Replacing the Moral Foundations: An Evolutionary‐Coalitional Theory of Liberal‐Conservative Differences

Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) explains liberal‐conservative differences as arising from different moral intuitions, with liberals endorsing “individualizing” foundations (Harm and Fairness) and conservatives also endorsing “binding” foundations (Authority, Respect, and Purity). We argue these labels misconstrue ideological differences and propose Evolutionary‐Coalitional Theory (ECT) as an alternative, explaining how competitive dynamics in the ancestral social environment could produce the observed ideological differences. We test ECT against MFT across three studies. Study 1 shows the so‐called “binding” orientation entails the threat‐sensitivity and outgroup antagonism predicted by ECT; that is, an authoritarian motive. Similarly, Study 2 shows the so‐called “individualizing” orientation is better described as a universalizing motive, one reflecting a broader set of moral commitments (e.g., to nature) and a broader sociality than the egocentrism implied by MFT. Study 3 provides a factor analysis reducing “binding” to authoritarianism and “individualizing” to universalism, with the latter loading against social dominance orientation (SDO). A hierarchical regression then provides additional evidence for ECT, showing this dominating motive (SDO) accounts for variance in conservatism that MFT leaves unexplained. Collectively, these three studies suggest that ECT offers a more accurate and precise explanation of the key psychological differences between liberals and conservatives.     

EMPATHY AND THE EVOLUTION OF COMPASSION: FROM DEEP HISTORY TO INFUSED VIRTUE

This article poses a challenge to contemporary theories in psychology that portray empathy as a negative force in the moral life. Instead, drawing on alternative psychological and philosophical literature, especially Martha Nussbaum, I argue that empathy is related to the virtue of compassion and therefore crucial for moral action. Evidence for evolutionary anthropological accounts of compassion in early hominins provides additional arguments for its positive value in deep human history. I discuss this work alongside Thomistic notions of practical wisdom, compassion, misericordia, and the importance of reason in the moral life. The tension between “bottom up” accounts of empathy and that according to a theological interpretation of “infused” virtues also needs to be addressed. From a secular perspective, infused virtue is a projection of the ideal moral life, but from a theological perspective, it is a way of understanding how human capacities through the action of grace can reach beyond what seem to be the limits of psychological moral identity.     

具身社会认知：认知心理学的生态学转向

具身社会认知是具身认知同社会认知对话的产物,这种对话从三个维度展开,即具身自我认知、具身人际认知、具身群体认知。本研究不仅论证了具身认知的视角提高了传统社会认知心理学的生态效度,而且从进化心理学、镜像神经元视角对具身社会认知的现象进行了探析。具身社会认知作为一种研究思潮,面临着许多挑战：(1)具身社会认知是对行为主义研究范式的回归;(2)具(体)身(体)是社会认知过程的一种附带现象。     

厌恶的起源及其泛化:进化的观点

厌恶是人类的基本情绪之一,也是情绪心理学的研究重点。以进化论为指导的进化心理学对厌恶研究提供了一个崭新的理论视角,认为人类厌恶情绪源于抵御寄生物和保持种群规模的需要。现代人类的多种复杂的道德厌恶感与生理厌恶感有着同样的进化根源,人类的道德心理系统有部分是建立在更为古老的进化适应基础之上。     

疾病的心理防御：人类如何应对病菌威胁

病菌和传染病构成的选择压力导致动物进化出了身体免疫以及行为免疫反应。而人类的大脑进化促使他们发展出了最为复杂的行为免疫系统。很早开始, 我们就依赖自身的各种行为免疫反应抵抗病菌。当这些疾病抵御机制跟群体生活协同进化之后, 我们的很多社会行为和态度都具有了减少疾病感染的功能, 它们包括对外群体成员的偏见、歧视, 以及对内群体成员的从众、服从。而更高层次的文化差异比如集体主义-个人主义, 至少部分原因是要管理与疾病感染有关的风险。本篇综述讨论了与抵御病菌威胁有关的社会行为、态度和其他心理现象。     

Self-Ratings of Physical Attractiveness in a Competitive Context: When Males are More Sensitive to Self-Perceptions Than Females

Abstract

The authors investigated sex differences in the ratings of physical attractiveness in a competitive context. Participants in an Ultimatum Game experiment offered to split a sum of money with their opponents who could either accept or reject the offers; subsequently, physical attractiveness ratings (both self-ratings and of the other) were obtained. The authors found that male participants rated themselves higher on physical attractiveness when facing male opponents than when facing female ones; there was no such difference for the female participants. Furthermore, male participants' self-ratings of physical attractiveness were higher than the ratings provided by their corresponding male opponents. The authors discuss these findings using the tenets of evolutionary psychology pertaining to as male intra-sexual rivalry in competitive contexts.     

Evolutionary Ethics: Its Origin and Contemporary Face

The development of modern evolutionary ethics began shortly after the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection . Early discussions were plagued by several problems. First, evolutionary ethical explanations were dependent on group-selection accounts of social behavior (especially the explanation of altruism). Second, they seem to violate the philosophical principle that "ought" statements cannot be derived from "is" statements alone (values cannot be derivedfrom facts alone). Third, evolutionary ethics appeared to be biologically deterministic, deemed incompatible with the free will required for ethics to be possible. Fourth, social policies based on evolutionary theory (for example, eugenics in the early part of this century) seemed patently unethical. Sociobiology (which coalesced as a field of study with Edward O. Wilson's Sociobiology: The New Synthesis , 1975) addressed several of these problems and provided a rich framework and a new impetus for evolutionary ethics. The lingering problems were the philosophical is-ought barrier and biological determinism. After tracing the early and more recent development of evolutionary ethics, I argue that the remaining problems can be surmounted and an incipient evolutionary ethics can be defended. Thoroughgoing evolutionaryethics must await theoretical developments in neurobiology and cognitive science.     

Toward a cultural neuropsychology: An alternative view and a preliminary model

Any integrated theory of mind and behavior must address the dynamic interaction between neurobiological and sociocultural systems as possible causes for human action. Newer findings within the behavioral neurosciences have pointed to the brain's exceptional plasticity and flexibility and suggest that one's surroundings, including one's cultural environment, may directly influence the way the human nervous system becomes organized. In this paper, a preliminary connectionist model of culture-brain interaction is proposed in an effort to illustrate the possible contribution of cultural factors to the development of the individual human brain.     

Differences in Parental Investment Contribute to Important Differences Between Men and Women

Parental investment theory addresses sex differences that result from the trade-off between parenting effort and mating effort. For example, relative to men, women spend more time caring for offspring, are more selective in assenting to sexual intercourse, are more upset by a partner's emotional infidelity than by a partner's sexual infidelity, and are better able to inhibit their behaviors in certain situations. These and other sex differences are attributable to evolved mechanisms that work in interaction with the physical and social environments.     

WILDFLOWERS AND WONDER: A PASTOR'S WANDERINGS IN THE RELIGION-SCIENCE WILDERNESS

Abstract. In this paper, I explore, as a Christian and a parish pastor, what drew me into the religion-science dialogue and what keeps me involved. Encounters with nature and readings of evolutionary theory answer some questions and raise others, especially questions about chance and the nature of God. I persist in my quest for understanding because creedal affirmations of God as Creator demand an examination of the relationship between God and the world, and because I want to proclaim the Christian message in a credible way to parishioners raised with a scientific worldview. Along the way I am reaping unexpected spiritual dividends.