Genetic Influence Helps Explain Variation in Human Fertility: Evidence From Recent Behavioral and Molecular Genetic Studies |
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| Authors: | Joseph Lee Rodgers,Kimberly Hughes,Hans-Peter Kohler,Kaare Christensen,Debby Doughty,David C. Rowe,& Warren B. Miller |
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| Affiliation: | Department of Psychology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma,;Department of Animal Biology, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois,;Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany,;Section for Epidemiology, Institute for Public Health, and the Danish Center for Demographic Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark,;Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,;Division of Family Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona,;Transnational Family Research Institute, Aptos, California |
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| Abstract: | To search for genetic influence on human fertility differentials appears inconsistent with past empirical research and prior interpretations of Fisher's fundamental theorem of natural selection. We discuss Fisher's theorem and give reasons why genetic influences may indeed account for individual differences in human fertility. We review recent empirical studies showing genetic influence on variance in fertility outcomes and precursors to fertility. Further, some of the genetic variance underlying fertility outcomes overlaps with that underlying fertility precursors. Findings from different cultures, different times, different levels of data, and both behavioral and molecular genetic designs lead to the same conclusion: Fertility differentials are genetically influenced, and at least part of the influence derives from behavioral precursors that are under volitional control, which are themselves genetically mediated. |
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| Keywords: | fertility fitness Fisher's theorem evolution genetic influences |
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