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Parental Investment and Sexual Selection (Trivers Foundational Theory)

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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

Synonyms

Anisogamy; Relative parental investment; Reproductive success; Sex differences; Sexual dimorphism

Definition

Where sex differences exist in relative investment in offspring, the sex that invests more is the limiting resource for the non-investing sex, resulting in differences in reproductive strategies and profound effects on morphology, physiology, and behavior between and within the sexes.

Introduction

Darwin’s theory of sexual selection recognized that selective pressures could act differently on the sexes in ways that allowed individuals to effectively compete and pass on their genes. Darwin identified two main types of sexual selection: (1) competition within one sex for access to the other (e.g., male-male competition – weapons, large body size, aggressive behavior) and (2) differential choice by members of one sex for the opposite sex (e.g., female choice – bright colors, elaborate plumage/pelage). What Darwin’s theory lacked was a general framework that could explain...

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References

  • Bateman, A. J. (1948). Intrasexual selection in Drosophilia. Heredity, 2, 349–368.

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  • Fisher, H. (1958). The genetical theory of natural selection. New York: Dover Publications.

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  • Trivers, R. L. (1972). Parental investment and sexual selection. In B. Campbell (Ed.), Sexual selection and the Descent of Man, 1871–1971 (pp. 136–179). Chicago: Aldine-Atherton.

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  • Trivers, R. L. (1983). The evolution of sex. Quarterly Review of Biology, 58, 62–67.

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  • Trivers, R. L. (1985). Social evolution. Menlo Park: Benjamin Cummings.

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  • Trivers, R. L. (2002). Natural selection and social theory: Selected papers of Robert Trivers. New York: Oxford University Press.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Monmouth University, West Long Branch, NJ, USA

    Amy Jacobson

Authors
  1. Amy Jacobson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amy Jacobson .

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 AG

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Jacobson, A. (2016). Parental Investment and Sexual Selection (Trivers Foundational Theory). 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_3584-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3584-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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