What is the Evolved Nest?
Every animal has a nest for its young that matches up with the maturational schedule of the offspring (Gottlieb, 1997). Humans too! The Evolved Nest (or Evolved Developmental Niche; EDN) refers to the nest for young children that humans inherit from their ancestors. It's one of our adaptations, meaning that it helped our ancestors survive. Most characteristics of the evolved nest emerged with social mammals more than 30 million years ago. Humans are distinctive in that babies are born highly immature (only 25% of adult-sized brain at full-term birth) and should be in the womb another 18 months to even resemble newborns of other species! As a result, the brain/body of a child is highly influenced by early life experience. Multiple epigenetic effects occur in the first months and years based on the timing and type of early experience. Humanity's evolved nest was first identified by Melvin Konner (2005) as the "hunter-gatherer childhood model" and includes breastfeeding 2-5 years, nearly constant touch, responsiveness to baby's needs, multiple responsive adult caregivers, free play with multiple-aged playmates, positive social support for mom and baby. Calling these components the Evolved Developmental Niche, Narvaez and colleagues add to the list soothing perinatal experience (before, during, after birth) and a positive, welcoming social climate. All these are characteristic of the type of environment in which the human genus lived for 99% of its existence. Below are publications, some measures researchers can use, and a powerpoint about the evolved nest.
Why does the evolved nest matter? Early years are when virtually all neurobiological systems are completing their development. They form the foundation for the rest of life, including getting along with others: sociality and morality. The papers below have reviews describing specific nest components and their effects, as well as empirical papers on the effects of the nest on child and adult development.
BOOKS
The Evolved Nest: Nature's Way of Raising Children and Creating Connected Communities (co-authored with G.A. Bradshaw, North Atlantic Books, 2023)
Restoring the Kinship Worldview: Indigenous Voices Introduce 28 Precepts for Rebalancing Life on Planet Earth (Co-authored with Wahinkpe Topa, North Atlantic Books, 2022)
Contexts for Young Child Flourishing: Evolution, Family and Society (ed. with Braungart-Rieker, Miller-Graff, Gettler, Hastings; OUP, 2016)
**Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality: Evolution, Culture and Wisdom (Narvaez; W.W. Norton, 2014)
Ancestral Landscapes in Human Evolution: Culture, Childrearing and Social Wellbeing (ed. with Valentino, Fuentes, McKenna, & Gray; OUP, 2014)
Evolution, Early Experience and Human Development: From Research to Practice and Policy (ed. with Panksepp, Schore, & Gleason; OUP, 2013)
THEORETICAL AND REVIEW PUBLICATIONS
Narvaez, D. (in press, 2025). Overcoming climate havoc with inner development from deep nestedness. Ecopsychology.
Narvaez, D. (2025). Connected cooperative companionship grounds children’s dance into morality. In J. Delafield-Butt & V. Reddy (Eds.), Intersubjective minds: Rhythm, sympathy, and human being: Celebrating the rhythms, sympathies, and many beings of Colwyn Trevarthen (pp. 565-582). Oxford University Press.
Narvaez, D. (2024). What happened to species-typical human nature? In L. Sundararajan & A. Dueck (Eds.), Values and Indigenous psychology in the age of the machine and market: When the gods have fled (pp. 25-48). Palgrave-Macmillan. (text at ResearchGate)
Narvaez, D. (2024). Returning to evolved nestedness, wellbeing, and mature human nature, an ecological imperative. Review of General Psychology, 28(2), 83-105. https://doi.org/10.1177/1089268023122403 (text at ResearchGate)
Tarsha, M., & Narvaez, D. (2024). Humanity’s evolved developmental niche and its relation to cardiac vagal regulation in the first years of life. Early Human Development. 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2024.106033
Tarsha, M., & Narvaez, D. (2023). The Evolved Nest, oxytocin functioning and prosocial development. Frontiers in Psychology, 14:1113944. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1113944 OPEN ACCESS
Tarsha, M., & Narvaez, D. (2022). Community nestedness: Solving the roots of social problems. In R. Baikady, S.M. Sajid, J. Przeperski, F. Nadesan, M. R. Islam & J. Gao (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of global social problems. Palgrave-Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68127-2_234-1
Gleason, T. R., & Narvaez, D. (2019). Beyond Resilience to Thriving: Optimizing Child Wellbeing. International Journal of Wellbeing, 9(4), 59-78. OPEN ACCESS: http://dx.doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v9i4.987
Narvaez, Darcia, Ryan Woodbury, Ying Cheng, Lijuan Wang, Angela Kurth, Tracy Gleason, Lifang Deng, Eveline Gutzwiller-Helfenfinger, Markus Christen, Catherine Näpflin (2019). Evolved Developmental Niche Provision Report: Moral Socialization, Social Thriving, and Social Maladaptation in Three Countries. Sage Open, 9(2). OPEN ACCESS: https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019840123
Narvaez, D., Panksepp, J., Schore, A., & Gleason, T. (2013). The value of using an evolutionary framework for gauging children’s well-being. Evolution, Early Experience and Human Development: From Research to Practice and Policy (pp. 3-30). New York: Oxford University Press.
Narvaez, D., Panksepp, J., Schore, A., & Gleason, T. (2013). The Future of human nature: Implications for research, policy, and ethics. In D. Narvaez, J., Panksepp, A. Schore, & T. Gleason (Eds.),. Evolution, Early Experience and Human Development: From Research to Practice and Policy (pp. 455-468). New York: Oxford University Press.
Narvaez, D., & Gleason, T. (2013). Developmental optimization. In D. Narvaez, J., Panksepp, A. Schore, & T. Gleason (Eds.), Evolution, Early Experience and Human Development: From Research to Practice and Policy (pp. 307-325). New York: Oxford University Press.
Gleason, T., & Narvaez, D. (2014). Child environments and flourishing. In D. Narvaez, K. Valentino, A., Fuentes, J., McKenna, & P. Gray (Eds.), Ancestral Landscapes in Human Evolution: Culture, Childrearing and Social Wellbeing (pp. 335-348). New York: Oxford University Press.
Narvaez, D., Gray, P., McKenna, J., Fuentes, A., & Valentino, K. (2014). Children’s development in light of evolution and culture. In D. Narvaez, K. Valentino, A., Fuentes, J., McKenna, & P. Gray (Eds.), Ancestral Landscapes in Human Evolution: Culture, Childrearing and Social Wellbeing (pp. 3-17). New York: Oxford University Press.
Narvaez, D., Gettler, L., Braungart-Rieker, J., Miller, L., & Hastings, P. (2016). The flourishing of young Children: Evolutionary baselines. In Narvaez, D., Braungart-Rieker, J., Miller, L., Gettler, L., & Harris, P. (Eds.), Contexts for young child flourishing: Evolution, family and society (pp. 3-27). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Narvaez, D., Hastings, P., Braungart-Rieker, J., Miller, L., & Gettler, L. (2016). Young child flourishing as an aim for society. In Narvaez, D., Braungart-Rieker, J., Miller, L., Gettler, L., & Hastings, P. (Eds.), Contexts for young child flourishing: Evolution, family and society (pp. 347-359). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Narvaez, D. (2016). Revitalizing human virtue by restoring organic morality (Kohlberg Memorial Lecture). Journal of Moral Education, 45(3), 223-238.
Narvaez, D. (2016). Returning to humanity’s moral heritages. Journal of Moral Education, 45(3), 256-260.
EMPIRICAL Papers on Relations of the EVOLVED NEST to CHILDREN's WELLBEING and Moral Development
Tarsha, M. S., & Narvaez, D. (2022). Effects of adverse childhood experience on physiological regulation are moderated by evolved developmental niche history. Anxiety, Stress & Coping, 35(4):488-500. DOI: 10.1080/10615806.2021.1989419
Narvaez, D., Gleason, T., Tarsha, M., Woodbury, R., Cheng, A., Wang, L. (2021). Sociomoral temperament: A mediator between wellbeing and social outcomes in young children. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 5111. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.742199
Narvaez, D., Woodbury, R., Gleason, T., Kurth, A., Cheng, A., Wang, L., Deng, L., Gutzwiller-Helfenfinger, E., Christen, M., & Näpflin, C. (2019). Evolved Development Niche Provision: Moral socialization, social maladaptation and social thriving in three countries. Sage Open, 9(2)
Narvaez, D., Wang, L., Cheng, A., Gleason, T., Woodbury, R., Kurth, A., & Lefever, J.B. (2019). The importance of early life touch for psychosocial and moral development. Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica, 32:16. OPEN ACCESS doi.org/10.1186/s41155-019-0129-0
Narvaez, D., Gleason, T., Wang, L., Brooks, J., Lefever, J., Cheng, A., & Centers for the Prevention of Child Neglect (2013). The Evolved Development Niche: Longitudinal effects of caregiving practices on early childhood psychosocial development. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 28 (4), 759–773. Doi: 10.1016/j.ecresq.2013.07.003
Narvaez, D., Wang, L., Gleason, T., Cheng, A., Lefever, J., & Deng, L. (2013). The Evolved Developmental Niche and sociomoral outcomes in Chinese three-year-olds. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 10(2), 106-127.
Narvaez, D., Gleason, T., Lefever, J.B., Wang, L., & Cheng, A. (2016). Early experience and triune ethical orientation. In D. Narvaez, Embodied morality: Protectionism, engagement and imagination (pp. 73-98). New York, NY: Palgrave-Macmillan.
Gleason, T., Narvaez, D., Cheng, A., Wang, L., & Brooks, J. (2016). Wellbeing and sociomoral development in preschoolers: The role of maternal parenting attitudes consistent with the Evolved Developmental Niche. In D. Narvaez, J. Braungart-Rieker, L. Miller, L. Gettler, & P. Hastings (Eds.), Contexts for young child flourishing: Evolution, family and society (166-184). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
EMPIRICAL WORK on the Relation of EVOLVED NEST HISTORY to ADULT WELLBEING and Morality
Narvaez, D., Wang, L., Cheng, A., Gleason, T., Woodbury, R., Kurth, A., & Lefever, J.B. (2019). The importance of early life touch for psychosocial and moral development. Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica, 32:16. OPEN ACCESS doi.org/10.1186/s41155-019-0129-0
Narvaez, D., Wang, L, & Cheng, A. (2016). Evolved Developmental Niche History: Relation to adult psychopathology and morality. Applied Developmental Science, 4, 294-309. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2015.1128835
Narvaez, D., Thiel, A., Kurth, A., & Renfus, K. (2016). Past moral action and ethical orientation. In D. Narvaez, Embodied morality: Protectionism, engagement and imagination (pp. 99-118). New York, NY: Palgrave-Macmillan.
EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENTAL SYSTEMS Theory and MORALITY/ETHICS
*Narvaez, D., & Tarsha, M. (2023, published in 2025). Love in action: How evolved nested care supports optimal sociomorality. Special issue of New Centennial Review, 23(3), 1-25. https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/msup/cr/issue/23/3
Narvaez, D. (2022). First friendships: Foundations for peace. Peace Review Special Issue on Friendship, Peace and Social Justice, 34(3), 377-389. https://doi.org/10.1080/10402659.2022.2092398
Narvaez, D. (2021). The Evolved Nest, virtue and vice. In E. Harcourt (Ed.) Attachment and Character Attachment Theory, Ethics, and the Developmental Psychology of Vice and Virtue (pp. 87-104). London: Oxford University Press.
Narvaez, D. (2021). Species-typical phronesis for a living planet. In M. De Caro & M.S. Vaccarezza (Eds.), Practical Wisdom: Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives (pp. 160-180). London: Routledge.
Narvaez, D. (2021). Growing, living and being rightly. In R. Tweedy (Ed.), The divided therapist: Hemispheric difference and contemporary psychotherapy (pp. 228-236). London: Karnac Books.
Narvaez, D. (2020). Moral education in a time of human ecological devastation. Journal of Moral Education,50(1), 55-67. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2020.1781067
Narvaez, D. (2020). Ecocentrism: Resetting baselines for virtue development. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 23, 391–406. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10677-020-10091-2
Narvaez, D. (2015). The neurobiology of moral sensitivity: Evolution, epigenetics and early experience. In D. Mowrer & P. Vandenberg (Eds.), The art of morality: Developing moral sensitivity across the curriculum (pp. 19-42). New York, NY: Routledge.
Narvaez, D. (2015). The co-construction of virtue: Epigenetics, neurobiology and development. In N. E. Snow (Ed.), Cultivating Virtue (pp. 251-277). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Narvaez, D. (2016). Baselines for virtue. In J. Annas, D. Narvaez, & N. Snow (Eds.), Advances in virtue development: Integrating perspectives (pp. 14-33). . New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
MEASURES of Evolved Nest Experience
Evolved Developmental Niche-History measure for adults (EDN-H; Narvaez, Wang & Cheng, 2016)
Evolved Nest Provision Report (parental report for child's recent experience) (Narvaez et al., 2019)
PRESENTATION: The Indigenous Worldview: Original Practices for Becoming and Being Human. Sustainable Wisdom: Integrating Indigenous KnowHow for Global Flourishing. University of Notre Dame, 2016.
