Contributions of Matrilineal and Patrilineal Kin Alloparental Effort to the Development of Life History Strategies and Patriarchal Values

Abstract

Childrearing behaviors are often shaped by familial and cultural principles that function as guides for socialization goals and effective childrearing practices. For an increasing number of Latino families, the extended kin often acts as a source of childcare support. Due to a scarcity of research on the familial support configurations of Latin American families, the current study utilizes a cross-cultural retrospective approach to explore the associations between matrilineal/ patrilineal kin and life history strategies in relation to childrearing. Applying a family system and life history framework, the present model tested 200 university students from Mexico and Costa Rica on measures of family emotional environment and traditional social values (e.g., familismo/simpatía and patriarchal values). Results found that childcare assistance from patrilineal and matrilineal kin was associated with positive family emotional environment, which weakly mediated the association between kin care and slow life history. Positive associations were also found between matrilineal kin childcare and traditional Latin social values. However, patriarchal values were only predicted by higher levels of patrilineal kin aid. The results are consistent with the general theoretical literature of life history theory and family systems theory, suggesting that high levels of childcare produce positively emotional family climates, which in turn perpetuate the development of prosocial individuals with slow life history strategies. Implications for further research are discussed.

Methodologically Sound: Evaluating the Psychometric Approach to the Assessment of Human Life History [Reply to ]

“…This means that slow LH strategists recall growing up in environments that were stable, prosocial, and cooperative. Follow-up retrospective research on Mexican and Costa Rican students (Cabeza de Baca et al, 2014) also found that slow LH strategists reported higher levels of positive family emotional climate, consistent with the previous study. Additionally, slow LH strategists reported lower levels of parental harshness.…”

“…While the HKSS has been applied in only 12 studies to date, as noted in the critique, research on the Arizona Life History Battery (and its Short Form, the Mini-K), has produced quite a number of cross-cultural studies in recent years in geographically diverse places such as Chile, Costa Rica, Israel, Mexico, Poland, Singapore, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom (e.g., Abed et al, 2012; Buunk and Hoben, 2013; Buunk, Pollet, Klavina, Figueredo, and Dijkstra, 2009; Cabeza de Baca, Figueredo, and Ellis, 2012; Cabeza de Baca, Sotomayor-Peterson, Smith-Castro, and Figueredo, 2014; Egan et al, 2005; Figueredo et al, 2011; Figueredo, Cabeza de Baca, et al, 2013; Figueredo, Tal, McNeill, and Guillén, 2004; Figueredo and Wolf, 2009; Frías-Armenta et al, 2005; Frías-Armenta, Valdez-Ramirez, Nava-Cruz, Figueredo, and Corral-Verdugo, 2010; Gaxiola-Romero and Frías-Armenta, 2008; Jonason, Li, and Czarna, 2011; Sotomayor-Peterson, Cabeza de Baca, Figueredo, and Smith-Castro, 2012; Sotomayor-Peterson, Figueredo, Hendrickson-Christensen, and Taylor, 2012; Tal, Hill, Figueredo, Frías-Armenta, and Corral-Verdugo, 2006; Tifferet, Agrest, Shlomo Benisti, 2011; van der Linden, Figueredo, de Leeuw, Scholte, and Engels, 2012; Woodley of Menie and Madison, 2015). …”

“…Furthermore, as explained by Cabeza de Baca, Sotomayor-Peterson, Smith-Castro, and Figueredo (2014): Students cannot be used incautiously as surrogates for general populations. Nevertheless, recent analyses by Flere and Lavrič (2008), based on the World Values Survey data on mean values of four sociologically and psychologically relevant measures comparing between national and student samples of 23 countries, showed that comparisons of student samples are reliable predictors of general cross-cultural differences.…”

Intimate partner violence, interpersonal aggression, and life history strategy.

“…This does not imply that student samples represent the general population in every way; rather it implies that the levels of the criterion variable are comparable on the two most important dimensions for the sampling frame. As stated more eloquently by Cabeza de Baca and colleagues (2014), in relation to the qualified predictive validity of this practice when interpreted correctly:…”

The cascade of chaos: From early adversity to interpersonal aggression.

“…Step 2 assessed measured maternal sensitivity, as environmental unpredictability creates competing interests for parents raising offspring under these conditions (Belsky, Schlomer, & Ellis, 2012). Given the significant impact of parental investment on offspring developmental outcomes (Cabeza de Baca & Ellis, 2017; Cabeza de Baca, Figueredo, & Ellis, 2012; Cabeza de Baca, Sotomayor-Peterson, Smith-Castro, & Figueredo, 2014; Cabeza de Baca, Sotomayor-Peterson, & Figueredo, 2017; Cabeza de Baca, Wahl, Bartnett, Figueredo, & Ellis, 2016; Sotomayor-Peterson, Cabeza de Baca, Figueredo, & Smith-Castro, 2012), our cascade model measured maternal sensitivity along three dimensions following Belsky et al’s (2012) work: (1) supportive presence, (2) respect for autonomy, and (3) hostility.…”