The effect of predictable early childhood environments on sociosexuality in early adulthood.

Abstract

According to life history theory, sociosexual orientations in adulthood should be affected by an individual’s early childhood environment. Highly predictable (stable) environments should increase the potential fitness benefits of long-term (slow) mating strategies as well as the potential costs of short-term (fast) mating strategies. Experiencing a more predictable childhood environment, therefore, should lead individuals to enact a slower life history strategy characterized by more restricted sociosexual behaviors. We tested this hypothesis in the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation (MLSRA), an ongoing longitudinal study that has followed individuals from before they were born into adulthood. Indicators of sociosexuality in early adulthood were assessed by trained coders based on interviews conducted with participants about their current relationship, their relationship history, and their future relationship aspirations when they were 23 years old. The findings revealed that having experienced more predictable environments during the first 4 years of life (indexed by less frequent changes in parents’ employment status, cohabitation status, and residence) prospectively predicted more restricted sociosexuality at age 23, over and above current levels of predictability (that also uniquely predicted restricted sociosexuality at age 23). This early life predictability effect was partially mediated by greater early maternal support and being securely attached at age 19. Viewed together, these findings suggest that greater predictability early in life may be partially conveyed to children through more supportive parenting, which results in secure attachment in adolescence, which in turn predicts more restricted sociosexuality in early adulthood.

Bringing life history theory into relationship science

“…The results of Study 2 report how early unpredictability is related to unrestricted sociosexuality in adulthood (rather than how early predictability is related to restricted sociosexuality in adulthood, as reported in Szepsenwol et al, 2017). The interpretation of both sets of findings, however, is the same.…”

“…Lower quality early maternal support, in turn, predicted less secure attachment representations of childhood at age 19, which then predicted being more unrestricted at age 23. This was the best‐fitting model of several alternative models we tested (see Szepsenwol et al, , for details).…”

“…Although life history theory offers a compelling framework for understanding why certain people enact fast or slow life history strategies, it does not delineate the processes or stages through which each strategy unfolds developmentally (Szepsenwol et al, ). What kinds of intervening experiences during social development shunt individuals toward fast versus slow life history strategies in adulthood?…”

“…To test these ideas, we (Szepsenwol et al, ) analyzed data from the MLSRA. One hundred and fifty‐five MLSRA participants (49% female), all of whom had measures on the relevant variables, were included in the analyses.…”

Illness, social disadvantage, and sexual risk behavior in adolescence and the transition to adulthood

“…A primary manifestation of this calibration during adolescence and young adulthood is theorized to be the trade-off of mating vs. parenting effort, indicated by behavioral traits including earlier sexual debut and greater number of sexual partners (Ellis, McFadyen-Ketchum, Dodge, Pettit, & Bates, 1999;Griskevicius, Delton, Robertson, & Tybur, 2011). Thus, LHT posits that experiencing more adverse early environments predisposes individuals to maximize short-term mating, achieved during adolescence by earlier sexual debut and increased sociosexuality (i.e., willingness to have casual sex, and to engage in sex without love, closeness, or commitment) (Szepsenwol et al, 2017). A substantial body of empirical research supports this perspective; for instance, indicating that early life stress accelerates life history speed, in part by fostering unrestricted sociosexual attitudes (e.g., Patch & Figueredo, 2017;Szepsenwol et al, 2017).…”