Definition
The increased prevalence of mistreatment, both lethal and nonlethal, of children by a biologically unrelated step-parent, compared to by a genetically related parent.
Introduction
Cross culturally, folklore and fairytales have portrayed step-parents as menacing and potentially life threatening to their unrelated offspring. Over the last 30 years, a body of literature has demonstrated that this portrayal is, in fact, reflected in the real world as a significantly increased risk for the child of an unrelated parent to be a victim to child abuse and homicide, a phenomenon referred to the Cinderella Effect (Daly and Wilson 1999). An evolutionary explanation of this fictional phenomenon, based on kin selection theory (Hamilton 1964) and the subsequent Hamilton’s Rule, predicts that a lack of shared genes between a step-child and parent will discourage altruistic behavior and investment in this offspring.
Child Abuse
Ki...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Burgos, P. E., & McCarthy, L. M. (1984). Ayoero infanticide: A case study. In G. Huasfater & S. B. Hrdy (Eds.), Infanticide: Comparative and evolutionary perspective (pp. 503–520). New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
Daly, M., & Wilson, M. I. (1988). Homicide. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
Daly, M., & Wilson, M. I. (1996). Violence against stepchildren. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 5, 77–81.
Daly, M., & Wilson, M. I. (1999). The truth about Cinderella: A Darwinian view of parental love. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Doberman, L. (1998). The reconstituted family. Chicago: Nelson Hall.
Hamilton, W. D. (1964). The genetical evolution of social behaviour I. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 7(1), 1–16.
Power, H. W. (1975). Searching for altruism in birds. Auk, 98, 422–425.
Scott, P. D. (1973). Fatal battered baby cases. Medicine, Science, and the Law, 13(3), 197–206.
Wilson, M., & Daly, M. (1987). Risk of maltreatment of children living with stepparents. In R. J. Gelles & J. B. Lancaster (Eds.), Child abuse and neglect: Biosocial dimensions (pp. 215–232). New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Jex, C., Burgess, J. (2016). Cinderella Effect, The. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1864-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1864-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
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