http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618180334.htm
ScienceDaily (July 8, 2009) — Darwin's theory of evolution predicts that men will take more care of children that look like them. A team at the Institut des sciences de l'évolution (CNRS / Université de Montpellier 2) verified this prediction in a study published online in the pre-print issue of the journal Animal Behaviour.
The investment of a father in the care and education of a child is a decisive factor for the child's development, growth and even survival, particularly in countries with high infant mortality. As this behavior is transmitted from generation to generation, it can evolve by natural selection. Evolutionary theory predicts that men should have developed the capacity to recognise their biological children. This recognition of paternity can be made on the basis of physical resemblance.
The study by the ISEM(1) team has shown for the first time that paternal investment is partly influenced by genetically based similarities.
The study was conducted in several villages in Senegal, where the researchers used a method that simultaneously quantified investment made by fathers and their resemblance to their children. A total of thirty families, each with two children, took part in the study. To quantify paternal investment, mothers answered a questionnaire in which they had to estimate the time that the father spent looking after the child, his attention, affection and even the money he provided.
According to their answers, each father was assigned an investment index. A separate group of people, who did not know these families, were chosen as relatedness 'raters' to evaluate facial and olfactory resemblance between children and fathers. For the faces, a photograph of each child was shown to the raters, together with those of three men including the father. For odor, the evaluator had to compare the odors of a tee-shirt worn by the child with those of two men. Each time that the father was recognized, a point was attributed and these results were collated to build a resemblance index.
A correlation was found between these resemblance indices and the paternal investment as calculated from the questionnaire results. The study also clearly confirmed the positive impact of a father's presence on the nutrition and growth of the child. In this region, children who benefit from the presence of their father clearly have better living conditions.
From the point of view of Darwinian theory, very few studies have been made on the link between paternal investment and genetically based resemblance, and none have been done with real families. Today, these results represent an important step in the study of the evolution of paternal investment. The ISEM team has also conducted a study on paternal investment in France from which results will be published in the coming months.
1) Institut des sciences de l'évolution de Montpellier (CNRS / Université de Montpellier)
Journal reference:
Alvergne et al. Father-offspring resemblance predicts paternal investment in humans. Animal Behaviour, May 28, 2009; DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.03.019
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
NO-FATHERS DAY: Remote Group Has No Dads, And Never Did
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/06/090619-fathers-day-2009-no-fathers.html
NO-FATHERS DAY: Remote Group Has No Dads, And Never Did
Brian Handwerkfor National Geographic News
June 18, 2009
What would Father's Day—and every other day—be like without fathers? Maybe not so bad, according to experts on the Mosuo culture of the Chinese Himalaya.
The women of this matrilineal society shun marriage and raise their kids in homes with their entire extended families—but no dads.
By most accounts, children seem to do just fine under the arrangement.
"They are a society that we know hasn't had marriage for a thousand years, and they've been able to raise kids successfully," said Stephanie Coontz, family studies professor at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.
No Fathers: It Makes Genetic Sense?
Men of the Mosuo, who live around Lugu Lake on the border between Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces, do help to raise kids—just not their own, with whom the men typically have only limited relationships.
Instead the men help look after all the children born to their own sisters, aunts, and other women of the family.
Rather than "one father with a kid, it will be four or five uncles. That [father] role is shared among a number of people, and these are very large extended families," explained John Lombard, director of the Lugu Lake Mosuo Cultural Development Association.
The unusual parenting arrangement makes genetic sense, in terms of extending the family line—and many Mosuo men actually think of it that way, Lombard said.
"If you [father] a child with another woman, you can never be absolutely sure that the child really shares your genes," he said. "But if your sister has a child, you can be 100 percent sure that the kid shares some of your genes."
The women of the Mosuo's agricultural villages head the households, make business decisions, and own property, which they pass on to their matrilineal heirs.
In the unique Mosuo tradition called the walking marriage, women invite men to visit their rooms at night—and to leave in the morning.
Women may also change partners as often as they like, and promiscuity carries no social stigma. The practice has made the Mosuo famous, particularly to male Chinese tourists, many of whom see the walking marriages as evidence of sexual liberation and wanton lust, experts say. Though there are tourist-oriented brothels in Mosuo villages, most are staffed with non-Mosuo women and are considered shameful by the Mosuo, according to the the Lugu Lake Mosuo Cultural Development Association Web site.
"I think sometimes the media gets carried away with the possibility that the women can have all these husbands," said filmmaker Xiaoli Zhou, who produced and reported the 2006 documentary on the Mosuo, The Women's Kingdom.
In fact, most Mosuo women don't change walking-marriage partners very frequently. And they rarely carry on more than one romantic relationship at a time.
"Many of the women I interviewed had only had one or two relationships in their lives," Zhou said.
Family First
The lack of live-in fathers shouldn't be taken as evidence that the Mosuo don't value family life, said Lombard, of the Lugu Lake Mosuo Cultural Development Association.
In fact, they value it above all other relationships—particularly those founded on the sometimes fickle feelings of male-female amour, he said.
Extended families of siblings, uncles, aunts, and others are said to be extremely stable, Lombard added.
For example, there are no divorces to destablize the families. And even the death of a child's biological father has little effect on the family, given the father's distance from the family and the extensive support network in the household.
Brent Huffman, co-producer of The Women's Kingdom, said, "The society does kind of create this question: Are fathers really necessary?
"It's hard to think of in Western society, but there, it works."
NO-FATHERS DAY: Remote Group Has No Dads, And Never Did
Brian Handwerkfor National Geographic News
June 18, 2009
What would Father's Day—and every other day—be like without fathers? Maybe not so bad, according to experts on the Mosuo culture of the Chinese Himalaya.
The women of this matrilineal society shun marriage and raise their kids in homes with their entire extended families—but no dads.
By most accounts, children seem to do just fine under the arrangement.
"They are a society that we know hasn't had marriage for a thousand years, and they've been able to raise kids successfully," said Stephanie Coontz, family studies professor at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.
No Fathers: It Makes Genetic Sense?
Men of the Mosuo, who live around Lugu Lake on the border between Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces, do help to raise kids—just not their own, with whom the men typically have only limited relationships.
Instead the men help look after all the children born to their own sisters, aunts, and other women of the family.
Rather than "one father with a kid, it will be four or five uncles. That [father] role is shared among a number of people, and these are very large extended families," explained John Lombard, director of the Lugu Lake Mosuo Cultural Development Association.
The unusual parenting arrangement makes genetic sense, in terms of extending the family line—and many Mosuo men actually think of it that way, Lombard said.
"If you [father] a child with another woman, you can never be absolutely sure that the child really shares your genes," he said. "But if your sister has a child, you can be 100 percent sure that the kid shares some of your genes."
The women of the Mosuo's agricultural villages head the households, make business decisions, and own property, which they pass on to their matrilineal heirs.
In the unique Mosuo tradition called the walking marriage, women invite men to visit their rooms at night—and to leave in the morning.
Women may also change partners as often as they like, and promiscuity carries no social stigma. The practice has made the Mosuo famous, particularly to male Chinese tourists, many of whom see the walking marriages as evidence of sexual liberation and wanton lust, experts say. Though there are tourist-oriented brothels in Mosuo villages, most are staffed with non-Mosuo women and are considered shameful by the Mosuo, according to the the Lugu Lake Mosuo Cultural Development Association Web site.
"I think sometimes the media gets carried away with the possibility that the women can have all these husbands," said filmmaker Xiaoli Zhou, who produced and reported the 2006 documentary on the Mosuo, The Women's Kingdom.
In fact, most Mosuo women don't change walking-marriage partners very frequently. And they rarely carry on more than one romantic relationship at a time.
"Many of the women I interviewed had only had one or two relationships in their lives," Zhou said.
Family First
The lack of live-in fathers shouldn't be taken as evidence that the Mosuo don't value family life, said Lombard, of the Lugu Lake Mosuo Cultural Development Association.
In fact, they value it above all other relationships—particularly those founded on the sometimes fickle feelings of male-female amour, he said.
Extended families of siblings, uncles, aunts, and others are said to be extremely stable, Lombard added.
For example, there are no divorces to destablize the families. And even the death of a child's biological father has little effect on the family, given the father's distance from the family and the extensive support network in the household.
Brent Huffman, co-producer of The Women's Kingdom, said, "The society does kind of create this question: Are fathers really necessary?
"It's hard to think of in Western society, but there, it works."
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
We Help Friends Due To Empathy; Relatives Due To Expectation Of Reciprocity
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080321114214.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 24, 2008) — Empathy is an emotional reaction to the plight of others. Empathy can lead to altruistic behaviour, i.e. helping someone with the sole intention of enhancing that person’s wellbeing. If we see people in difficulty, for example, we feel the same emotions, and this may prompt us to help them. Yet the relationship between empathy and altruism is still far from clear. Psychologist Lidewij Niezink has researched this subject. She concluded that when we help friends in need, we are prompted by feelings of empathy, and that when we help relatives we do so because we have expectations of reciprocity.
Niezink will receive her PhD on 27 March 2008 at the University of Groningen. She measured the empathic responses by telling the participants in the study about a young woman who is in a wheelchair following a serious accident. The participants then had to answer a series of questions designed to show how much they sympathise and identify with the woman.
Social comparison
Among other things, Niezink studied the empathetic reactions of people who often compare themselves with others. ‘We all compare ourselves with the people around us, but some people do this more than others. When the people in this group compare themselves with someone in a worse position, they often experience negative emotions such as tension, agitation, anxiety and irritation.’ Niezink discovered that these negative emotions are actually an expression of empathy. These people feel involved with the person in need, and identify with him/her. The negative emotions are a way of expressing this.
Family and friends
Niezink also studied the role of empathetic feelings in relationships with friends and family members. She discovered that we help friends for different reasons than family members. ‘People help friends out of feelings of empathy, but they help family members because they have expectations about reciprocation.’ This result is surprising, because it was always assumed that empathy was primarily a characteristic of family relationships. ‘But it is logical when you think about it. When you move house, it’s always your brother who comes to help. You can usually rely on family. We do not choose our families, but we do choose our friends. We feel a greater sense of connection with friends, so feelings of empathy are more important.
Altruistic options model
Niezink also compared various studies of empathy, and concludes that the methods varied quite considerably. ‘They are not talking about the same concept. That makes it more difficult to study altruism.’ Niezink then developed the ‘altruistic choice model’. The model works as follows. You see the suffering of others and this leads to a feeling of empathy, over which you have no control. This can be followed by various emotional responses: sympathizing/identifying with the person in question, concern or ‘softheartedness’ (tender feelings). These are responses that we can influence. These responses, in turn, can lead to compassion and altruism, i.e. understanding the other person’s suffering and the willingness to alleviate it. According to Niezink: ‘Altruism is a choice and something that we can actively cultivate when we observe others in need.’
Negative perception unjustified
Niezink is surprised about the fact that altruism is undervalued in our society. ‘We are pack animals. We cannot exist in isolation, so it is no scandal if we are willing to help each other. I’m not saying we must, but we can. Altruism makes the world a more pleasant place.’ It is rewarding to help someone. ‘Some people say, therefore, that helping others is based on selfish motives. If you help someone and it has positive consequences for you, that does not mean to say that your underlying motives are not altruistic.'
Adapted from materials provided by University of Groningen.
ScienceDaily (Mar. 24, 2008) — Empathy is an emotional reaction to the plight of others. Empathy can lead to altruistic behaviour, i.e. helping someone with the sole intention of enhancing that person’s wellbeing. If we see people in difficulty, for example, we feel the same emotions, and this may prompt us to help them. Yet the relationship between empathy and altruism is still far from clear. Psychologist Lidewij Niezink has researched this subject. She concluded that when we help friends in need, we are prompted by feelings of empathy, and that when we help relatives we do so because we have expectations of reciprocity.
Niezink will receive her PhD on 27 March 2008 at the University of Groningen. She measured the empathic responses by telling the participants in the study about a young woman who is in a wheelchair following a serious accident. The participants then had to answer a series of questions designed to show how much they sympathise and identify with the woman.
Social comparison
Among other things, Niezink studied the empathetic reactions of people who often compare themselves with others. ‘We all compare ourselves with the people around us, but some people do this more than others. When the people in this group compare themselves with someone in a worse position, they often experience negative emotions such as tension, agitation, anxiety and irritation.’ Niezink discovered that these negative emotions are actually an expression of empathy. These people feel involved with the person in need, and identify with him/her. The negative emotions are a way of expressing this.
Family and friends
Niezink also studied the role of empathetic feelings in relationships with friends and family members. She discovered that we help friends for different reasons than family members. ‘People help friends out of feelings of empathy, but they help family members because they have expectations about reciprocation.’ This result is surprising, because it was always assumed that empathy was primarily a characteristic of family relationships. ‘But it is logical when you think about it. When you move house, it’s always your brother who comes to help. You can usually rely on family. We do not choose our families, but we do choose our friends. We feel a greater sense of connection with friends, so feelings of empathy are more important.
Altruistic options model
Niezink also compared various studies of empathy, and concludes that the methods varied quite considerably. ‘They are not talking about the same concept. That makes it more difficult to study altruism.’ Niezink then developed the ‘altruistic choice model’. The model works as follows. You see the suffering of others and this leads to a feeling of empathy, over which you have no control. This can be followed by various emotional responses: sympathizing/identifying with the person in question, concern or ‘softheartedness’ (tender feelings). These are responses that we can influence. These responses, in turn, can lead to compassion and altruism, i.e. understanding the other person’s suffering and the willingness to alleviate it. According to Niezink: ‘Altruism is a choice and something that we can actively cultivate when we observe others in need.’
Negative perception unjustified
Niezink is surprised about the fact that altruism is undervalued in our society. ‘We are pack animals. We cannot exist in isolation, so it is no scandal if we are willing to help each other. I’m not saying we must, but we can. Altruism makes the world a more pleasant place.’ It is rewarding to help someone. ‘Some people say, therefore, that helping others is based on selfish motives. If you help someone and it has positive consequences for you, that does not mean to say that your underlying motives are not altruistic.'
Adapted from materials provided by University of Groningen.
The Dark Side Of Gifts: Feeling Indebted May Drive People To The Marketplace
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090615171632.htm
ScienceDaily (June 17, 2009) — You need to move out of your apartment. Do you call in your friends and family to haul boxes and furniture or contact a moving company? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research shows that sometimes the emotions connected with asking for favors can actually drive people to the market.
According to the study's author, Jean-Sébastien Marcoux (HEC Montréal), many researchers romanticize gift-giving. "They praise it for humanizing market relationships, for making the market meaningful, and for providing an escape from the commodifying logic of capitalist exchanges," Marcoux writes. Other researchers have examined the dark side of gift giving: the troublesome feelings that arise from social indebtedness. But Marcoux's research examines how feelings of perpetual obligation affect people's attitudes toward the market.
Marcoux conducted a ten-year (1997-2007) ethnographic study in Montréal on moving. His methods involved interviews, observations, photography, and even moving furniture. He chose to study moving because it's an act that can involve the market, the "gift economy," or both. "Moving is a social event particularly favorable to the emergence of reciprocal relations," writes Marcoux. "Moreover, many people who move use both the gift economy and the market to do so."
By studying moving, Marcoux got an in-depth look at people who were often in the midst of traumatic life events, such as divorce, job loss, separation, or death of a loved one. Marcoux found that the guilt and obligation connected with asking for help from family and friends often drove people to seek the simpler transactions of the marketplace.
"It is important to recognize that withholding requests for gifts, services, and favors from significant others can be a driving force for using the market," writes Marcoux. "People use the market to free themselves from the straitjacket of social expectations—from the sense of indebtedness and emotional oppression—which constrains them in their reciprocity relations inside the gift economy," Marcoux concludes.
Journal reference:
Jean-Sébastien Marcoux. Escaping the Gift Economy. Journal of Consumer Research, 2009; 090603081616048 DOI: 10.1086/600485
ScienceDaily (June 17, 2009) — You need to move out of your apartment. Do you call in your friends and family to haul boxes and furniture or contact a moving company? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research shows that sometimes the emotions connected with asking for favors can actually drive people to the market.
According to the study's author, Jean-Sébastien Marcoux (HEC Montréal), many researchers romanticize gift-giving. "They praise it for humanizing market relationships, for making the market meaningful, and for providing an escape from the commodifying logic of capitalist exchanges," Marcoux writes. Other researchers have examined the dark side of gift giving: the troublesome feelings that arise from social indebtedness. But Marcoux's research examines how feelings of perpetual obligation affect people's attitudes toward the market.
Marcoux conducted a ten-year (1997-2007) ethnographic study in Montréal on moving. His methods involved interviews, observations, photography, and even moving furniture. He chose to study moving because it's an act that can involve the market, the "gift economy," or both. "Moving is a social event particularly favorable to the emergence of reciprocal relations," writes Marcoux. "Moreover, many people who move use both the gift economy and the market to do so."
By studying moving, Marcoux got an in-depth look at people who were often in the midst of traumatic life events, such as divorce, job loss, separation, or death of a loved one. Marcoux found that the guilt and obligation connected with asking for help from family and friends often drove people to seek the simpler transactions of the marketplace.
"It is important to recognize that withholding requests for gifts, services, and favors from significant others can be a driving force for using the market," writes Marcoux. "People use the market to free themselves from the straitjacket of social expectations—from the sense of indebtedness and emotional oppression—which constrains them in their reciprocity relations inside the gift economy," Marcoux concludes.
Journal reference:
Jean-Sébastien Marcoux. Escaping the Gift Economy. Journal of Consumer Research, 2009; 090603081616048 DOI: 10.1086/600485
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