Is your mother-in-law a nightmare? This is not your fault –

Having a strained relationship with your mother-in-law may not be your fault—it may actually be about evolution, research shows.

The psychologists interviewed 100 people about their relationships with their parents, children, and father-in-laws.

The results showed that men and women were more likely to report a weaker relationship with their mother-in-law.

Experts said that mother-in-laws could unwittingly take their son’s side and act only in the “best interests of their genetic relationship”.

However, fathers opposed the same trend and seemed to get along better with their daughter-in-law than they did. This may be because her daughter brought a new groom to the family.

The researchers said their findings add to the “evolutionary logic” behind the conflict in father-in-law’s relationships.

Mothers reported that their children with their daughters (blue) experienced slightly less conflict than with their husbands (red). But fathers (left) countered this trend by spending more time with their daughters-in-law than with their own daughters.

Arizona State University experts surveyed 308 Americans about their relationships with their families and father-in-laws.

The 87 men and women who were eligible to participate in the survey said they already had relationships with their mothers and mother-in-laws.

He had a connection with sixteen daughters and brides.

Dr. Jessica Ayers and her team did not examine the sexes and relationships with mother-in-laws because women’s relationships “can be particularly conflicting.”

Participants answered questions about the reasons for the interviews with their close relatives and mother-in-law, such as money, security, social status, child care.

Volunteers also rated how much cooperation and conflict there was in the relationship on a scale of one (no cooperation) to seven (very high cooperation).

The researchers calculated how many of their interactions with close relatives and in-laws led to conflicts.

The results, published in the journal Evolutionary Psychological Sciences, report that men and women experience “significantly more” conflict with their mother-in-law (44%) than their mothers (39%).

Mothers, on the other hand, reported that their children had slightly less conflict with their daughters (17%) than with their husbands (18%).

Financial resources and childcare were the most common causes of controversy.

The researchers said this indicates “differences in perception of conflict” with biological father-in-laws.

Mother-in-laws “seem to experience more conflict over issues such as transferring material resources and caring for relatives,” which could have a lasting impact on the quality of their relationships.

Money and family care are “conspicuous” at the root of most conflicts, as “both are central to long-term reproductive success,” experts said, “given the resources, time and effort devoted to caring for relatives.” .

Since each person “acts unconsciously in the interests of their own genetic relationship”, discussions with mother-in-laws are likely to be “affected by a genetic conflict.”

The researchers said: “This genetic conflict can cause relatives (father-in-law) to disagree over resource allocation and investment, just as we have seen mothers and fathers disagree in these areas.

“Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that genetic conflicts may underlie the negative social interactions that occur in kinship relationships.”

The researchers added that conflicts with in-laws may arise more frequently because they “did not choose to engage with each other” because it was a byproduct of another relationship.

Despite weaker relationships with their mother-in-laws, fathers reported slightly less conflict with their daughter-in-law (46% of interactions) than their daughters (49%).

The team said this could be due to his daughter’s ‘partner choice’, potentially bringing a new person into the family.

This means that the father-daughter relationship is more strained when a daughter enters a new relationship and lessens over time as the father believes his partner strengthens the family unit.

The study’s title is “Mother-in-law’s Conflict: An Evolutionary Perspective and Empirical Data Report from the United States.”