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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–3Cite as

Importance of Grandparental Investment

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Synonyms

Grandparental care; Grandparental involvement; Grandparental solicitude

Definition

Grandparental investment can be defined as all actions that may increase grandchildren’s fitness at any opportunity cost to grandparents’ own fitness. Grandparental investment includes conscious and unconscious investments grandparents channel toward their grandchildren. Grandparents can invest in their grandchildren either directly or indirectly via a third party (mostly via grandchildren’s parents). Grandparental investments include, for instance, contacts with grandchildren, care, financial help, emotional support, and practical help. Evolutionary importance of grandparental investment refers to fitness benefits that grandparents may gain by providing support to their offspring. By investing in their grandchildren, grandparents can increase their own inclusive fitness (i.e., spreading their genes in future generations) by two important ways. First, by investing in their offspring,...

Keywords

  • Grandparental Investment
  • Grandparental Effects
  • Fertility Equation
  • Child Care Help
  • Grandparental Solicitude

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    A. O. Tanskanen

  2. Population Research Institute of Finland, Helsinki, Finland

    M. Danielsbacka

Authors
  1. A. O. Tanskanen
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  2. M. Danielsbacka
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. O. Tanskanen .

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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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Tanskanen, A.O., Danielsbacka, M. (2016). Importance of Grandparental Investment. 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_1500-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1500-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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