Life History Evolution: An Explanatory Framework

The purpose of this chapter is to supply the reader with foundational information about life history theory without which the remainder of the book would not make sense. Herein, it is explained that life history was originally an exclusively biological theory relevant to the timing of gestation, development, maturation, and death. Later, it was used to explain variation among human populations not only on these core biological variables, but also on psychological and social variables. Psychological variables include personality traits like conscientiousness, mating strategy, and intelligence, while sociological variables include altruistic effort, cultural capital, and communal affiliation. With this primer on life history evolution, the reader can better assimilate specific life history knowledge detailed in subsequent sections.