Grandmothers and the Evolution of Human Sociality
Title
Grandmothers and the Evolution of Human Sociality
Author
Hawkes, Kristen
Coxworth, James E.
Research Area
Development
Topic
Evolutionary Bases of Development
Abstract
We differ from the great apes in so many ways. Yet they all belong to our hominid family, and some are even more closely related to us than they are to each other. One distinctive human feature is our much great longevity, a difference that the Grandmother Hypothesis might explain. Grandmothering not only helps account for our long life spans but also changes childrearing in ways that may explain why distinctly human capacities for social engagement and mutual understanding evolved in our lineage. We review the background to this Grandmother Hypothesis and summarize it and related findings from evolutionary modeling and empirical measurements of both grandmother effects and social capacities of human infants. Then, we point to questions arising for social development, discriminating grandmothers, future mathematical modeling, and social strategies of men, as well as the physiology of human aging.