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. 2016 Nov 30;3(11):160470.
doi: 10.1098/rsos.160470. eCollection 2016 Nov.

Life-history theory and climate change: resolving population and parental investment paradoxes

Mark Caudell  1 , Robert Quinlan  2
Affiliations

Life-history theory and climate change: resolving population and parental investment paradoxes

Mark Caudell et al. R Soc Open Sci. .

Abstract

Population growth in the next half-century is on pace to raise global carbon emissions by half. Carbon emissions are associated with fertility as a by-product of somatic and parental investment, which is predicted to involve time orientation/preference as a mediating psychological mechanism. Here, we draw upon life-history theory (LHT) to investigate associations between future orientation and fertility, and their impacts on carbon emissions. We argue 'K-strategy' life history (LH) in high-income countries has resulted in parental investment behaviours involving future orientation that, paradoxically, promote unsustainable carbon emissions, thereby lowering the Earth's K or carrying capacity. Increasing the rate of approach towards this capacity are 'r-strategy' LHs in low-income countries that promote population growth. We explore interactions between future orientation and development that might slow the rate of approach towards global K. Examination of 67 000 individuals across 75 countries suggests that future orientation interacts with the relationship between environmental risk and fertility and with development related parental investment, particularly investment in higher education, to slow population growth and mitigate per capita carbon emissions. Results emphasize that LHT will be an important tool in understanding the demographic and consumption patterns that drive anthropogenic climate change.

Keywords: climate change; ecological psychology; environmental risk; life-history theory; sustainability.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Life-history interactions with future orientation. (a) Effect of orientation on total fertility as a function of education level. (b) Effect of future orientation on total fertility as a function of mortality level.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Effect of time orientation on carbon emissions per capita as a function of investment in education. n.s., non-significant.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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