The Social Competition Hypothesis of Depression

1994 ◽  
Vol 164 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Price ◽  
Leon Sloman ◽  
Russell Gardner ◽  
Paul Gilbert ◽  
Peter Rohde

Depressive personality and depressive illness are examined from an evolutionary adaptationist standpoint. It is postulated that the depressive state evolved in relation to social competition, as an unconscious, involuntary losing strategy, enabling the individual to accept defeat in ritual agonistic encounters and to accommodate to what would otherwise be unacceptably low social rank.

BJPsych Open ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Kupferberg ◽  
Oliver M. Hager ◽  
Urs Fischbacher ◽  
Laura S. Brändle ◽  
Melanie Haynes ◽  
...  

BackgroundPrice's social competition hypothesis interprets the depressive state as an unconscious, involuntary losing strategy, which enables individuals to yield and accept defeat in competitive situations.AimsWe investigated whether patients who suffer from major depressive disorder (MDD) would avoid competition more often than either patients suffering from borderline personality disorder (BPD) or healthy controls.MethodIn a simple paper-folding task healthy participants and patiens with MDD and BPD were matched with two opponents, one with an unknown diagnosis and one who shared their clinical diagnosis, and they had to choose either a competitive or cooperative payment scheme for task completion.ResultsWhen playing against an unknown opponent, but not the opponent with the same diagnosis, the patients with depression chose the competitive payment scheme statistically less often than healthy controls and patients diagnosed with BPD.ConclusionThe competition avoidance against the unknown opponent is consistent with Price's social competition hypothesis.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Padilla-Coreano ◽  
Kanha Batra ◽  
Makenzie Patarino ◽  
Zexin Chen ◽  
Rachel Rock ◽  
...  

Abstract How do we know our social rank? Most social species, from insects to humans, self-organize into social dominance hierarchies (1–4). The establishment of social ranks serves to decrease aggression, conserve energy, and maximize survival for the entire group (5–8). Despite dominance behaviors being critical for successful interactions and ultimately, survival, we have only begun to learn how the brain represents social rank (9–12) and guides behavior based on this representation. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been implicated in the expression of social dominance in rodents (10,11), and in social rank learning in humans (13,14). Yet precisely how the mPFC encodes rank and which circuits mediate this computation is not known. We developed a trial-based social competition assay in which mice compete for rewards, as well as a computer vision tool to track multiple, unmarked animals. With the development of a deep learning computer vision tool (AlphaTracker) and wireless electrophysiology recording devices, we have established a novel platform to facilitate quantitative examination of how the brain gives rise to social behaviors. We describe nine behavioral states during social competition that were accurately decoded from mPFC ensemble activity using a hidden Markov model combined with generalized linear models (HMM-GLM). Population dynamics in the mPFC were predictive of social rank and competitive success. This population-level rank representation translated into differences in the individual cell responses to task-relevant events across ranks. Finally, we demonstrate that mPFC cells that project to the lateral hypothalamus contribute to the prediction of social rank and promote dominance behavior during the reward competition. Thus, we reveal a cortico-hypothalamic circuit by which mPFC exerts top-down modulation of social dominance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-62
Author(s):  
Aleksandr A. Trufanov ◽  
Valentina I. Mordvintseva

In 2015 during excavations in the Ust’-Al’ma necropolis, a grave with a side-chamber was discovered (No. 1074). The deceased was a male aged 25-35 who had suffered many injuries during his life which could be traces of blows received in battle. The burial complex dates from the mid-1st century ad and belongs to a group of ‘Barbarian’ elite burials complete with gold funeral wreaths and face-coverings (eye- and mouth-covers). Most of these graves are earthen catacombs located along the road leading towards the ancient fortified settlement of Ust’-Al’ma on the western coast of the Crimean peninsula. Assemblages from male burials of this group usually contain weapons (sword, bow, arrows). As a rule, the burial goods are plentiful and rich. Elements of burial attire are often made of precious metals, and are represented by armlets, brooches, pendants, amulets, items from belt-sets and plaques which would have been sewn on to items of apparel. Among other burial goods, there are amphorae, wooden utensils with carved figures of animals and Roman imported bronze and silver ware. Taking into consideration that these burial structures were of a special type, that the graves had been positioned in a special area along the road leading to the settlement, as well as the extraordinary splendor of the grave goods, it can be concluded that they were burials for individuals belonging to the highest ranks of the social elite. The use of an unusual type of burial structure (a grave with a side-chamber) and the relatively small number of grave goods, which were nevertheless signs of high social rank (a funeral wreath, face-coverings, a sword), indicate the special status of the individual buried in Grave No. 1074.


Animals ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 126
Author(s):  
Kristyn R. Vitale

Despite the diversity of social situations in which cats live, the degree to which free-ranging cats (FRCs) are social is still debated. The aim of this review is to explore the literature on the social behavior of FRCs. A search of two major databases revealed that observations of intraspecies and interspecies social interactions have been conducted. The intraspecific social dynamics of FRCs differ based on group of cats surveyed. Some groups display strong social bonds and preferential affiliations, while other groups are more loosely associated and display little to no social interaction. Factors impacting FRC conspecific interactions include cat body size, cat social rank, cat individuality, cat age, relationship to conspecific (kin/familiar), cat sex, level of human caretaking, presence of food, the health of the individual, or sexual status of conspecifics. Interspecies interactions also occur with humans and wildlife. The human’s sex and the weather conditions on the day of interaction have been shown to impact FRC social behavior. Interactions with wildlife were strongly linked to the timing of cat feeding events. These findings support the idea that FRCs are “social generalists” who display flexibility in their social behavior. The social lives of FRCs exist, are complex, and deserve further study.


1998 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damian Mohan ◽  
Michael Fitzgerald ◽  
Claire Collins

AbstractObjective: This study aims to determine if there is a relationship between antenatal depression and maternal depression in the following three to four years. Secondly, to establish if there is a relationship between maternal depression and behavioural problems with the pre-school child. Thirdly, to investigate if social parameters are correlated with maternal health and childhood behaviour.Method: In a longitudinal study, a sample of women were screened for depression at the antenatal stage and followed up four years later. Mothers were screened for depressive illness on both occasions. Children's behaviour was assessed at four years. Social parameters were also measured at the pre-school stage.Result: Depression at the antenatal stage was not found to be significantly related to depression at the pre-school stage. The existence of a behaviour problem was not significantly related to the depressive state of the mother antenatally, however a currently depressed mother is approximately six times more likely to have a child with behaviour problems than a mother who is not depressed. Social factors were also assessed and found to correlate with maternal depression.Conclusion: In managing a child with behavioural problems the child psychiatrist should consider the mental state of the mother. The social world of the individual would appear to be important and should not be ignored when treating either a child with behavioural problems or an adult with depression.


1999 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude Flament

This paper is concerned by a possible articulation between the diversity of individual opinions and the existence of consensus in social representations. It postulates the existence of consensual normative boundaries framing the individual opinions. A study by questionnaire about the social representations of the development of intelligence gives support to this notion.


2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-137
Author(s):  
Roxanne Christensen ◽  
LaSonia Barlow ◽  
Demetrius E. Ford

Three personal reflections provided by doctoral students of the Michigan School of Professional Psychology (Farmington Hills, Michigan) address identification of individual perspectives on the tragic events surrounding Trayvon Martin’s death. The historical ramifications of a culture-in-context and the way civil rights, racism, and community traumatization play a role in the social construction of criminals are explored. A justice orientation is applied to both the community and the individual via internal reflection about the unique individual and collective roles social justice plays in the outcome of these events. Finally, the personal and professional responses of a practitioner who is also a mother of minority young men brings to light the need to educate against stereotypes, assist a community to heal, and simultaneously manage the direct effects of such events on youth in society. In all three essays, common themes of community and growth are addressed from varying viewpoints. As worlds collided, a historical division has given rise to a present unity geared toward breaking the cycle of violence and trauma. The authors plead that if there is no other service in the name of this tragedy, let it at least contribute to the actualization of a society toward growth and healing.


This volume provides the first comprehensive overview of the extant Greek and Latin letter collections of late antiquity (ca. 300-600 C.E.). Bringing together an international team of historians, classicists, and scholars of religion, it illustrates how letter collections advertised an image of the letter writer and introduces the social and textual histories of each collection. Nearly every chapter focuses on the letter collection of a different late ancient author—from the famous (or even infamous) to the obscure—and investigates its particular issues of content, arrangement, and publication context. On the whole, the volume reveals how late antique letter collections operated as a discrete literary genre with its own conventions, transmission processes, and self-presentational agendas while offering new approaches to interpret both larger letter collections and the individual letters contained within them. Each chapter contributes to a broad argument that scholars should read letter collections as they do representatives of other late antique literary genres, as single texts made up of individual components, with larger thematic and literary characteristics that are as important as those of their component parts.


1970 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 221-226
Author(s):  
Олена Горова

Професійне   становлення   особистості   супроводжує   всі   етапи  соціально-вікового   розвитку  особистості.  Трудова  діяльність  є  основним  видом  суспільної  активності,  який  дозволяє  працівнику  задовольняти  основні  потреби,  особливо  у  процесі  постійних  соціальних,  освітніх  реформ.  Важливим  завданням психологічного супроводу працівника у процесі виконання професійної діяльності є забезпечення  сприятливих  умов  формування  професійно  важливих  якостей.  Соціальна  успішність  є  результатом  ефективного  розв’язання  виробничих  завдань, які  мають  суспільно корисну  важливість  та  пов’язані  з  потребами інших людей. Якісний прогресивний розвиток працівника можливий лише за умови збереження  стійкого  позитивного  ставлення  до  професії.  Позитивна  професійна  самоідентифікація  пов’язана  з  ототожненням  та  персоналізацією  працівником  особистісних  рис  працівників,  які  досягли  успіху  у  професії,  мають  суспільно  визнані  результати  діяльності.  Таким  чином,  професійна  успішність  як  суб’єктне  новоутворення  у  якості  відчуття  гордості  за  власні  результати  діяльності  забезпечує  реалізацію традиції наставництва і  передачі позитивного професійного досвіду.    Професійно  успішний  працівник  усвідомлює  необхідність  та  важливість  результатів  своєї  діяльності  для  інших,  що  вимагає,  відповідно,  від  соціального  середовища  усвідомлення  необхідності  визнання  результатів  діяльності  фахівців.  Знехтуваний  суспільством  працівник,  або  той,  результати  діяльності  якого  позиціонуються  як  меншовартісні,  дистанціюється  від  професії  та  має  негативний  потенціал розвитку. Professional formation of the person accompanies all phases of social and age of the individual. Gainful  employment is the main form of social activity that allows the employee to realize the basic needs. An important task  of psychological support worker in the course of professional activity is to provide favorable conditions for the  formation  of  professionally  important  qualities.  Professional  success  is  the  result  of  an  effective  solution  of  industrial jobs that are socially useful and important related to the needs of others. High-quality progressive  development of an employee is only possible while maintaining a stable positive attitude towards the profession.  Positive  professional  identity  associated  with  the  identification  and  personalization  of  employee  personality traits of employees who have been successful in the profession, who have publicly acknowledged  performance. Thus professional success as the subjective feeling of a lump in the pride of their own results of  operations  ensures  the  implementation  of  the  tradition  of  mentoring  and  of  positive  transfer  of  professional  experience.  Professionally successful employees aware of the need and the importance of the results of its operations  for the other, which requires, respectively, from the social environment - awareness of the need to recognize the  performance of specialists. Unclaimed society worker, or the results of operations, which are positioned as less  important, is moving away from the profession and has a negative potential. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (10) ◽  
pp. 3-18
Author(s):  
Valeriy HEYETS ◽  

Self-realization of the individual in the conditions of using the policy of “social quality” as a modern tool of public administration in a transitional society is largely related to overcoming the existing limitations of the individual in acting in such a society and economy transitioning to a market character. Given that, in particular, in Ukraine the market is hybrid (and this is especially important), the existing limitations in self-realization of the individual must be overcome, including, and perhaps primarily, through transformations in the processes of socialization, which differ from European practices and institutions that ensure its implementation. Thus, it is a matter of overcoming not only and not so much the natural selfish interests of the individual, but the existing gap in skills, which are an invisible asset to ensure the endogenous nature of economic growth. It is shown that there is an inverse relationship between the formation of socialization and the policy of “social quality”, which is characterized by the dialectic of interaction between the individual and the group and which is a process of increasing the degree of socialization. The latter, due to interdependence, will serve to increase the effectiveness of interaction between the individual and the group, which expands the possibilities of self-realization of the individual in terms of European policy of “social quality” as a tool of public administration, whose successful application causes new challenges and content of the so-called secondary sociology. The logic of Ukraine's current development shows that new approaches are needed to achieve the social development goals set out in the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union and to minimize the potential risks and threats that accompany current reforms in Ukrainian society. They should introduce new forms of public administration to create policy interrelationships of all dimensions, as proposed, in particular, by the social quality approach to socialization, the nature of which has been revealed in the author's previous publications. As a result, the socio-cultural (social) dimension will fundamentally change, the structure of which must include the transformational processes of socialization of a person, thanks to which they will learn the basics of life in the new social reality and intensify their social and economic interaction on the basis of self-realization, thereby contributing to the success of state policy of social quality and achieving stable socio-economic development.


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