K-Selection and r-Selection: Profound or Trivial?

K-selection/r-selection: Profound or Trivial?

Periodically an idea germinates like ivy and invades every vacant intellectual niche.

Wilson (1980, Sociobiology: Abridged Edition, Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press) distinguishes r-selection from K-selection. Early in the invasion of a territory having many resources, r-selection patterns usually prevail. More children are produced, there is less parental investment, a higher percentage of instinctive behaviors, and smaller size for individuals. Altruism is more evident. Thus, r-selection appears to overlap somewhat with conditions facing a younger mother ... "produce sons to occupy territory."

"r" can be a symbol for the degree of relatedness between individuals as measured by their genetic patterns; "r" can also symbolize the rate of population increase per unit of time.

Later, as a territory fills, K-selection occurs. There is greater parental investment in each child, fewer children are born, individuals tend to be larger in size, and more individualized instruction occurs after birth. Competition between individuals becomes more pronounced. The analogy to a mother still holds ... "Times are rough, produce girls to ensure that every child mates." Much of the United States appears to be in a K-selection phase with respect to families, educational practice, and even business organizations.

"K" often implies the population capacity of a particular environment.

Much theory suggests that altruism is a direct function of the degree of genetic relatedness between two creatures, even at the human level. Early in a territorial invasion, r-selection traits could be a function of lessened competition for resources or of a higher degree of relatedness, given that only a few parents originally occupied the territory.

• K/r-Selection Applied to the CNS by James Brody, 7/6/97
• K/r-Selection and Personality Type by James Brody, 7/12/97
• Psych Adaptations, Psychopathology, and K/r-Selection by James Brody, 8/4/97
• Catfish in a Tank by James Brody, 10/18/97
  • Its All in the Family by John Fentress, 10/18/97