Sex differences in disposition towards kin, security of adult attachment, and sociosexuality as a function of parental divorce

Parents who are not capable of producing high-quality children tend to invest more in daughters. When parents divorce, the investment per offspring inevitably declines. It was predicted that parental divorce would result in development of more manipulative, less altruistic interpersonal attitudes-except for the relationship between daughters and kin. It also was predicted that parental divorce would produce insecurity in adult relationships, lower academic performance, and increased sexuality. Students (N = 139) provided family demographics and personal information including American College Test score and grade-point average (GPA), They completed questionnaires measuring adult security of attachment, helping attitudes, Machiavellianism, and sexual restrictedness (sociosexuality [SOI]), Children of divorce had increased SOI scores, were less helpful, and had lower GPAs, Women whose parents had divorced were more Machiavellian towards people in general but not towards relatives, as predicted. Parental divorce was associated with reduced probability of being securely attached for women but not for men. Results indicate the need for more precise theory making different predictions for men and women, (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc.