ABSTRACT
Parenting is both a biological and a social process (Tobach and Schneirla, 1968). Parenting subsumes a set of behaviors involved across life in the relations among organisms, who are usually conspecifics and typically members of different generations. The social interactions involved in parenting provide resources across the generational groups and function in regard to domains of survival, reproduction, nurturance, and socialization. Especially in neotenous and paedomorphic species, such as human beings (Gould, 1977; Lerner, 1984), parenting by members of an older generation of members of a younger generation affords reproductive success; learning across an extended childhood-to fit within each generation’s current and, potentially, future ecological niche; and intergenerational connectivity and interdependency. Connectivity and interdependency can extend both generations’ capacity to function successfully in new niches.
