Cultural niche construction and the evolution of small family size |
| |
Authors: | Ihara Yasuo Feldman Marcus W |
| |
Institution: | Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5020, USA. iharay@stanford.edu |
| |
Abstract: | A model of cultural niche construction with two culturally transmitted traits is examined. The frequency of individuals with a certain general predisposition, which is transmitted vertically, plays a role as the cultural background, or the cultural niche, of the population. The cultural background determines the rate of oblique, relative to vertical, transmission of another cultural trait that affects fertility of individuals. It is assumed that individuals with fewer offspring are more likely to achieve social roles that influence the succeeding generation and are therefore overrepresented as transmitters in the process of oblique transmission. Our model suggests that even a slight overrepresentation of those with fewer offspring can drive the evolution of small family size, provided that the rate of oblique transmission depends strongly on the cultural background. In addition, our model may help to explain the time lag between the decrease in death rates and the subsequent decrease in birth rates during the demographic transition of industrializing societies. |
| |
Keywords: | Background predisposition Bias Culture Cultural background Cultural transmission Demographic transition Education Fertility-reducing preference Model Oblique transmission |
本文献已被 ScienceDirect PubMed 等数据库收录! |
|