. B., Craig, A. E., Flory, J. D., Halder, I., & Ferrell, R. E. (2011). Reported early family environment covaries with menarcheal age as a function of polymorphic variation in estrogen receptor-α gene. Development and Psychopathology, 23, 69–83.
Mendle, J., Turkheimer, E., D’Onofrio, B. M., Lynch, S. K., Emery, R. E., Slutske, W. S., & Martin, N. G. (2006). Family structure and age at menarche: A children-of-twins approach. Developmental Psychology, 42, 533–542.
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Belsky, J. (2020). Belsky-Steinberg-Draper Hypothesis. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_1612
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_1612
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