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Why children from the same family are so different from one another

A Darwinian note

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Abstract

The well-established finding that siblings growing up in the same family turn out to be very different from one another has puzzled psychologists and behavior geneticists alike. In this theoretical note we describe the possible ontogeny and phylogeny of a sibling differentiation mechanism. We suggest that sibling competition for parental investment results in sibling differentiation on a number of characteristics, producing different developmental trajectories within families. Variations in developmental trajectories within families may have had fitness advantages in ancestral environments because(a) sibling competition for extrafamilial resources would be reduced and(b) these variations would be suited to environments containing a variety of niches or to changing environments. Predictions derived from this model and an example of an application to attachment theory are presented.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Department, Penetanguishene Mental Health Centre, 500 Church Street, L9M 1G3, Penetanguishene, Ontario, Canada

    Martin L. Lalumière, Vernon L. Quinsey & Wendy M. Craig

Authors
  1. Martin L. Lalumière
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  2. Vernon L. Quinsey
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  3. Wendy M. Craig
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Correspondence to Martin L. Lalumière.

Additional information

Preparation of this article was supported by a Research Fellowship from the Correctional Service of Canada and by the Kingston Psychiatric Hospital.

Martin Lalumière received his Masters in Psychology from the Université de Montréal in 1990 and his Ph.D. from Queen’s University at Kingston in 1995. He began his research career as a Research Fellow in Psychology and Psychiatry at Queen’s University and recently moved to a research position at the Penetanguishene Mental Health Centre. His research interests include sexual preferences, paraphilias, mating strategies, juvenile delinquency, antisocial behavior, and psychopathy.

Vern Quinsey received his Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1970. He was Director of Research at the Mental Health Centre in Penetanguishene, Ontario. Since 1988, he has been a Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at Queen’s University. His research interests include criminal violence, sexual offending, and evolutionary theory.

Wendy Craig received her Ph.D. in clinical-developmental psychology from York University in Toronto in 1993. After completing postdoctoral research at the Université de Montréal, she became an Assistant Professor at Queen’s University in 1994. Her research interests include bullying and victimization, aggressive behavior in childhood and adolescence, and juvenile delinquency.

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Lalumière, M.L., Quinsey, V.L. & Craig, W.M. Why children from the same family are so different from one another. Human Nature 7, 281–290 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02733398

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02733398

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