Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–14Cite as

Evolution of Long-Term Pair-Bonding in Humans

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:

Synonyms

Evolution of mating systems; Human evolution; Social monogamy

Definition

Long-term pair-bonding occurs when one breeding male and one breeding female share a common territory, associating with each other for more than just one breeding season regardless of whether or not they currently have any offspring together. In humans, long-term pair-bonding can occur via monogamous or polygamous relationships.

Introduction

Humans have previously been called the “uniquely unique species” (Alexander 1990). Despite there being many different factors contributing to this uniqueness (e.g., the large brain), one of the most important is humans having a multi-male, multi-female social organization and a long-term pair-bonding mating system (Flinn et al. 2005; Geary and Flinn 2001; Hill et al. 2011). Most species living in groups composed of multiple males and multiple females are promiscuous, while most pair-bonded species live in groups comprised of only one male and one female. There are no...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  • Alexander, R. (1990). How did humans evolve? Reflections on the uniquely unique species.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benshoof, L., & Thornhill, R. (1979). The evolution of monogamy and concealed ovulation in humans. Journal of Social Biological Structures, 2, 95–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapais, B. (2008). Primeval kinship. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapais, B. (2013). Monogamy, strongly bonded groups, and the evolution of human social structure. Evolutionary Anthropology, 22, 52–65.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Conroy-Beam, D., Goetz, C., & Buss, D. (2015). Why do humans form long-term mateships? an evolutionary game-theoretic model. In J. Olson & M. Zanna (Eds.), (Vol. 51, p. 1–39). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Waal, F., & Gavrilets, S. (2013). Monogamy with a purpose. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(38), 15167–15168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duda, P., & Zrzavy, J. (2013). Evolution of life history and behavior in hominidae: Towards phylogenetic reconstruction of the chimpanzee-human last common ancestor. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 65, 424–446.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flinn, M., Geary, D., & Ward, C. (2005). Ecological dominance, social competition, and coalitionary arms races: Why humans evolved extraordinary intelligence. Evolution and Human Behavior, 26, 10–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fortunato, L., & Archetti, M. (2010). Evolution of monogamous marriage by maximization of inclusive fitness. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 23, 149–156.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gavrilets, S. (2012). Human origins and the transition from promiscuity to pair-bonding. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(25), 9923–9928.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geary, D., & Flinn, M. (2001). Evolution of human parental behavior and the human family. Parenting: Science and Practice, 1(1–2), 5–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkes, K. (2004). Mating, parenting, and the evolution of human pair bonds. In B. Chapais & C. Berman (Eds.), Kinship and behavior in primates (pp. 443–473). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henrich, J., Boyd, R., & Richerson, P. (2012). The puzzle of monogamous marriage. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 367, 657–669.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, K., Walker, R., Bozicevic, M., Eder, J., Headland, T., Hewlett, B.,…, & Wood, B. (2011). Coresidence patterns in hunter-gatherer societies show unique human social structure. Science, 331, 1286–1289.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kappeler, P. (2013). Why male mammals are monogamous. Science, 341(6145), 469–470.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kleiman, D. (1977). Monogamy in mammals. Quarterly Review of Biology, 52(1), 39–69.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kokko, H., & Morrell, L. (2005). Mate guarding, male attractiveness, and paternity under social monogamy. Behavioral Ecology, 16(4), 724–731.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kokko, H., Ranta, E., Ruxton, G., & Lundberg, P. (2002). Sexually transmitted disease and the evolution of mating systems. Evolution, 56(6), 1091–1100.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Komers, P., & Brotherton, P. (1997). Female space use is the best predictor of monogamy in mammals. Proceedings of the Royal Society London B, 264, 1261–1270.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lovejoy, C. (2009). Reexamining human origins in light of Ardipithecus ramidus. Science, 326, 74–74e8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lukas, D., & Clutton-Brock, T. (2013). The evolution of social monogamy in mammals. Science, 341(6145), 526–530.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nakahashi, W., & Horiuchi, S. (2012). Evolution of ape and human mating systems. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 296, 56–64.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Opie, C., Atkinson, Q., Dunbar, R., & Shultz, S. (2013). Male infanticide leads to social monogamy in primates. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(33), 13328–13332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pillsworth, E., & Haselton, M. (2006). Women’s sexual strategies: The evolution of long-term bonds and extrapair sex. Annual Review of Sex Research, 17, 59–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quinlan, R. (2008). Human pair-bonds: Evolutionary functions, ecological variation, and adaptive development. Evolutionary Anthropology, 17, 227–238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reichard, U., & Boesch, C. (Eds.). (2003). Monogamy: Mating strategies and partnerships in birds, humans, and other mammals. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sillen-Tullberg, B., & Moller, A. (1993). The relationship between concealed ovulation and mating systems in anthropoid primates: A phylogenetic analysis. The American Naturalist, 141, 1–25.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • van Schaik, C., & Dunbar, R. (1990). The evolution of monogamy in large primates: A new hypothesis and some crucial tests. Behaviour, 115(1/2), 30–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wittenberger, J., & Tilson, R. (1980). The evolution of monogamy: hypotheses and evidence. Annual Review of Ecological Systems, 11, 197–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wrangham, R., Jones, J., Laden, G., Pilbeam, D., & Conklin-Brittain, N. (1999). The raw and the stolen: cooking and the ecology of human origins. Current Anthropology, 40(5), 567–594.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA

    Kelly Rooker & Sergey Gavrilets

Authors
  1. Kelly Rooker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sergey Gavrilets
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kelly Rooker .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland Univ Dept of Psycholgy, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana Weekes-Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  3. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this entry

Cite this entry

Rooker, K., Gavrilets, S. (2016). Evolution of Long-Term Pair-Bonding in Humans. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_99-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_99-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation