Copyright

Melinda C. Mills; Felix C. Tropf;

Published On

2024-06-14

Page Range

pp. 307–326

Language

  • English

Print Length

20 pages

13. Genetics and Reproductive Behaviour

A Review

Chapter of: Human Evolutionary Demography(pp. 307–326)
Fertility and reproduction have been core topics across multiple disciplines, including the study of reproductive behavior outcomes such as tempo (timing) and quantum (number) of fertility, but also fecundity, infertility and reproductive development. The aim of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive and introductory overview of the central theoretical and empirical approaches to the study of the genetics of human reproductive behavior and review key findings. We start with a brief definition of fertility and reproduction, followed by an overview of interdisciplinary approaches and findings. We then explore why it may be useful to adopt a biodemographic and genetic approach to reproduction, the central empirical methods that have been used, core findings to date and conclude with a discussion and reflection on future directions of research.

Contributors

Melinda C. Mills

(author)
Professor of Demography and Population Health, Nuffield Department of Population Health at University of Oxford
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1704-0001
https://www.melindacmills.com/

Melinda Mills is Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science and Professor of Demography and Population Health, Nuffield Department of Population Health, Oxford University. Her main research areas are combining a social science and genetic approach to the study of behavioural outcomes, with a focus on reproduction (fertility), chronotype, nonstandard, precarious employment and assortative mating

Felix C. Tropf

(author)
Associate Professor in Population Data Science at the Centre for Longitudinal Studies at University of Oxford
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2445-515X
https://felix-tropf.com/

Felix Tropf is a sociologist holding the positions of Associate Professor in Population Data Science at the Centre for Longitudinal Studies, University College London, and in Sociology at Purdue University. His research focuses on topics in social demography, quantitative genetics, and data science. His contributions in the field were recognized with the European Demography Award for the best PhD Thesis.