People who grew up in harsher or more unpredictable environments tend to report poorer romantic relationships in adulthood, partly because they invest more effort in seeking new partners. This study was published in Evolutionary Psychology. Decades of psychological research demonstrates that early family environments shape adult romantic relationships. Individuals exposed to instability, conflict, or economic hardship in childhood are more likely to experience lower relationship satisfaction and higher conflict later in life. These links have traditionally been explained through attachment theory, which focuses on how early interactions with caregivers shape our expectations about closeness, trust, and emotional security in adult partnerships. Monika Kwiek and colleagues sought to broaden this perspective by integrating attachment theory with life history theory, an evolutionary framework that emphasizes how early environments shape long-term strategies for mating and parenting. While attachment theory centers on emotional bonds, life history theory highlights how people allocate effort toward seeking partners (mating effort) versus investing in children and long-term family life (parenting effort). The researchers recruited 332 Polish adults (average age of 39), who had …