Genes, Environments, and Differential Susceptibility
Current Topics in Evolutionary Developmental Psychology

This comprehensive overview of cutting-edge research demonstrates the importance of evolutionary thinking in developmental science.

Satoshi Kanazawa (Edited by)

9781009363952, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 18 September 2025

296 pages
23.5 x 16 x 2.1 cm, 0.57 kg

'The breadth of chapters is impressive, written by leading figures, covering diverse topics such as childcare, child maltreatment, attachment, differential susceptibility, evolutionary perspectives in developmental sciences (to name but a few). The volume provides evidence for a groundbreaking scientific legacy, with so many implications. This is a book that every student and researcher must read, and it will become a classic.' Abraham (Avi) Sagi-Schwartz, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, University of Haifa and Tel Hai College, Israel

The evolutionary perspective has influenced many subfields of psychology and related social sciences in the last three decades. However, developmental psychology has remained largely immune to evolutionary thinking. What does evolutionary thinking have to offer developmental psychology and the study of child development? This book invites some of the leading figures in evolutionary developmental psychology to discuss cutting-edge research and its significance in related fields. By laying out the utility and importance of evolutionary thinking in developmental science, each chapter shows how the evolutionary perspective both opens new avenues of research by posing novel questions and providing insightful answers to age-old questions and debates. In the process, their overviews pay particular attention to the theoretical and empirical contributions of Jay Belsky, a pioneering developmental psychologist who has paved the way forward for the field. A short tribute and biography follow the chapters to pay homage to his work.

Introduction: the evolutionary perspective in developmental psychology Satoshi Kanazawa
Part I. Historical Background and Theoretical Foundations of Jay Belsky's Work in Evolutionary Developmental Psychology: 1. How Belsky's model of child abuse has transformed scientific understanding, clinical practice, and public policy Kenneth A. Dodge, W. Benjamin Goodman and Helen Milojevich
2. A turning point for the life history approach to individual differences Marco del Giudice
3. Individual differences in response to the environment: from diathesis-stress to differential susceptibility and vantage sensitivity Michael Pluess
Part II. Parent-Child Relations and Attachment: 4. Evolutionary lifespan models of attachment and reproductive strategies Ohad Szepsenwol and Jeffry A. Simpson
5. Stability and change in attachment from preschool to adolescence Lars Wichstrøm
6. The legacy of the determinants of parenting process model Sara R. Jaffee
Part III. Life-Course Development from Prenatal Environment Through Childhood to Adulthood: 7. School contexts, relationships with teachers, and child development Robert C. Pianta
8. The childhood roots of vaccine hesitance and resistance: a 5-decade cohort study Terrie E. Moffitt, Avshalom Caspi and Richie Poulton
Part IV. Differential Susceptibility to Environmental Influences: 9. Unequal monks, unequal hoods: genetic differential susceptibility in experiments Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg and Marinus van IJzendoorn
10. Child maltreatment and the development of multi-system resilience Dante Cicchetti
11. Differential susceptibility and its application to understanding antisocial behavior Kevin M. Beaver
Conclusion: science, politics, and the two universal laws of human behavior Satoshi Kanazawa
Afterword: My 50-Year Friendship with Jay Belsky Laurence Steinberg
Biography of Jay Belsky Daniel W. Belsky.

Subject Areas: Child & developmental psychology [JMC]