Parent-offspring conflict over the age of prospective spouses

Parents and their offspring are not genetically identical as, although all of the offspring’s genes come from their parents, not all of the parents’ genes are present in the offspring. The offspring make mate choices which maximize their own fitness, but because the two parties are not genetically identical these choices do not necessarily maximize the genetic fitness of their parents. Thus, conflict will arise between parents and offspring over the offspring’s mating decisions, as they present each party with unequal benefits (Apostolou, 2008; Buunk, Park, & Dubbs, 2008).