That might include calling and visiting relatives, remembering birthdays, sending holiday cards, and organizing vacations and events-along with being sensitive to everyone’s needs when those events happen. One key factor may be that women are more likely to fulfill kinkeeping roles, meaning they take on the often invisible labor of maintaining their family’s closeness. Read: A shift in American family values is fueling estrangement When participants in one study rated how likely they would be to save a particular cousin hypothetically trapped in a burning building-admittedly an intense survey question-the majority said they would behave most altruistically toward their maternal aunt’s children, followed by their maternal uncle’s, then their paternal aunt’s, and finally their paternal uncle’s.Īlthough the matrilineal advantage doesn’t apply to every culture and person, it’s been well documented, especially in the U.S.

Research has also found that grandparents tend to feel especially connected to their daughters’ children. In one study, children reported having stronger bonds with their maternal grandparents, particularly with their maternal grandmothers the authors noted that the finding seemed especially significant given that kids are more likely to live near their paternal grandparents. Salari’s survey is a perfect segue into her lesson on what researchers call the “matrilineal advantage”: People tend to rate relationships with their mother’s side of the family more favorably. “It’s just always the same,” she told me. With each subsequent question, the number of hands dwindles.

Next, she asks, “Who is closest to their maternal grandfather?” Then she asks about the paternal grandmother, and then the paternal grandfather. Sonia Salari, a sociologist at the University of Utah, regularly teaches a course in family studies-and when she does, she asks her students the same question: “Who here is closest to their maternal grandmother, out of all their grandparents?” Reliably, the majority of hands shoot up.

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