Paternal Disengagement And Female Promiscuity

An abundance of research demonstrates a robust association between father absence—or low-quality paternal involvement—and daughters’ accelerated sexual development, promiscuity, and sexual risk taking. Although recent natural experiments provide support for fathers playing a causal role in these outcomes, these effects have not been examined using a randomized experimental design to eliminate genetic and environmental confounds inherent in previous studies. We redressed this empirical gap by experimentally testing the effects of primed paternal disengagement cues on women’s sexual decision making. Across 5 experiments, reminders of paternal disengagement increased women’s activation of sexual thoughts (Experiment 1), sexual permissiveness (Experiments 2-4), and negativity toward condom use (Experiment 5). Moreover, these effects were specific to women’s sexual decision making, as paternal disengagement cues failed to influence women’s willingness to take nonsexual risks (Experiment 4) or men’s risky sexual attitudes (Experiment 5). These results provide the first true experimental evidence supporting a causal relationship between paternal disengagement and changes in women’s psychology that promote risky sexual behavior.

DelPriore, Danielle J., and Sarah E. Hill. “The Effects of Paternal Disengagement on Women’s Sexual Decision Making: An Experimental Approach.” (2013).

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This study examines female reproductive development from an evolutionary life history perspective. Retrospective data are for 10,847 U.S. women. Results indicate that timing of parental separation is associated with reproductive development and is not confounded with socioeconomic variables or phenotypic correlations with mothers' reproductive behavior. Divorce/separation between birth and 5 years predicted early menarche, first sexual intercourse, first pregnancy, and shorter duration of first marriage. Separation in adolescence was the strongest predictor of number of sex partners. Multiple changes in childhood caretaking environment were associated with early menarche, first sex, first pregnancy, greater number of sex partners, and shorter duration of marriage. Living with either the father or mother after separation had similar effect on reproductive development. Living with a stepfather showed a weak, but significant, association with reproductive development, however, duration of stepfather exposure was not a significant predictor of development. Difference in amount and quality of direct parental care (vs. indirect parental investment) in two- and single-parent households may be the primary factor linking family environment to reproductive development.

Quinlan, Robert J. "Father absence, parental care, and female reproductive development." Evolution and Human Behavior 24.6 (2003): 376-390.

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In a first study, we investigated how the absence of a father and the presence of a stepfather during early childhood affected physiological and behavioral traits related to reproductive development (such as age of menarche, age of first sexual intercourse and number of sexual partners) in a large sample set of male and female French university students. We evaluated which ages were sensitive to modifications in the family composition and found that menarche occurred earlier when the father was absent, particularly when the child was between 0 and 5 years of age. Father absence during early adolescence was associated with a younger age at first sexual intercourse and an increased number of sexual partners, for both sexes. The presence of a stepfather during this period further advanced the age of first sexual intercourse. We also measured testosterone levels in both sexes and analyzed their association with parental separation, and found that young women with separated parents had significantly higher afternoon levels of testosterone. In a second study, we analyzed direct fitness measures (such as number of children and grandchildren) in a large sample of French workers and found that parental separation during childhood was not associated with fitness variation. We discuss whether the reproductive outcomes of individuals having experienced modifications in the early family environment are the expression of costs or adaptive strategies.

Alvergne, Alexandra, Charlotte Faurie, and Michel Raymond. "Developmental plasticity of human reproductive development: effects of early family environment in modern-day France." Physiology & Behavior 95.5 (2008): 625-632.

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Children raised without a biological father in the household have earlier average ages of first sexual intercourse than children raised in father-present households. Competing theoretical perspectives have attributed this either to effects of father absence on socialization and physical maturation or to nonrandom selection of children predisposed for early sexual intercourse into father-absent households. Genetically informative analyses of the children of sister dyads (N = 1,382, aged 14–21 years) support the selection hypothesis: This association seems attributable to confounded risks, most likely genetic in origin, which correlated both with likelihood of father absence and early sexual behavior. This holds implications for environmental theories of maturation and suggests that previous research may have inadvertently overestimated the role of family structure in reproductive maturation.

Mendle, Jane, et al. "Associations between father absence and age of first sexual intercourse." Child development 80.5 (2009): 1463-1480.

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The purpose of this research was to determine whether or not the father absence literature can be successfully used to predict patterns of female preferences for facial masculinity in young adulthood. Predictions were made based on the effect father absence may have on the development of (a) sexual strategy, and (b) female ‘condition’, and were tested in two independent samples. Results for the link between father absence and masculinity preference were mixed; across both studies, however, daughters who reported low quality relationship with parents during childhood showed lower masculinity preference. These results predominantly support the condition dependence predictions that early family stress should be associated with reduced ability to compete for mates and thus preference for less masculine men. Additionally, in Study 2, family background was associated with facial preferences and age of menarche only amongst women who were not currently in happy and committed relationships, which suggests that there are systematic physiological and/or psychological differences between women for whom father absence is and is not related to long term outcomes.

Boothroyd, Lynda G., and David I. Perrett. "Father absence, parent-daughter relationships and partner preferences." Journal of Evolutionary Psychology 6.3 (2008): 187-205.

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And more. There is a great deal of research on this topic.