Understanding the ‘Grandmother Effect’

Grandmothers bring something special to a family. They offer warm hugs and even warmer memories. No matter the culture, age, or generation, grandmothers create unique, lasting, and positive bonds with their grandchildren.

These bonds, according to Upworthy, transcend the social and familial. In fact, some scientists think that a grandmother’s role harks back to humanity’s hunter-gatherer days. In these pre-historic cultures, a wise matriarch supporting and advising her adult children offered an evolutionary advantage that sustained and preserved several generations. This was the beginning of the “grandmother effect”.

The Grandmother Advantage
Long before modern childcare and parenting resources, families often leaned on grandmothers for extra support. Whether it was helping with food or caring for little ones, their role stretched beyond being a loving relative; especially if the family lived in a multi-generation housing unit.

A 2019 study, published in Cell, offers evidence for the grandmother effect. The researchers looked at 18th and 19th century birth and death records in Finland. They found that children who had a living grandmother, between 50-75 years old, were more likely to survive childhood. The research suggests that grandmothers played a critical role in helping the entire family thrive.

A Unique Bond
Not only do grandmothers support and enrich the whole family, but research from Emory University in Atlanta, published in The Royal Society suggested that grandma’s bond with her grandchildren is distinct, and in some ways deeper, than her bond with her adult children.

Researcher James Riling surveyed 50 grandparents of preschool-and elementary-aged children, reported Emory University Magazine. He found that when grandparents looked at photographs of their grandchildren the emotional empathy sectors of the brain lit up.

By contrast, when grandparents looked at pictures of their adult children they engaged the brain sectors that deal with cognitive empathy. These findings suggest that grandmothers experience a more emotional and instinctive connection with their grandchildren versus cognitively trying to understand the feelings of their adult children.

“Grandmothers are geared toward feeling what their grandchildren are feeling when they interact with them. If their grandchild is smiling, they’re feeling the child’s joy. And if their grandchild is crying, they’re feeling the child’s pain and distress,” said Riling.

A grandmother’s love and bond extends beyond caregiving. Grandmother’s play a unique role that helps children grow up strong, healthy, and thriving. They accomplish this by forming unique, multi-generational, emotional bonds that have withstood the test of time.