RESEARCH_FILE
Athena Aktipis
Arizona State University
Known for:Research on cooperation and conflict across biological and social systems; co-author of the first systematic empirical test of evolutionary predictions about US in-law conflict
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“She'll never think I'm good enough for him”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“I'm not auditioning for a place I already occupy in his life.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
Before the next visit, write down three true things about yourself that have nothing to do with her opinion of you. Reread them once in private the morning you see her.
Key findings
- 2022
In a US sample, both men and women reported more conflict with their mothers-in-law than with their own mothers, and mothers reported more conflict with daughters-in-law than with daughters — the pattern predicted by evolutionary accounts of asymmetric kin investment. Mother-in-Law Daughter-in-Law Conflict: an Evolutionary Perspective and Report of Empirical Data from the USA ↗
- 2022
The study is described as the first systematic empirical test of evolutionary predictions about in-law conflict in the United States, complementing decades of qualitative and communication-based research on the topic. Mother-in-Law Daughter-in-Law Conflict: an Evolutionary Perspective and Report of Empirical Data from the USA ↗