Behavioral Ecology of the Family: Harnessing Theory to Better Understand Variation in Human Families
Researchers across the social sciences have long been interested in families. How people make decisions such as who to marry, when to have a baby, how big or small a family to have, or whether to stay with a partner or stray are questions that continue to interest economists, sociologists, demograph...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-07-01
|
| Series: | Social Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/7/275 |
| _version_ | 1827686771868041216 |
|---|---|
| author | Paula Sheppard Kristin Snopkowski |
| author_facet | Paula Sheppard Kristin Snopkowski |
| author_sort | Paula Sheppard |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Researchers across the social sciences have long been interested in families. How people make decisions such as who to marry, when to have a baby, how big or small a family to have, or whether to stay with a partner or stray are questions that continue to interest economists, sociologists, demographers, and anthropologists. Human families vary across the globe; different cultures have different marriage practices, different ideas about who raises children, and even different notions of what a family is. Human behavioral ecology is a branch of anthropology that is particularly interested in cultural variation of family systems and how these differences impact upon the people that inhabit them; the children, parents, grandparents. It draws on evolutionary theory to direct research and generate testable hypotheses to uncover how different ecologies, including social contexts, can explain diversity in families. In this Special Issue on the behavioral ecology of the family, we have collated a selection of papers that showcase just how useful this framework is for understanding cultural variation in families, which we hope will convince other social scientists interested in family research to draw upon evolutionary and ecological insight in their own work. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:23:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1f66374794ac476abc7403f33914d2f7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0760 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:23:26Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-1f66374794ac476abc7403f33914d2f72023-11-22T04:58:59ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602021-07-0110727510.3390/socsci10070275Behavioral Ecology of the Family: Harnessing Theory to Better Understand Variation in Human FamiliesPaula Sheppard0Kristin Snopkowski1School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6PE, UKDepartment of Anthropology, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83725, USAResearchers across the social sciences have long been interested in families. How people make decisions such as who to marry, when to have a baby, how big or small a family to have, or whether to stay with a partner or stray are questions that continue to interest economists, sociologists, demographers, and anthropologists. Human families vary across the globe; different cultures have different marriage practices, different ideas about who raises children, and even different notions of what a family is. Human behavioral ecology is a branch of anthropology that is particularly interested in cultural variation of family systems and how these differences impact upon the people that inhabit them; the children, parents, grandparents. It draws on evolutionary theory to direct research and generate testable hypotheses to uncover how different ecologies, including social contexts, can explain diversity in families. In this Special Issue on the behavioral ecology of the family, we have collated a selection of papers that showcase just how useful this framework is for understanding cultural variation in families, which we hope will convince other social scientists interested in family research to draw upon evolutionary and ecological insight in their own work.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/7/275human behavioral ecologykinshipmarriage systemscross-cultural variationfamily formationcooperation and conflict |
| spellingShingle | Paula Sheppard Kristin Snopkowski Behavioral Ecology of the Family: Harnessing Theory to Better Understand Variation in Human Families Social Sciences human behavioral ecology kinship marriage systems cross-cultural variation family formation cooperation and conflict |
| title | Behavioral Ecology of the Family: Harnessing Theory to Better Understand Variation in Human Families |
| title_full | Behavioral Ecology of the Family: Harnessing Theory to Better Understand Variation in Human Families |
| title_fullStr | Behavioral Ecology of the Family: Harnessing Theory to Better Understand Variation in Human Families |
| title_full_unstemmed | Behavioral Ecology of the Family: Harnessing Theory to Better Understand Variation in Human Families |
| title_short | Behavioral Ecology of the Family: Harnessing Theory to Better Understand Variation in Human Families |
| title_sort | behavioral ecology of the family harnessing theory to better understand variation in human families |
| topic | human behavioral ecology kinship marriage systems cross-cultural variation family formation cooperation and conflict |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/7/275 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT paulasheppard behavioralecologyofthefamilyharnessingtheorytobetterunderstandvariationinhumanfamilies AT kristinsnopkowski behavioralecologyofthefamilyharnessingtheorytobetterunderstandvariationinhumanfamilies |