1. |
- Andersson, Linus, et al.
(author)
-
A matter of time: Bateman's principles and mating success as count and duration across social strata in contemporary Finland
- 2023
-
In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 290:2002
-
Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Bateman's principles heavily influence the understanding of human reproductive behaviour. Yet, few rigorous studies on Bateman's principles in contemporary industrialized populations exist. Most studies use small samples, exclude non-marital unions, and disregard recent insights on within-population heterogeneity in mating strategies. We assess mating success and reproductive success using population-wide Finnish register data on marital and non-marital cohabitations and fertility. We examine variability across social strata in the Bateman principles and analyse the mate count, the cumulated duration with a mate, and the association with reproductive success. Results support Bateman's first and second principles. Regarding Bateman's third principle, the number of mates is more positively associated with reproductive success for men than women, but this association is driven by ever having a mate. Having more than one mate is on average associated with lower reproductive success. However, for men in the lowest income quartile, having more than one mate positively predicts reproductive success. Longer union duration is associated with higher reproductive success, and more so for men. We note that sex differences in the relationship between mating success and reproductive success differ by social strata, and argue that mate duration may be an important component of mating success alongside mate count.
|
|
2. |
- Andersson, Linus, 1985-, et al.
(author)
-
Less Is More? Repartnering and Completed Cohort Fertility in Finland
- 2022
-
In: Demography. - : Duke University Press. - 0070-3370 .- 1533-7790. ; 59:6, s. 2321-2339
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- An extensive literature theorizes the role of repartnering for cohort fertility and whether union dissolution can be an engine for fertility. A large share of higher order unions are nonmarital cohabitations, but most previous studies on completed cohort fertility have analyzed only marital unions, and none have incorporated nonmarital cohabitations using population-level data. To analyze the relationship between the number of unions and cohort fertility for men and women, we use Poisson regression with Finnish register data to enumerate every birth, marriage, and cohabitation among the 1969–1972 birth cohorts at ages 18–46. We show that dissolutions of first cohabitations are the main pathway to repartnering and that most higher order unions are cohabitations. Nonmarital repartnering is a strong predictor of low fertility. In contrast, remarriage is positively associated with cohort fertility. Because the bulk of first-union dissolutions and higher order unions are nonmarital, repartnering is not an efficient engine for fertility at the aggregate level. Marriage and cohabitation are far from indistinguishable in a country often described as a second demographic transition forerunner.
|
|
3. |
- Filser, Andreas, et al.
(author)
-
Are skewed sex ratios associated with violent crime? A longitudinal analysis using Swedish register data
- 2021
-
In: Evolution and human behavior. - : Elsevier BV. - 1090-5138 .- 1879-0607. ; 42:3, s. 212-222
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- There is widespread concern in both the popular and academic literature that a surplus of men in a population intensifies mating competition between men, particularly unpartnered men, resulting in increased violence towards both men and women. Recent contributions challenge this perspective and argue that male mating competition and levels of violence will be higher when sex ratios are female-skewed. Existing empirical evidence remains inconclusive. We argue that this empirical ambiguity results from analyses of aggregate-level data, which put inferences at risk of ecological fallacies. Our analysis circumvents such problems by using individual-level, longitudinal demographic register and police data for the Stockholm metropolitan area, Sweden (1990–2003, n = 758,498). These data allow us to investigate the association between municipality-level sex ratios and violent offending (homicide, assault, threat, and sexual crimes) while adjusting for sociodemographic factors. Results suggest that aggregated offending rates are negatively associated with male-skewed sex ratios, whereas individual-level violent offending correlates positively with male-skews. We find that the more-men-more-violence association holds particularly for male violence against other men, but is insignificant for violence against women. Moreover, the association is significant among childless men, but not among fathers. However, robustness checks question the causality of these associations. Female violent offending is positively, albeit due to a low number of cases, insignificantly associated with male-skews. Moreover, both male and female non-violent offending is higher in male-skewed municipalities. We discuss the implications with regard to the theoretical debate and problems of unobserved heterogeneity in the sex ratio literature.
|
|
4. |
- Gilbert, James, et al.
(author)
-
Knowing your neighbourhood : local ecology and personal experience predict neighbourhood perceptions in Belfast, Northern Ireland
- 2016
-
In: Royal Society Open Science. - : The Royal Society. - 2054-5703. ; 3:12
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Evolutionary theory predicts that humans should adjust their life-history strategies in response to local ecological threats and opportunities in order to maximize their reproductive success. Cues representing threats to individuals' lives and health in modern, Western societies may come in the form of local ages at death, morbidity rate and crime rate in their local area, whereas the adult sex ratio represents a measure of the competition for reproductive partners. These characteristics are believed to have a strong influence over a wide range of behaviours, but whether they are accurately perceived has not been robustly tested. Here, we investigate whether perceptions of four neighbourhood characteristics are accurate across eight neighbourhoods in Belfast, Northern Ireland. We find that median age at death and morbidity rates are accurately perceived, whereas adult sex ratios and crime rates are not. We suggest that both neighbourhood characteristics and personal experiences contribute to the formation of perceptions. This should be considered by researchers looking for associations between area-level factors.
|
|
5. |
- Saarela, Jan, et al.
(author)
-
Divorce among exogamous couples : The role of language convergence
- 2023
-
In: Acta Sociologica. - : SAGE Publications. - 0001-6993 .- 1502-3869. ; 66:4, s. 402-420
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This is the first study to use longitudinal population register data to illustrate that marital stability may relate to the adoption of the spouse's language. The paper draws on theories of boundary shifting and boundary crossing to examine two main ancestral groups in Finland, Finnish speakers and Swedish speakers, between whom intermarriage is common. Administrative changes in how the question about language/ethnicity was registered between the censuses of 1975 and 1980 make it possible to distinguish between persons who are concordant or discordant on the main language used and ethnic affiliation. Using data on the entire married population, and adjusting for several individuals and couple characteristics, we estimate the couples' divorce risk as a function of language convergence with Cox regressions. Discordance in terms of adopting the Finnish language used by the partner is associated with a higher divorce risk, as compared with couples who are exogamous in terms of both language use and ethnic affiliation. Adopting the Swedish language, on the other hand, is associated with a slightly reduced divorce risk. Thus, these data provide some evidence that marital stability may relate to language convergence.
|
|
6. |
- Schacht, Ryan, et al.
(author)
-
Adult sex ratios : causes of variation and implications for animal and human societies
- 2022
-
In: Communications Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2399-3642. ; 5:1
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Converging lines of inquiry from across the social and biological sciences target the adult sex ratio (ASR; the proportion of males in the adult population) as a fundamental population-level determinant of behavior. The ASR, which indicates the relative number of potential mates to competitors in a population, frames the selective arena for competition, mate choice, and social interactions. Here we review a growing literature, focusing on methodological developments that sharpen knowledge of the demographic variables underlying ASR variation, experiments that enhance understanding of the consequences of ASR imbalance across societies, and phylogenetic analyses that provide novel insights into social evolution. We additionally highlight areas where research advances are expected to make accelerating contributions across the social sciences, evolutionary biology, and biodiversity conservation. A detailed Review across animal and human societies provides insight on the causes and consequences of adult sex ratio skew.
|
|
7. |
- Uggla, Caroline, et al.
(author)
-
Adult sex ratio and social status predict mating and parenting strategies in Northern Ireland
- 2017
-
In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8436 .- 1471-2970. ; 372:1729
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Evidence from animal species indicates that a male-biased adult sex ratio (ASR) can lead to higher levels of male parental investment and that there is heterogeneity in behavioural responses to mate scarcity depending on mate value. In humans, however, there is little consistent evidence of the effect of the ASR on pair-bond stability and parental investment and even less of how it varies by an individual's mate value. In this paper we use detailed census data from Northern Ireland to test the association between the ASR and pair-bond stability and parental investment by social status ( education and social class) as a proxy for mate value. We find evidence that female, but not male, cohabitation is associated with the ASR. In female-biased areas women with low education are less likely to be in a stable pair-bond than highly educated women, but in male-biased areas women with the lowest education are as likely to be in a stable pair-bond as their most highly educated peers. For both sexes risk of separation is greater at female-biased sex ratios. Lastly, our data show a weak relationship between parental investment and the ASR that depends on social class. We discuss these results in the light of recent reformulations of parental investment theory. This article is part of the themed issue `Adult sex ratios and reproductive decisions: a critical re-examination of sex differences in human and animal societies'.
|
|
8. |
- Uggla, Caroline, et al.
(author)
-
Are wives and daughters disadvantaged in polygynous households? A case study of the Arsi Oromo of Ethiopia
- 2018
-
In: Evolution and human behavior. - : Elsevier BV. - 1090-5138 .- 1879-0607. ; 39:2, s. 160-165
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Whether polygyny is harmful for women and their children is a long-standing question in anthropology. Few studies, however, have explored whether the effect of polygyny varies for women of different wife order, and whether there are different outcomes for their sons and daughters. Because males have higher reproductive variance, especially when they are allowed to take multiple wives, parents may have higher fitness returns from investing in sons over daughters in polygynous households. Moreover, previous studies have found that first wives and their children are advantaged over monogamous and second order wives (who marry into unions later). Here we test the predictions that children of first wives will have an advantage over children to monogamous or second wives, and that sex-biased investment will be strongest among first wives. Using data from the Arsi Oromo of Ethiopia (n-6200 children) we test whether associations with mother's wife order extend beyond childhood into adulthood by examining simultaneously child survival, education and age at marriage. We find that polygynous first wives have no child survival disadvantage, first wives' sons benefit in terms of longer education and daughters have an earlier age at marriage than daughters of monogamous women. Second wives have lower child survival than monogamous women, but surviving children experience advantages in later life outcomes, particularly marriage. These findings challenge the view that polygynous women are always doing the 'best of a bad job'. Rather, our results suggest that via their surviving sons and daughters there may be long-term benefits for some polygynous women.
|
|
9. |
- Uggla, Caroline, 1986-, et al.
(author)
-
Are women from man-older unions economically disadvantaged following separation? Sweden 1997–2015
- 2024
-
In: Acta Sociologica. - : SAGE Publications. - 0001-6993 .- 1502-3869. ; 67:1, s. 98-116
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Separation often leads to worse economic consequences for women than for men. However, little is known about how economic consequences of separation play out for different groups of women. Women who are younger than their male partner are generally assumed to have lesser agency, but evidence mostly comes from contexts with low gender equality. Here, we examine women's benefit recipiency as a function of the partner age gap of their dissolved union. Using register data from Sweden, we examine whether women from man-older unions suffer greater economic disadvantage after separation, and whether patterns differ for ancestral Swedes and women with migrant background. Results from logistic regression models suggest that, post-separation, the uptake of social and housing benefits increases for nearly all groups of women. However, these data do not show any consistent disadvantages of women from man-older unions. Among ancestral Swedes, patterns differed by benefit type, and among women of African/Middle Eastern origin, benefit recipiency increases were inversely U-shaped to the age gap. Social norms do not appear to explain economic costs of separation, but may explain why the risk of separation itself differed between ancestral Swedish women and women with migrant background.
|
|
10. |
- Uggla, Caroline, et al.
(author)
-
First Partner Choice in a Native Minority : The Role of Own and Parental Ethnolinguistic Affiliation
- 2024
-
In: European Journal of Population. - 0168-6577 .- 1572-9885. ; 40:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Despite increasing diversity within many societies, ethnically endogamous unions remain common. In contexts where one ethnic minority has lived alongside the majority for centuries, understanding who partners with whom is central to understanding how ethnic boundaries are maintained or dissolved. This study examines the role of own and parental ethnolinguistic affiliation for the first partner choice in Finland. We provide a unique test of the relevance of ethnic endogamy across two generations, in a context where both groups are native, but one (Finnish speakers) overwhelmingly outnumbers the other (Swedish speakers). Using register data on the total population, we examine how a person's ethnolinguistic affiliation and background affect the choice of the first cohabiting partner in terms of the partner's ethnolinguistic affiliation and background. We apply discrete-time competing risk models for men and women born 1970-1983. Results indicate that Swedish-registered individuals with two Swedish-registered parents are, by far, the most likely to partner with another Swedish-registered person with endogamous background. Partnering with a Swedish-registered person with exogamous background is most likely among individuals who themselves come from mixed unions. Patterns are remarkably consistent across gender, and adjustments for education and residential area only marginally alter the results.
|
|