scholarly journals Evolution, the Menstrual Cycle, and Theoretical Overreach

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 1113-1130
Author(s):  
Jeff Kiesner ◽  
Tory Eisenlohr-Moul ◽  
Jane Mendle
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Menstrual Cycle ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Internal Validity ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
And Behavior

A considerable amount of recent psychological research has attributed a variety of menstrual-cycle-related changes in social behavior to evolutionarily adaptive functions. Although these studies often draw interesting and unusual conclusions about female emotion and behavior within evolutionary theory, their significant limitations have not yet been addressed. In this article, we outline several methodological and conceptual issues related to the menstrual cycle that constitute threats to the internal validity and theoretical integrity of these studies. We recommend specific guidelines to address these issues and emphasize the need to apply more comprehensive and sophisticated theoretical structures when considering menstrual-cycle-related changes in emotion and behavior.

scholarly journals Aggression Type Influences Perceptions of a Woman’s Body Size, Personality, and Behavior

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 147470492091793
Author(s):  
Jaime L. Palmer-Hague
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Social Behavior ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Aggressive Behavior ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Physical Aggression ◽  
Mate Value ◽  
Risk Of Injury ◽  
And Behavior

Although women engage in both physical and nonphysical aggression, little is known about how aggression type influences perceptions of their morphology, personality, and social behavior. Evolutionary theory predicts that women avoid physical aggression due to risk of injury, which could compromise reproductive success. Engaging in physical aggression might therefore decrease women’s perceived mate value. However, physical aggression could be advantageous for some women, such as those who are larger in size and less vulnerable to injury. This presents the possibility that physically aggressive women might be perceived as larger and not necessarily lower in mate value. These hypotheses have not been tested. Across three studies, I used narratives to test the effect of aggression type (physical, verbal, indirect, nonaggressive) on perceptions of women’s height, weight, masculinity, attractiveness, and social status. In Studies 1 and 2, participants perceived a physically aggressive woman to be both larger and more masculine than nonphysically aggressive women. In Study 3, participants perceived both a physically aggressive woman and a nonaggressive woman to be larger than an indirectly aggressive woman; the effect of aggression type on perceptions of a hypothetical man’s height was not significant. I also found some evidence that aggression type influenced perceptions of attractiveness and social status, but these were small and inconsistent effects that warrant further study. Taken together, the results suggest that physical and indirect aggressive behavior may be associated with certain morphological and behavioral profiles in women.

The Loss of Happiness in Market Democracies. By Robert E. Lane. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000. 466p. $42.00 cloth, $19.00 paper.

2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 185-186
Author(s):  
Conrad P. Waligorski
Keyword(s):  
Medical Research ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Marginal Utility ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
New Haven ◽  
Yale University ◽  
Market Experience ◽  
Or Economics ◽  
And Behavior

Happiness, unhappiness, and depression are not the usual foci of political science or economics, but Robert Lane demonstrates their importance. The Loss of Happiness in Market Democracies is a worthy companion to and extension of Lane's earlier work, especially The Market Experience (1991). Lane employs psychology, genetics, evolutionary theory, and medical research to convince economists and democratic theorists that biological and psychological research can enrich their often unrealistic assumptions about well-being and behavior. He argues that in affluent societies there is growing unhappiness, growing depression, and declining marginal utility of income to produce happiness. These are accompanied by mistrust and increasing political negativity, which further undermine happiness. The dominant Western image of individualism ignores that people often do not know what makes them happy, which undermines prevailing market and democratic premises (p. 284).

scholarly journals Misconceptions about Conception and Other Fallacies: Historical Bias in Reproductive Biology

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 683-691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia Hayssen
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Menstrual Cycle ◽  
Reproductive Biology ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Maternal Care ◽  
General Public ◽  
Selection Differential ◽  
Female Reproduction ◽  
Cultural Legacy ◽  
And Behavior

Abstract Natural selection (differential reproduction) is a major tenet of evolutionary theory. In mammals the success of reproduction is primarily controlled by females who provide the majority of offspring care via gestation and lactation. In some species, maternal care also extends post-weaning. This primacy of female reproduction in evolution has not quite crept into our understanding of organismal adaptations in anatomy, physiology, and behavior. This cultural legacy has left its mark and led to misconceptions in our understanding of reproductive biology that are especially prominent in the understanding of reproduction in the general public. Here, I give examples of such misconceptions. I focus on aspects of physiology (the “sperm race,” the “estrous cycle,” the “28-day” menstrual cycle, “sex” hormones, and meiosis) as well as aspects of terminology in morphology and behavior. The issues I raise are not new, but all remain embedded in the teaching of reproductive biology especially at the introductory level. For each issue, I examine the historical bias, the consequences of that bias, and, more importantly, ways to ameliorate that bias going forward.

Evolutionary Approaches to Health Issues and Behaviors Across the Life Course

2019 ◽  
pp. 273-302
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Kruger ◽  
Jessica S. Kruger
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Current State ◽  
Health Related Research ◽  
Health Related ◽  
State Of Research ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
And Behavior

Health-related research is broad, diverse, and fragmented theoretically, methodologically, and across disciplines. The understanding and improvement of human health would be accelerated by establishing a universal and deep framework integrating varied undertakings. This framework is evolutionary theory, the most powerful explanatory system in the life sciences and the only framework that can unify knowledge in otherwise disparate fields of human research. Darwinian medicine has already made considerable progress in the practical understanding of human physiology and other areas informing medical care. Within evolutionary theory, life history theory in particular holds the promise of promoting understanding of variation in behavioral patterns related to health and why they vary consistent with environmental conditions. This chapter describes the current state of research exemplifying an evolutionary approach to health-related psychology and behavior and outlines directions for future research and intervention efforts.

scholarly journals Performance and ingestive and social behavior of young cattle with different sexual conditions supplemented in Aruana pasture

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 2565
Author(s):  
Odilene De Souza Teixeira ◽  
Ivan Luiz Brondani ◽  
Dari Celestino Alves Filho ◽  
José Laerte Nörnberg ◽  
Jonatas Cattelam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Social Behavior ◽  
Agonistic Behavior ◽  
Lower Cost ◽  
Composition Analysis ◽  
Young Cattle ◽  
Energy Supplementation ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Average Body ◽  
Average Body Weight

This study was conducted aiming at measuring the performance and behavior of beef cattle surgically castrated, immunocastrated or non-castrated, finished at 18 months old in Aruana pasture and with energy supplementation. Thirty-nine male bovines with an initial average body weight and age of 284.1 ± 31.4 kg and 14 months old, respectively, were used. The bromatological composition analysis and productive parameters of the pasture did not differ between treatments. The performance of young cattle was not changed by the sexual condition. When evaluating the agonistic behavior, the non-castrated bovine presented a higher number of activities, such as threats and fights, in relation to those immunocastrated. The time spent on the feeder by non-castrated young cattle (56.20 minutes) was higher than that observed for surgically castrated or immunocastrated (41.43 and 32.38 minutes, respectively). The combination between the correct management of Aruana pasture and use of supplementation showed to be promising for finishing bovines. Both surgically castrated and immunocastrated steers demonstrated to be equivalents in the performed evaluations. Therefore, if the farmer chooses castration, the use of immunocastration is suggested. This practice is less invasive, preserves animal welfare more than surgical castration, and has a lower cost.

scholarly journals A Theory of Adaptive Intelligence and Its Relation to General Intelligence

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Sternberg
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Hierarchical Model ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
General Factor ◽  
General Intelligence ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
And Behavior

Intelligence typically is defined as consisting of “adaptation to the environment” or in related terms. Yet, it is not clear that “general intelligence” or g, traditionally conceptualized in terms of a general factor in a psychometrically-based hierarchical model of intelligence, provides an optimal way of defining intelligence as adaptation to the environment. Such a definition of adaptive intelligence would need to be biologically based in terms of evolutionary theory, would need to take into account the cultural context of adaptation, and would need to take into account whether thought and behavior labeled as “adaptively intelligent” actually contributed to the perpetuation of the human and other species, or whether it was indifferent or actually destructive to this perpetuation. In this article, I consider the similarities and differences between “general intelligence” and “adaptive intelligence,” as well as the implications especially of the differences.

Menstrual Cycle Influences On Mood and Behavior in Women With Borderline Personality Disorder

1995 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Ziv ◽  
Mark J. Russ ◽  
Margaret Moline ◽  
Stephen Hurt ◽  
Steven Zendell
Keyword(s):  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Menstrual Cycle ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
And Behavior
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