Sexual Selection Under Parental Choice by Menelaos Apostolou

Sexual Selection Under Parental Choice by Menelaos Apostolou

Parents often disagree with their children over their choice of partner. Although the reasons may vary the outcome is very often one of conflict – a conflict peculiar to the human species. For the first time in one volume, Sexual Selection under Parental Choice employs an evolutionary perspective to understand this conflict and explore its implications.

Covering recent developments in the field of evolutionary psychology, Menelaos Apostolou reveals the extent of parental attempts to control the mating decisions of their offspring and investigates the qualities parents seek in prospective in-laws. Children’s attempt to escape this control can lead to practices such as foot-binding and clitoridectomy or, in postindustrial societies, more subtle forms of coercion and manipulation. Apostolou demonstrates that much of human mating behavior has been shaped by parental choice and that parents have a significant influence in sexual selection: the traits they favour in their children’s mates are selected and increase in frequency in the population.

Sexual Selection under Parental Choice will be ideal reading for researchers and advanced students of evolutionary, developmental and social psychology, as well as other related disciplines such as social anthropology, sociology and the biological sciences.

Menelaos Apostolou is an assistant professor for the School of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Law at the University of Nicosia. His previously published works include Sexual Selection under Parental Choice: The Evolution of Human Behavior. In addition, he has authored more than 50 scientific articles.