The social structure of grandparenthood

American Anthropologist • Vol/Iss. 58(4) • Blackwell Publishing Ltd • • Published In • Pages: 656-663 •
By Apple, Dorrian

Hypothesis

"If the grandchildren's relation with one set of grandparents has less friendly equality than with the other, the former grandparents will be those related to the grandchildren through the parent who possesses (or whose lineage member possesses) more household authority in the nuclear family" (657)

Test

Test NameSupportSignificanceCoefficientTail
Fisher’s exact testSupportedp<.001UNKNOWNUNKNOWN

Variables

Variable NameVariable Type OCM Term(s)
Grandparent-grandchild RelationshipUNKNOWNGrandparents And Grandchildren
Household AuthorityUNKNOWNHousehold

Related Hypotheses

Main AuthorHypothesis
Apple, Dorrian"For societies in which the relationships of grandchildren are the same with both sets of grandparents, . . . when the grandparental generation continues to exercise considerable authority over the parental generation after the grandchildren are born, the relation of the grandchildren to the grandparents will not be one of friendly equality . . . ; when there is no such authority, there will be friendly equality" (657)
Textor, Robert B.In societies where the household authority is on the father's side, instead of the mother's side, polygynous marriage will be occasional or common (242, 254).
Sheard, CatherineThere were four different terms for grandparents in proto-Pama-Nyungan languages.
Stewart, Robert A. C.Findings: A factor analysis of key dimensions to describe a given culture yielded 12 factors. Factor 4, "paternal authority", loaded highly and positively on household authority with father; high early aggression satisfaction potential; and patrilocal marital residence. Factor 4 loaded highly and negatively on desert grasses; matrilocal marital residence; Athabaskan linguistic affiliation; high anal socialization anxiety; modesty training six years or higher; and matrilineal kin group (58)
Strassmann, Beverly I.Survival of the maternal grandparents, rather than paternal grandparents, will be associated with grandchild survival (201).