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Pair-Bonding in Other Mammals

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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

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Synonyms

Adult attachment; Social bond

Definition

Pair-bonding is an adult attachment relationship defined by a social preference for the pair-mate, the distress upon separation, and the ability of the pair-mate to mitigate stressful situations.

Introduction

Pair-bonding is a behavioral construct central to adult human relationships and is also displayed in some other mammalian species (primarily ones which display monogamy as a social system). These other mammal species have given us the opportunity both to refine our definition of pair-bonding and to investigate its neurobiological substrates.

What is Pair-bonding and How do we Measure it?

Pair-bonding is a behavioral and psychological construct describing strong, enduring, selective social bonds between two adults. The concept is based on attachment theory as originated by Bowlby and Ainsworth (Bowlby 1969); however, they primarily applied this concept to infant-mother relationships, while pair-bonding is applied to adult dyadic...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA

    Karen L. Bales

Authors
  1. Karen L. Bales
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Correspondence to Karen L. Bales .

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

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Bales, K.L. (2016). Pair-Bonding in Other Mammals. 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_100-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_100-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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