Troost, K. M., & Filsinger, E. (1993).

Emerging
biosocial perspectives in the family. In P. G. Boss,
W. J. Doherty, R. LaRossa, W. R. Schumm, & S. K.
Steinmetz (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theories and
methods: A contextual approach (pp. 677-710) New
York: Plenum Press.
Introduction

 Biosocial Domain: the connection

between the biological and the social as
 independent causal agents, and
 as intertwined elements of human
evolution and proximate life.
 Role of the Family:
 Evolutionary or Historical Relevance
(a/k/a ultimate cause): sexual and
cooperative bond results in continuation
of society.
 Proximate Cause:
 families mediate the interplay of biological
and social factors;
 biological and social factors contribute to
family phenomena.

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Core Assumptions
 Humans have an evolutionary origin.
 The family has played an important role in
human evolution. Van de Berghe (1988)
suggests that sociality can be reduced to
three principles:
 Nepotism: organisms invest in their own
kin.
 Reciprocity: exchange of favors.
 Coercion: the act of being forced to act
against one’s interests.
 The evolutionary origin of humans has an
influence upon families today.
 Proximate biology has an influence on the
family, and the family has an influence on
primate biology and the health of its
members.
 Genetic factors (e.g., predisposition to
disease) influence family life.
 Families influence the health of members
because they are health care providers.

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Core Assumptions
(cont.)
 Biosocial influences are both biological
and social in character.
 The biosocial domain is concerned with
three factors: the biological, biosocial,
and social.
 A biosocial approach takes an intermediate
position between those who emphasize the
similarity between humans and other
animals and those who emphasize the
differences.
 Humans are animals with an
evolutionary origin.
 Humans have a species history which
distinguishes it from other animals: the
coevolution of biology and culture
makes humans more complex than other
animals.

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Core Assumptions
(cont.)
 Adaptation is assumed to have taken
place over a vast period of time.
Adaptations in physiology or conduct
vary by environment.
 Extant features of human biology can be
used to reveal aspects of our adaptation
in the past (see Troost, 1988a, Turke,
1988).

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Myths About Humans and the
Biosocial
 Humans are unique.
 Although humans posses some unique
traits, so do other species.
 Other species, for example,
 use tools,
 culturally transmit learned adaptations,
 communicate,
 demonstrate consciousness and thought.
 Biology mandates uniformity.
 Biological analyses are inherently only about
individuals, not relationships. Evolutionary
selection, for example, influences
 reproduction,
 food gathering,
 social facilitation,
 competition management,
 division of labor,
 cultural transmission,
 socialization,
 and interpersonal communication.

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Model of the Human in the Family
Context

 There is a complex interplay between

proximate (immediate) and ultimate
(evolutionary) influences.
 Ontogeny, an individual’s life course
development, “is influenced by the
interplay of biological makeup and
social environment” (p. 685).
 Biological blueprints limit environmental
input.
 Environmental constraints limit biological
predispositions.
 Organisms, influenced by biological
predispositions, actively select
environments. This is known as niche
building (Scarr & Mcartney, 1983).

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Model of the Human in the Family
Context (cont.)

 Extending the Model:

 Life span development influences
adaptability.
 Departure from “normal” developmental
patterns can cause system breakdown
(e.g., excessively early or late marriage
and childbearing have long-term
implications).
 Causation:
 Proximate causation: immediate
influences.
 Distal causation: intermediate causes
(e.g., affect of parent-infant
bonding/attachment on later
development).
 Ultimate causation: evolutionary
influences.

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Causation
 Ultimate Causation:
 Fundamental question: How has the family
contributed to the success of humans?
 What was the character of our evolutionary
past? . . . How has our evolutionary history
affected the attributes of the family?
 What principles of sociobiology apply to
humans?
 Cultural diversity issues: Where and under
what ecological circumstances does the
biosocial . . . encourage variety in kinship
formation?
 Why is the family a universal phenomenon?
 Proximate Causation:
 Fundamental question: How do biology and
society interact to form the biosocial family
of today?
 What are specific biosocial covariates; what
are self-selection or niche-building effects?
 What influences flexibility? What
influences rigidity?

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Main Problems Addressed by the
Theory
 Reproduction and Fertility
 What are the mechanisms directly
affecting reproduction?
 What are some of the reproductive
questions facing humans?
 Parental Investment
 What are the mechanisms that support
parental investment and how are they
likely to be interpreted?
 Who will do the investment and will it
be through care, food, defense, or some
other means?
 Why is there such a heavy burden on
parents; would it not make them and
their offspring vulnerable?
 How does the family today foster
selection and reproduction of its
members?

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Main Problems Addressed by the Theory
(cont.)

 Adult and Co-parental Bond

 What are the mechanisms that promote
adult, co-parental bonds and marriage?
 How do these bonds differ and is this
difference supported biosocially?
 Do married individuals of childbearing
age who have infertile partners suffer
lower marital quality and higher marital
dissolution rates?
 Does marital stability vary after
menopause independently of children?
 What accounts for initial and enduring
attraction and what is the role of the
biosocial in comparison to psychological
or social-only effects?

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Main Problems Addressed by the
Theory (cont.):
 Sexuality
 What are the mechanisms regulating
sexuality?
 How is sexuality linked to reproduction,
adult bonding, and parental investment?
 How are fidelity, parental certainty, and
the kinship system related to parental
investment?
 How do male and female sexuality
mesh?
 Are human beings more sex driven than
reproductively driven; is this age
dependent?
 What role is played by the human
capacity for trust and deception?

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Main Problems (cont.):
 Family Life Course Timing: Windows and
Breakdowns

 What are the time periods in individual

development when a person is
vulnerable to particular negative
events?
 If a person wants to be a grandparent,
when should they begin “attraction,
bonding, sexual activity, and
childbearing?
 Is miscarriage influenced by family life
course, relational context, and
availability of resources?
 How does individual development fit
together with family development?
 How are individual and family
development influenced by parent-
child bonding, parental investment,
reproduction, and sexuality?

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Examples of Research
 Family Medicine
 Biopsychosocial model: illnesses are
influenced by several interacting
systems.
 Family members tend to share risk
factors, influenced by both
environmental and genetic factors.
 Stress has a negative impact on health;
family dynamics influence stress.
 Four perspectives on families and illness
(based on Steinglass & Horn, 1988):
 The family can be a resource that provides
social support and acts as a buffer.
 The family can be a deficit, inducing illness.
 The family can affect the course of the
illness and influence recurrences.
 The illness can have a major impact on the
family.

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Examples of Research (cont.)
 Family Violence:
 Spousal abuse:
 Men are more likely to try to control their
partner because paternity is more difficult
to ascertain.
 This controlling behavior is associated with
violence.
 Abuse is also associated with investment:
women who were trying to end
relationships were at greater risk for abuse.
 Child abuse:
 Conflict is highest when parental
investment is low.
 Risk factors: infancy, paternal uncertainty,
step parenting, scarce resources (Daly &
Wilson, 1987, 1988a,b).

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Research and Theories on Interaction
between Biology and Society

 Odor Communication
 Kin recognition and attachment
 Infants respond differently to their mother’s
odors than to odors from other mothers.
This has evolutionary utility.
 Reaction to odors affects caregiving.
 Mate selection and sexual attraction:
odors influence attraction.
 Physiological Indications of Family
Phenomena
 Marital satisfaction: physiological
indicators can predict current and future
marital satisfaction (Gottman, 1983;
Levenson & Gottman, 1985).
 Adolescent sexuality: androgen levels are
associated with masturbation and sexual
motivation in adolescent boys.

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Research and Theories on Interaction
between Biology and Society (cont.)

 Physiological Indications of Family

Phenomena (cont.)
 Sexual differentiation:
 Gender differentiation of the brain and
nervous system appears to reflect some
physical brain structure differences.
 Gender differentiation is linked to gender
differences in
 cognitive style,

 brain lateralization,

 spatial ability.

 Aggression in men is associated with

testosterone.

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson

Limitations of the Theory

 Overstatement of biological forces.

 “Scientific” studies of “natural”
differences have been used to exploit or
oppress (e.g., The Bell Curve).
 Biological explanations are
reductionistic.

Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson