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11 - The effect of perceived resemblance and the social mirror on kin selection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2010

By
Rebecca L. Burch ,
Daniel Hipp  and
Steven M. Platek
Edited by
Steven M. Platek  and
Todd K. Shackelford
Rebecca L. Burch
Affiliation:
State University of New York at Oswego
Daniel Hipp
Affiliation:
State University of New York at Oswego
Steven M. Platek
Affiliation:
Drexel University
Steven M. Platek
Affiliation:
Drexel University, Philadelphia
Todd K. Shackelford
Affiliation:
Florida Atlantic University
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Summary

Paternal resemblance

Due to the asymmetric risk of cuckoldry, assurance of paternity is much less significant than maternal assurance. Females, possessing 100% assurance of their link to their offspring, necessarily have evolved strategies to secure the less sure males as supportive and protective fathers. Hofferth and Anderson (2003) compared all types of family and the paternal investment inherent in each. The least-investing type of father was the stepfather. Daly and Wilson (1982) recorded spontaneous remarks in maternity wards regarding the appearance of newborn children. Mothers and their friends and relatives were more likely to comment on how children resembled their fathers than they were to say the child resembled the mother or any other family member. When fathers displayed any doubt, the mothers were quick to reassure them of the child's resemblance. Regalski and Gaulin (1993) have replicated these findings using Mexican families. These researchers concluded that women and their families attempt to reassure the male of this paternity, thus increasing the likelihood that he will invest in the child.

It is obvious that convincing a male of paternity and securing his investment would almost always be in the best evolutionary interests of females. However, this is hardly in the best interests of males. If ascriptions of resemblance were completely persuasive throughout evolutionary history, males would have been deceived numerous times into investing in a child that was not genetically related to them. Indeed, the incidence of cuckoldry ranges from 5 to 30% (see Baker & Bellis [1995] for review).

Type
Chapter
Information
Female Infidelity and Paternal Uncertainty
Evolutionary Perspectives on Male Anti-Cuckoldry Tactics
 , pp. 207 - 223
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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