Applications of the Theory of Natural Selection to the Study of Family Communication

Abstract

If one's goal is to account for patterns of variation in the communicative behaviors of family relationships, then we contend that no single theory explains as many aspects of family interaction, or explains them with as much depth, as does Darwin's (1859) theory of natural selection. In this article, we delineate the major precepts of the theory (and of associated theories that have been derived from it) and apply them to a number of relational phenomena in the marital and parent-child subsystems. We then speculate as to why the theory has not been widely used in family communication research, despite the breadth and depth of its explanatory power, and we offer suggestions to scholars wishing to incorporate principles of natural selection and evolutionary psychology into their research on families.