Sex differences in behavioral and hormonal response to social threat: commentary on Taylor et al. (2000)

Taylor and colleagues proposed that women uniquely respond to stressors by tending to children and befriending other women rather than by fighting or fleeing (S. E. Taylor et al., 2000). In this article, the authors expand Taylor et al.'s evolutionary frame and incorporate several unique aspects of human social dynamics. First, humans are characterized by extensive paternal investment, and thus men's tending is predicted and observed in some stressful contexts. Second, the dynamics of women's befriending suggest an evolutionary elaboration of the mechanisms that support reciprocal altruism. Third, coalitional male-male competition indicates that men's befriending is a predicted component of their fight-or-flight response. Finally, men's tending should result in the evolution of female-female competition over this form of parental investment.     

Pluralism and Ambivalence in the Evolution of Morality

Much good work has been done on the evolution of human morality by focusing on how “selfish genes” can give rise to altruistic human beings. A richer research program is needed, however, to take into account the ambivalence of naturally evolved biopsychological motivators and the historical pluralism of human morality in religious systems. Such a program is described here. A first step is to distinguish the ultimate cause of natural selection from proximate causes that are the results of natural selection. Next, some proximate causes are suggested as possible conditions of biological and emotional valuing as well as of customary social morality and individual rational ethical thought. Finally, different moral perspectives of Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity are briefly presented in order to illustrate how one might inquire about the selection of a variety of biopsychological and cultural proximate causes that enable the evolution of a plurality of religious moral systems.     

The evolution and function of adult attachment: a comparative and phylogenetic analysis

Although the evolutionary functions of attachment in infant-caregiver relationships are undisputed, it is unclear what functions--if any--attachment serves in adult romantic relationships. The objective of this research was to examine the evolution and function of adult attachment (i.e., pair bonding) by applying comparative and phylogenetic methods to archival data collected on 2 diverse samples of mammalian species. The authors found that species exhibiting adult attachment were more likely than others to be characterized by paternal care, developmental immaturity or neoteny, small social groups, and small body sizes. The authors also used phylogenetic techniques to reconstruct the evolution of adult attachment and test alternative evolutionary models of the comparative correlates of pair bonding. Phylogenetic analyses suggested that the relationship between paternal care and adult attachment may be a functional one (i.e., due to convergent evolution) but that the relationship between neoteny and adult attachment may be due to homology (i.e., shared ancestry). Discussion focuses on the potential of comparative and phylogenetic methods for advancing the science of social and personality psychology.     

Does Father Know Best? A Formal Model of the Paternal Influence on Childhood Social Anxiety

We explore paternal social anxiety as a specific risk factor for childhood social anxiety in a rational optimization model. In the course of human evolution, fathers specialized in external protection (e.g., confronting the external world) while mothers specialized in internal protection (e.g., providing comfort and food). Thus, children may instinctively be more influenced by the information signaled by paternal versus maternal behavior with respect to potential external threats. As a result, if fathers exhibit social anxiety, children interpret it as a strong negative signal about the external social world and rationally adjust their beliefs, thus becoming stressed. Under the assumption that paternal signals on social threats are more influential, a rational cognitive inference leads children of socially anxious fathers to develop social anxiety, unlike children of socially anxious mothers. We show in the model that mothers cannot easily compensate for anxious paternal behavior, but choose to increase maternal care to maintain the child’s wellbeing. We discuss research directions to test the proposed model as well as implications for the prevention and treatment of child social anxiety.     

虚拟健康社区医生贡献行为的形成机制

虚拟健康社区医生贡献行为(Doctor Contribution Behavior in Virtual Health Communities, V-DCB)在社会福祉创造中发挥着重要作用。从价值共创理论视角, 结合群体卷入模型和积极心理学研究, 提出在线服务交往中医生贡献行为前因后果的理论模型。首先从资源投入视角对V-DCB的概念和内涵进行分析, 并探讨测量工具的维度。接着分析社会交换和社会认同双重动机下的V-DCB行为卷入过程, 以及服务生态系统资源补充的激励作用。最后探讨V-DCB对医患双方幸福感共创的影响, 以及资源匹配因素对行为者幸福感产生的调节效应。     

Mesure du bien-être psychologique dans un contexte de réadaptation fonctionnelle

The purpose of this study is to develop a valid, sensitive and reliable tool to measure psychological well-being in rehabilitation context. Psychologists working in different European countries, set out ideas on the basis of their experience and collected data from the people involved; then the researchers in social psychology analysed this data and guided the practitioners approach by developing a tool based on scientific indicators. Factor analyses allowed to reorganize the initial questionnaire and to define 4 factors important to appreciate psychological well-being in this context: cognitive and social abilities, communication skills about their own difficulties, knowledge of their health, and emotional coping. The final tool appears to be sensitive to evolution during the rehabilitation process on two factors: communication skills and emotional coping.     

计算式互惠机制探讨——认知和动机的物种比较

与灵长类动物相比, 人类社会中存在广泛的互惠行为, 这种广泛性表现为人类具有独特的计算式互惠。本文从计算式互惠的认知和动机机制两方面对人类儿童和灵长类动物进行比较, 以期从近因机制的角度为人类互惠行为的复杂性提供解释依据。未来研究需要重视从个体发展和个体差异的视角探寻认知和动机因素对计算式互惠的影响, 并注重从互动双方各自的角度对各影响因素进行区别和分析, 从而更全面地提供有关人类互惠近因机制的证据。     

Social norms and human cooperation

The existence of social norms is one of the big unsolved problems in social cognitive science. Although no other concept is invoked more frequently in the social sciences, we still know little about how social norms are formed, the forces determining their content, and the cognitive and emotional requirements that enable a species to establish and enforce social norms. In recent years, there has been substantial progress, however, on how cooperation norms are enforced. Here we review evidence showing that sanctions are decisive for norm enforcement, and that they are largely driven by non-selfish motives. Moreover, the explicit study of sanctioning behavior provides instruments for measuring social norms and has also led to deeper insights into the proximate and ultimate forces behind human cooperation.     

Daddy,daddy cool: stallion–foal relationships in a socially-natural herd of Exmoor ponies

Animal Cognition - Different forms of direct paternal investment have been described in mammals. One such species where paternal care was noticed, but remains poorly understood, is the horse (Equus...     

The Social Constitution of Perceiver-Environment Reciprocity

Although animal—environment reciprocity is central to ecological psychology, one facet of this viewpoint remains underappreciated: organisms alter environments so as to better function in them. In many species this activity of “niche construction” includes coordinated actions by individuals jointly working toward common ends. Mounting paleontological and archeological evidence indicates that human evolution should be viewed in the light of such social considerations. The environment of our immediate human ancestors was marked by, among other things, group settlements, manufactured stone tools, and extensive migration. An emerging species such as ours, whose distinctive psychological qualities offered a selective advantage relative to these conditions, would flourish particularly if it could preserve the gains of prior generations even as its members continued to transform econiche features in functionally significant ways. This evolutionary perspective, with its due recognition of sociocultural processes, highlights 3 factors of importance for ecological psychology: (1) the history of person-environment reciprocity results in human environments whose natural and sociocultural factors are inextricably intertwined. (2) developing individuals enter human environments not as solitary explorers but through the guidance of more experienced persons with the result that much development takes shape through social mediation; and (3) a distinguishing and ubiquitous feature of human environments that is a product of collective human actions is places. Nearly all human activity, including most psychological research, occurs in places, and owing to their psychological significance, it would seem impossible to disentangle psychological and social processes. These 3 factors illuminate that a fully-realized ecological psychology will be one that includes recognition of the constitutive role played by social processes.     

Parenting as Mediator Between Post-divorce Family Structure and Children’s Well-being

Divorce and its subsequent transitions can be stressful for children and therefore, affect their well-being in a negative manner. Effective parenting (with high support and high control) can, however, function as a protective factor. While previous studies have indicated that effective parenting does indeed improve children’s well-being after divorce, these studies tended to concentrate on maternal family structures and transitions as well as maternal parenting. With this study, we investigate the mediating role of both maternal and paternal parenting between various family structures after divorce (including the custodial arrangement as well as the repartnering of both parents) and children’s well-being. Therefore, we analyzed 618 parent–child dyads from the multi-actor dataset “Divorce in Flanders—DiF” using a mediated structural equation model. Results revealed that both maternal and paternal parenting can mediate between family structure after divorce and children’s well-being. Depending on the type of post divorce family constellation, parenting can be considered as a risk or a protective factor, for both maternal and paternal parenting.     

Lion-tailed macaques (Macaca silenus) manufacture and use tools

Lion-tailed macaques (Macaca silenus) in captive social groups spontaneously manufactured and used tools to extract syrup from an apparatus that was designed to accommodate probing behavior. An attempt to replicate these findings with mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx) was unsuccessful. This report is the first to describe spontaneous manufacture of tools in any group of Old World monkeys and provides evidence of greater continuity among primates for the expression of complex cognitive abilities. These data are consistent with hypotheses that lion-tailed macaques have extensive propensities for advanced sensorimotor skills and that omnivorous, extractive foraging is associated with the manufacture and use of tools. I present a proximate model that integrates sensorimotor and social factors to account for diverse expression of tool-related behavior.     

Exploring Predictors of Subjective Well-Being in Ghana: A Micro-Level Study

Subjective well-being has been studied by social scientists for decades mostly in developed countries. Little is known about determinants of subjective well-being in developing countries and more particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Using 2005–2008 World Values Survey (n = 1,533) this study adds to existing literature on well-being in developing countries focusing on Ghana. The paper explores the predictors of two measures of subjective well-being—happiness and satisfaction in life at micro-level in Ghana. The analyses are divided into two main sections. The first part describes the distribution of happiness and satisfaction in life among Ghanaians. The second section elucidates factors influencing the selected measures of subjective well-being separately. The data reveal that both happiness and life satisfaction among Ghanaians are shaped by multitude of factors including economic, cultural, social capital and health variables. Relatively, perceived health status emerged as the most salient predictor of both measures of well-being. Besides religiosity, all the religion variables emerged as significant predictors of how Ghanaians appraise their own well-being. Equally, income, ethnicity and social capital variables emerged as predictors of happiness and life satisfaction at micro-level in Ghana. Policy implications of the findings are discussed alluding to multidimensional approach to well-being promotion in the country. The outcome of the study also establishes the fact that factors predicting subjective well-being at the micro level vary in SSA context compared to the developed world.     

Human-like social skills in dogs?

Domestic dogs are unusually skilled at reading human social and communicative behavior--even more so than our nearest primate relatives. For example, they use human social and communicative behavior (e.g. a pointing gesture) to find hidden food, and they know what the human can and cannot see in various situations. Recent comparisons between canid species suggest that these unusual social skills have a heritable component and initially evolved during domestication as a result of selection on systems mediating fear and aggression towards humans. Differences in chimpanzee and human temperament suggest that a similar process may have been an important catalyst leading to the evolution of unusual social skills in our own species. The study of convergent evolution provides an exciting opportunity to gain further insights into the evolutionary processes leading to human-like forms of cooperation and communication.     

Comparative and familial analysis of handedness in great apes

Historically, population-level handedness has been considered a hallmark of human evolution. Whether nonhuman primates exhibit population-level handedness remains a topic of considerable debate. This paper summarizes published data on handedness in great apes. Comparative analysis indicated that chimpanzees and bonobos show population-level right handedness, whereas gorillas and orangutans do not. All ape species showed evidence of population-level handedness when considering specific tasks. Familial analyses in chimpanzees indicated that offspring and maternal (but not paternal) handedness was significantly positively correlated, but this finding was contingent upon the classification criteria used to evaluate hand preference. Overall, the proportion of right handedness is lower in great apes compared with humans, and various methodological and theoretical explanations for this discrepancy are discussed.     

父亲情绪表达与儿童社会适应:气质的调节作用

通过对341名学前儿童进行问卷调查和任务测查,考察了父亲情绪表达、儿童气质与儿童社会适应的关系。结果表明:(1)父亲积极情绪表达对儿童社会能力有正向预测作用;父亲消极情绪表达对儿童社会能力具有负向预测作用,而对外显、内隐行为问题有正向预测作用。(2)儿童的积极情绪性对其外显行为问题与社会能力均有显著正向预测作用;消极情绪性对其社会能力有负向预测作用,而对其外显行为问题有正向预测作用;儿童的努力控制对其外显行为问题有较强地负向预测作用,对其社会能力具有正向预测作用。(3)父亲情绪表达与儿童努力控制、消极情绪性对儿童社会适应有显著交互作用,父亲情绪表达对不同气质特点儿童的社会适应具有不同的预测作用。     

Agonistic and sociable behaviors in the mound‐building mice,Mus spicilegus: A comparative study with Mus musculus domesticus

Present social organization and mating systems result from selective pressures and ecological conditions but also from proximate interactions between individuals. Many studies report on a polygynous mating system with a social group territoriality in commensal populations of Mus musculus domesticus. However, little is known about the social organization of other Mus species living in outdoor conditions, such as the mound‐building mouse Mus spicilegus. Comparative studies between M. m. domesticus and M. spicilegus have already shown behavioral differences in female sexual preferences and paternal care. To study agonistic and sociable interactions and gain insight into the social organization and the mating system of M. spicilegus, the present study compared intraspecific dyadic encounters between unfamiliar adults in these two species. Results demonstrated less tolerance between females and between the sexes in M. spicilegus than in M. m. domesticus unfamiliar mice. The consequences of those differences between M. spicilegus and M. m. domesticus on social organization and mating system are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 28:75–84, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Parent–child relationships and offspring’s positive mental wellbeing from adolescence to early older age

We examined parent-child relationship quality and positive mental well-being using Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development data. Well-being was measured at ages 13–15 (teacher-rated happiness), 36 (life satisfaction), 43 (satisfaction with home and family life) and 60–64 years (Diener Satisfaction With Life scale and Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being scale). The Parental Bonding Instrument captured perceived care and control from the father and mother to age 16, recalled by study members at age 43. Greater well-being was seen for offspring with higher combined parental care and lower combined parental psychological control (p < 0.05 at all ages). Controlling for maternal care and paternal and maternal behavioural and psychological control, childhood social class, parental separation, mother’s neuroticism and study member’s personality, higher well-being was consistently related to paternal care. This suggests that both mother–child and father–child relationships may have short and long-term consequences for positive mental well-being.     

大学生领悟社会支持的影响因素研究

该研究以371名大学生为被试,考察了个体的幸福感、控制感和压力对领悟社会支持的影响。结构方程模型分析的结果显示：个体属性和情境因素都直接或间接影响着大学生对社会支持的理解和评价;个体属性的影响相对比较重要;在情境因素中,累积压力比当前压力的影响更为重要。本研究结果表明,领悟社会支持是在个人属性的作用下,个体在不断应对日常生活压力的过程中形成和发展的。     

Parenting characteristics and adolescent psychological well-being: a longitudinal study in a Chinese context

In this longitudinal study, the relationships between perceived parenting characteristics and adolescent psychological well-being were examined in a sample of Hong Kong Chinese adolescents (N = 378). The results indicated that global parenting styles and specific parenting behaviors are concurrently related to hopelessness, life satisfaction, self-esteem, purpose in life, and general psychiatric morbidity at Time 1 and Time 2. Longitudinal and prospective analyses (Time 1 predictors of Time 2 criterion variables) suggested that the relations between parenting characteristics and adolescent psychological well-being are bidirectional in nature. The results indicated that the strengths of association between perceived parenting characteristics and adolescent psychological well-being are stronger in female than in male adolescents. Relative to maternal parenting characteristics, paternal parenting was found to exert a stronger influence on adolescent psychological well-being.