Hostname: page-component-857557d7f7-v48vw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-11-21T17:51:30.677Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The two-tiered model resolves key questions on extrinsic mortality and fertility

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2025

Mary K. Shenk Open the ORCID record for Mary K. Shenk [Opens in a new window]
Mary K. Shenk*
Affiliation:
Professor of Anthropology, Demography, and Asian Studies, Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA mks74@psu.edu https://shenk.la.psu.edu/
*
*Corresponding author.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

I argue that the two-tier model represents a clear step forward, resolving debates and disentangling complexity in our understanding of human life history strategies. I relate the model to findings from my previous work, as well as to embodied capital and market integration, providing relevant schematics. I then discuss the timing of exposure to mortality cues and the age of the deceased, discussing what the two-tier model does and does not add to these debates.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 48 , 2025 , e121
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Chisholm, J. S., Quinlivan, J. A., Petersen, R. W., & Coall, D. A. (2005). Early stress predicts age at menarche and first birth, adult attachment, and expected lifespan. Human Nature, 16, 233–265.10.1007/s12110-005-1009-0CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kaplan, Hillard.. (1996). A theory of fertility and parental investment in traditional and modern human societies. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, 101(23):91–135.10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(1996)23+<91::AID-AJPA4>3.0.CO;2-C3.0.CO;2-C>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lu, Flora.. (2007). Integration into the market among indigenous peoples. Current Anthropology, 48,593–602.10.1086/519806CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nettle, D., Coall, D. A., & Dickins, T. E. (2009). Birthweight and paternal involvement predict early reproduction in British women: evidence from the national child development study. American Journal of Human Biology, 22, 172–179.10.1002/ajhb.20970CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newmyer, Lauren., McAllister, Lisa., Alam, Nurul., & Shenk, Mary K.. (2025). Life course timing of mortality exposure and fertility behavior and preferences. Population Research and Policy Review, 44,27(2025). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11113-025-09950-6 10.1007/s11113-025-09950-6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shenk, Mary K., Towner, Mary C., Kress, Howard C., & Alam, Nurul.. (2013a). A model comparison approach shows stronger support for economic models of fertility decline. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110(20), 8045–8050. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1217029110 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shenk, Mary K., Starkweather, E.Kathrine., Kress, Howard C., & Alam, Nurul.. (2013b). Does absence matter? a comparison of three types of father absence in rural Bangladesh. Human Nature, 24(1), 76–110. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-013-9160-5 CrossRefGoogle Scholar