Definition
The strong attachment of a mother to her infants, resulting in her caring for and protecting them, at least until they reach independence.
Introduction
Parental behavior is any behavior displayed by one member of a species toward an immature conspecific that increases the likelihood that the infant will survive (Numan and Insel 2003). Depending on the species, parental behavior can include maternal, paternal, and alloparental behavior (caretaking behaviors directed toward an infant other than one’s own offspring). In mammals, the major infant-caretaking system is a uniparental maternal care system: In 95% of mammalian species, the postpartum mother is the sole caretaker of her offspring (Numan and Young 2016). In a small percentage of mammalian species, paternal and/or alloparental behaviors, in addition to maternal behavior, are essential for infant survival. Alloparental behavior...
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References
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Numan, M. (2018). Maternal Bonding. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_827-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_827-1
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