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Paternal Investment and the Positive Effects of Fathers among the Matrilineal Mosuo of Southwest China
Author(s) -
Mattison Siobhán M.,
Scelza Brooke,
Blumenfield Tami
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1111/aman.12125
Subject(s) - china , residence , investment (military) , paternal care , parental investment , ethnography , normative , chinese society , demography , reproduction , sociology , gender studies , geography , psychology , political science , anthropology , biology , ecology , politics , archaeology , law , pregnancy , offspring , genetics
The matrilineal Mosuo of Southwest China have been described as the only human society that lacks fathers and husbands. These claims are based on ethnographic descriptions of normative practices and have typically not employed rigorous tests of quantitative behavioral or demographic data to verify actual practices. Here we challenge these claims, providing quantitative evidence of paternal investment among contemporary Mosuo fathers. We show that co‐residence with one's biological father is associated with increased education and lower age at first reproduction, suggesting that incentives to provide paternal care exist among the Mosuo. We examine men's self‐reports of fathering activity and women's reports of their partners’ fathering activities, including measures of both direct care and monetary investment in their children. Every participant ( N = 140) reported paternal involvement in childcare, but factor analysis of fathers’ responses revealed that men specialized in either monetary or direct care. We speculate as to what may lie behind differences in caring patterns and conclude by emphasizing that while paternal investment is facultative, it is unlikely to be completely absent even in societies like the Mosuo.