Parental investment (PI), in evolutionary biology and evolutionary psychology, is any parental expenditure (time, energy etc.) that benefits one offspring at a cost to parents' ability to invest in other components of fitness, and is thus a form of sexual selection. Components of fitness include the wellbeing of existing offspring, parents' future sexual reproduction, and inclusive fitness through aid to kin. Parental investment may be performed by both the male and female (biparental care), the mother alone (exclusive maternal care) or the father alone (exclusive paternal care).