The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Family Psychology

Relationships with family are important to our emotional health and can play a significant role in our social success. We need our families and yet frequently have a great difficulty understanding them. Hundreds of books have been published with the goal of improving understanding and relationships among family and relationships; few, if any, have done so with an evolutionary approach. The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Family Psychology focuses on the reasons underlying family behavior and how a greater understanding of these factors can help us to better understand our own family behaviors. Recognizing that a deeper understanding of human families can be found through an understanding of similar phenomena in other species, the volume demonstrates how an understanding of family ties can inform understanding of our relationships to non-kin.

Catherine Salmon is Associate Professor of Psychology at University of Redlands.
Todd K. Shackelford is Professor and Chair of Psychology at Oakland University.

Part One: Introduction
1. Towards an Evolutionary Psychology of the FamilyCatherine Salmon and Todd K. Shackelford
2. Evolutionary Anthropology of the Human FamilyMark V. Flinn
3. The Evolutionary History of Pair-bonding and Parental CollaborationBernard Chapais
4. The Evolution of Relationships in Non-human FamiliesDouglas W. Mock
Part Two: Human Families
5. Parent-Child RelationshipsMarco Del Giudice and Jay Belsky
6. Parent-Offspring ConflictCatherine Salmon and James Malcolm
7. Step-parenting, Divorce, and Investment in ChildrenKermyt G. Anderson
8. Adoption: Forms, Functions, and PreferencesAnthony A. Volk
9. An Evolutionary Perspective on Siblings: Rivals and ResourcesThomas V. Pollet and Ashley D. Hoben
10. Trials and Tribulations of Childhood: An Evolutionary PerspectiveVirginia Periss and David F. Bjorklund
11. Family Violence: How Paternity Uncertainty Raises the StakesAaron T. Goetz and Gorge A. Romero
12. Grandparents and Extended KinHarald A. Euler
Part Three: Animal Families
13. Kin RecognitionPeter Hepper
14. Kin Selection and Cooperative Courtship in BirdsAlan H. Krakauer and Emily H. DuVal
15. Primate Kin Preferences: Explaining DiversityCarol M. Berman
Part Four: Fictive Families
16. Pet Keeping: A Case Study in Maladaptive BehaviorJohn Archer
17. Pets in the Family: An Evolutionary PerspectiveJames A. Serpell and Elizabeth S. Paul
18. Fictive Kinship and Induced AltruismHector N. Qirko
19. Passion and Compassion: Psychology of Kin Relations within and beyond the FamilyJustin H. Park and Joshua M. Ackerman
20. Cooperation and Conflict in the Light of Kin Recognition SystemsDaniel Brian Krupp, Lisa M. DeBruine, and Benedict C. Jones
Part Five: Conclusions and Future Directions
21. Reflections on the Human FamilyDavid C. Geary, Drew H. Bailey, and Jonathan Oxford
22. Between Conflict and Cooperation: New Horizons in the Evolutionary Science of the Human FamilyGregory Gorelik, Todd K. Shackelford, and Catherine Salmon