The Daughter-Guarding Hypothesis: Parental Influence on, and Emotional Reactions to, Offspring's Mating Behavior

Abstract

Scant research has examined how individuals attempt to influence others' mating decisions. Parents are a special case because of their genetic relatedness to, and power over, their children. This paper tests the Daughter-Guarding Hypothesis: humans possess adaptations that motivate (1) protecting their daughter's sexual reputation, (2) preserving their daughter's mate value, and (3) preventing their daughters from being sexually exploited. Using two data sources, young adults and their parents, we found that parents were more likely to control their daughters' mating decisions. Parents were more likely to control their daughters' sexual behavior; parents reported more emotional upset over daughters' sexual activity; parents controlled their daughters' mate choice more than their sons'. The results support several hypothesized design features of the Daughter-Guarding hypothesis.

Parent–Adolescent Sexual Communication and Adolescents’ Sexual Behaviors: A Conceptual Model and Systematic Review

“…Greater evidence now indicates that parent-adolescent sexual communication is more predictive of sexual behaviors when mothers (versus fathers) are the source (DiIorio et al 1999) and when daughters (versus sons) are the recipient (Widman et al 2015). This likely represents different gender-based socialization around dating and sexuality (Perilloux et al 2008). Parent-adolescent sexual communication may also be more effective among younger adolescents who are less sexually developed and who do not face the same social pressures around sexuality as do older adolescents (Beckett et al 2010).…”

Does father abandonment have consequences for the reproductive strategies of girls? A study in Curaçao

“…Our findings thus provide evidence from Curaçao that girls who grew up without a father may follow a fast life history strategy and are therefore more inclined to accelerate their reproductive strategies by starting with sexual intercourse at an earlier age than girls who grew up with a father. An alternative explanation for our findings may be the daughter guarding hypothesis, because according to that hypothesis we would find similar results for father abandoned girls exposed to a stepfather and father present girls, assuming that their fathers or stepfathers are intensively involved in monitoring the sexual behavior of their daughters (e.g., Perilloux, Fleischman & Buss, 2008, see also Flinn, 1988. Our results indicate indeed that father abandoned girls who were not exposed to a stepfather showed an earlier age of sexual intercourse than father abandoned girls exposed to a stepfather.…”

Cooperative Courtship: Helping Friends Raise and Raze Relationship Barriers

“…Women have traditionally used kinship coalitions as protection against physical and emotional abuses by romantic partners (Smuts, 1992). In certain cultures, kin play a prominent role in romantic cooperation (e.g., Buunk, Park, & Dubbs, 2008;Perilloux et al, 2008), as in India, where selection of a marriage partner is often brokered by one's family (Kenrick & Keefe, 1992). In many such societies (especially polygynous ones), it is the woman's family which attempts to negotiate a high threshold for a husband, whereas the man relies on his family to help pay an adequate brideprice (Anderson, 2007;Geary & Flinn, 2001).…”

“…Men, on the other hand, tend to use more display tactics (e.g., from flaunting resources and physical acumen to direct combat) in order to demonstrate acceptable mate-value Miller, 2000). Such patterns are also influenced by the actions of others, as when parents push daughters to adopt selective romantic orientations and actively restrict their access to potential mates (Perilloux, Fleischman, & Buss, 2008), and sons to adopt more approach-focused romantic orientations (Sanders & Mullis, 1998).…”