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An evolutionary perspective can help unify disparate accounts of grandparental investment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 April 2010

Michael Gurven  and
Eric Schniter
Michael Gurven
Affiliation:
Integrative Anthropological Sciences Program, Department of Anthropology, University of California–Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3210. gurven@anth.ucsb.eduhttp://www.anth.ucsb.edu/faculty/gurven/eschniter@gmail.comhttp://sites.google.com/site/ericschniter/
Eric Schniter
Affiliation:
Integrative Anthropological Sciences Program, Department of Anthropology, University of California–Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3210. gurven@anth.ucsb.eduhttp://www.anth.ucsb.edu/faculty/gurven/eschniter@gmail.comhttp://sites.google.com/site/ericschniter/
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Abstract

Coall & Hertwig (C&H) bring attention to alternative accounts of grandparental investment from economics, evolutionary anthropology, psychology, and sociology, which have yet to be reconciled. We attempt to help integrate some of the disparate perspectives by expanding the scope of the evolutionary perspective, highlighting some gaps, and discussing problems with the authors' treatment of grandparents in traditional societies.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 33 , Issue 1 , February 2010 , pp. 25 - 26
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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