Abstract
Several theoretical perspectives have generated research on grandparental investment, notably socialization and evolutionary psychological perspectives. Using data collected from more than 200 older adults (mean age 67 years), we test three hypotheses derived from socialization and evolutionary perspectives about grandparents’ relationships with and investment in grandchildren. Results indicate that (1) emotional closeness with both children and children-in-law is positively related to reports of emotional closeness with grandchildren; (2) maternal grandmothers invest more in grandchildren than do other grandparents; and (3) grandparents invest more in daughters’ children than in sons’ children. Discussion addresses limitations of self-report methodology in this context and situates the current findings within the body of research indicating the existence of psychological mechanisms designed to guide differential nepotism.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Ahrons, C. R., and M. E. Bowman 1982 Changes in Family Relationships Following Divorce of Adult Child: Grandmothers’ Perceptions. Journal of Divorce 5:49–68.
Bengston, V. L., and D. J. Mangen 1988 Generations, Families, and Interactions: An Overview of the Research Program. In Measurement of Intergenerational Relations, D. J. Mangen, V. L. Bengtson, and P. H. Landry Jr., eds. Pp. 10–14. Newbury Park, California: Sage.
Buss, D. M. 1994 The Evolution of Desire. New York: Basic Books.
Daly, M., M. Wilson, and S. J. Weghorst 1982 Male Sexual Jealousy. Ethology and Sociobiology 3:11–27.
DeKay, W. T. 1995 Grandparental Investment and the Uncertainty of Kinship. Paper presented at the 7th Annual Meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Santa Barbara, California.
DeKay, W. T., and T. K. Shackelford 2000 Toward an Evolutionary Approach to Social Cognition. Evolution and Cognition 6:185–195.
Euler, H. A., and B. Weitzel 1996 Discriminative Grandparental Solicitude as Reproductive Strategy. Human Nature 7:39–59.
Euler, H. A., S. Hoier, and P. A. Rohde 2000 Relationship-Specific Closeness of Intergenerational Family Ties: Findings from Evolutionary Psychology and Implications for Models of Cultural Transmission. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 32:147–158.
Gaulin, S. J. C., D. H. McBurney, and S. L. Brakeman-Wartell 1997 Matrilateral Biases in the Investment of Aunts and Uncles: A Consequence and Measure of Paternity Uncertainty. Human Nature 8:139–151.
Hamilton, W. D. 1964 The Genetical Evolution of Social Behavior, I and II. Journal of Theoretical Biology 7:1–52.
Hartung, J. 1985 Matrilineal Inheritance: New Theory and Analysis. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 8:661–688.
Harwood, J. 2001 Comparing Grandchildren’s and Grandparents’ Stake in Their Relationship. International Journal of Aging and Human Development 53:195–210.
Hawkes, K., J. F. O’Connell, N. G. Blurton Jones, H. Alvarez, and E. L. Charnov 1998 Grandmothering, Menopause and the Evolution of Human Life Histories. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 95:1336–1339.
Hill, K., and A. M. Hurtado 1996 Aché Life History. Hawthorne, New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
Johnson, C. L. 1988 Active and Latent Functions of Grandparenting during the Divorce Process. The Gerontologist 28:185–191.
1998 Effects of Adult Children’s Divorce on Grandparenthood. In Handbook on Grandparenthood, M. E. Szinovacz, ed. Pp. 184–199. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.
King, V., and G. H. Elder, Jr. 1995 American Children View Their Grandparents: Linked Lives across Three Rural Generations. Journal of Marriage and the Family 57:165–178.
Leek, M., and P. K. Smith 1991 Cooperation and Conflict in Three-Generation Families. In The Psychology of Grandparenthood, P. K. Smith, ed. Pp. 177–194. New York: Routledge.
Longino, C. F., Jr. 2001 Geographical Distribution and Migration. In Handbook of the Aging and the Social Sciences, R. H. Binstock and L. K. George, eds. Pp. 103–124. New York: Academic Press.
McBurney, D. H., J. Simon, S. J. C. Gaulin, and A. Geliebter 2002 Matrilateral Biases in the Investment of Aunts and Uncles: Replication in a Population Presumed To Have High Paternity Certainty. Human Nature 13:391–402.
Meng, X., R. Rosenthal, and D. B. Rubin 1992 Comparing Correlated Correlation Coefficients. Psychological Bulletin 111:172–175.
Pashos, A. 2000 Does Paternal Uncertainty Explain Discriminative Grandparental Solicitude? A Cross-cultural Study in Greece and Germany. Evolution and Human Behavior 21:97–109.
Rossi, A. S., and P. H. Rossi 1990 Of Human Bonding. New York: de Gruyter.
Smith, M. S. 1991 An Evolutionary Perspective on Grandparent-Grandchild Relationships. In The Psychology of Grandparenthood, P. K. Smith, ed. Pp. 157–176. New York: Routledge.
Somary, K., and G. Stricker 1998 Becoming a Grandparent: A Longitudinal Study of Expectation and Early Experiences as a Function of Sex and Lineage. The Gerontologist 38:53–61.
Spitze, G., and R. A. Ward 1998 Gender Variations. In Handbook on Grandparenthood, M. E. Szinovacz, ed. Pp. 113–130. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.
Symons, D. 1979 The Evolution of Human Sexuality. New York: Oxford University Press.
Szinovacz, M. E. 1998 Grandparents Today: A Demographic Profile. The Gerontologist 38:37–52.
Tabachnick, B. G., and L. S. Fidell 2001 Using Multivariate Statistics. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Tooby, J., and L. Cosmides 1992 Psychological Foundations of Culture. In The Adapted Mind, J. Barkow, L. Cosmides, and J. Tooby, eds. Pp. 19–136. New York: Oxford University Press.
Uhlenberg, P., and B. G. Hammill 1998 Frequency of Grandparent Contact with Grandchild Sets: Six Factors That Make a Difference. The Gerontologist 38:276–285.
Whitbeck, L. B., D. R. Hoyt, and S. M. Huck 1993 Family Relationship History, Contemporary Parent-Grandparent Relationship Quality, and the Grandparent-Grandchild Relationship. Journal of Marriage and the Family 55:1025–1035.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Richard L. Michalski received his Ph.D. in Psychology from Florida Atlantic University in 2005. He is currently an assistant professor of psychology at Hollins University. His research interests include family relationships, especially investments made in family members.
Todd K. Shackelford received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1997. He is currently an associate professor of psychology at Florida Atlantic University and chair of the Evolutionary Psychology Area. His research interests include conflict between the sexes, especially sexual conflict.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Michalski, R.L., Shackelford, T.K. Grandparental investment as a function of relational uncertainty and emotional closeness with parents. Hum Nat 16, 293–305 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-005-1012-5
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-005-1012-5