Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2007
Recent research on kin investment shows a matrilateral bias as a function of paternity uncertaint... more Recent research on kin investment shows a matrilateral bias as a function of paternity uncertainty. Kin investment, however, is a special case of kin altruism. We thus hypothesize that psychological adaptations have evolved to regulate cousin-directed altruism according to predictably variable levels of paternity uncertainty in different categories of cousins. We develop a formal mathematical model that predicts that individuals should be most willing to act altruistically towards their mother's sister's (MoSis) children and least willing to act altruistically towards their father's brother's (FaBro) children. Altruism towards father's sister's (FaSis) and mother's brother's (MoBro) children are predicted to fall in between. An empirical study (N=195), assessing expressed altruistic proclivities, confirmed the predictions from the model. Participants expressed willingness-to-help following the descending order: (i) MoSis children, (ii) MoBro children,...
Scant research has examined how individuals attempt to influence others' mating decisions. Pa... more Scant research has examined how individuals attempt to influence others' mating decisions. Parents are a special case because of their genetic relatedness to, and power over, their children. This paper tests the Daughter-Guarding Hypothesis: humans possess adaptations that motivate (1) protecting their daughter's sexual reputation, (2) preserving their daughter's mate value, and (3) preventing their daughters from being sexually exploited. Using two data sources, young adults and their parents, we found that parents were more likely to control their daughters' mating decisions. Parents were more likely to control their daughters' sexual behavior; parents reported more emotional upset over daughters' sexual activity; parents controlled their daughters' mate choice more than their sons'. The results support several hypothesized design features of the Daughter-Guarding hypothesis.
The target article provides important theoretical contributions to psychology and Bayesian modeli... more The target article provides important theoretical contributions to psychology and Bayesian modeling. Despite the article's excellent points, we suggest that it succumbs to a few misconceptions about evolutionary psychology (EP). These include a mischaracterization of evolutionary psychology's approach to optimality; failure to appreciate the centrality of mechanism in EP; and an incorrect depiction of hypothesis testing. An accurate characterization of EP offers more promise for successful integration with Bayesian modeling.
Men universally express a preference for youth in a long-term mate, presumably an evolved desire ... more Men universally express a preference for youth in a long-term mate, presumably an evolved desire originating from the close and recurrent statistical association between a woman's age and her residual reproductive value (future reproductive potential). As a consequence, we hypothesized a positive correlation for men (but not women) between the number of children desired and preferred spousal age difference Ða context-specific shift in mate preference depending on whether the man is pursuing a``quality'' or``quantity'' reproductive strategy. We tested this hypothesis with data provided by 9809 participants from 37 cultures located in six continents and five islands. Betweenculture analyses confirmed the hypothesis, even after statistically controlling for preferred age at first marriage, current age of participant, and current marital status. Discussion notes limitations and focuses on other possible context-sensitive shifts in mate preferences.
Humans have evolved adaptations for infidelity, as well defenses against a partner's betrayal-cen... more Humans have evolved adaptations for infidelity, as well defenses against a partner's betrayal-centrally the emotion of jealousy. Both create problems that bring couples to therapy. Diagnosing jealousy as pathological versus normal turns out to be difficult, in part because infidelity has evolved to be concealed from the betrayed mate, which creates a signal detection problem. Because missing an infidelity committed by a mate has been more costly in evolutionary currencies than falsely suspecting a partner of cheating, selection has created an error management cognitive bias to over-infer a partner's betrayal. Moreover, adaptations for jealousy become activated by predictors of infidelity, such as mate value discrepancies, when no actual infidelities have occurred. Cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) offers several ways to deal with these complexities. One way is to highlight potential mismatches, distinguishing between jealous emotions that were functional in ancestral environments but are less so in modern environments. A second is to distinguish between the goal of personal well-being and reproductive outcomes. Understanding the evolutionary logic of jealousy, in short, provides patients with conceptual tools for cognitively reframing jealousy and infidelity.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2007
Recent research on kin investment shows a matrilateral bias as a function of paternity uncertaint... more Recent research on kin investment shows a matrilateral bias as a function of paternity uncertainty. Kin investment, however, is a special case of kin altruism. We thus hypothesize that psychological adaptations have evolved to regulate cousin-directed altruism according to predictably variable levels of paternity uncertainty in different categories of cousins. We develop a formal mathematical model that predicts that individuals should be most willing to act altruistically towards their mother's sister's (MoSis) children and least willing to act altruistically towards their father's brother's (FaBro) children. Altruism towards father's sister's (FaSis) and mother's brother's (MoBro) children are predicted to fall in between. An empirical study (N=195), assessing expressed altruistic proclivities, confirmed the predictions from the model. Participants expressed willingness-to-help following the descending order: (i) MoSis children, (ii) MoBro children,...
Scant research has examined how individuals attempt to influence others' mating decisions. Pa... more Scant research has examined how individuals attempt to influence others' mating decisions. Parents are a special case because of their genetic relatedness to, and power over, their children. This paper tests the Daughter-Guarding Hypothesis: humans possess adaptations that motivate (1) protecting their daughter's sexual reputation, (2) preserving their daughter's mate value, and (3) preventing their daughters from being sexually exploited. Using two data sources, young adults and their parents, we found that parents were more likely to control their daughters' mating decisions. Parents were more likely to control their daughters' sexual behavior; parents reported more emotional upset over daughters' sexual activity; parents controlled their daughters' mate choice more than their sons'. The results support several hypothesized design features of the Daughter-Guarding hypothesis.
The target article provides important theoretical contributions to psychology and Bayesian modeli... more The target article provides important theoretical contributions to psychology and Bayesian modeling. Despite the article's excellent points, we suggest that it succumbs to a few misconceptions about evolutionary psychology (EP). These include a mischaracterization of evolutionary psychology's approach to optimality; failure to appreciate the centrality of mechanism in EP; and an incorrect depiction of hypothesis testing. An accurate characterization of EP offers more promise for successful integration with Bayesian modeling.
Men universally express a preference for youth in a long-term mate, presumably an evolved desire ... more Men universally express a preference for youth in a long-term mate, presumably an evolved desire originating from the close and recurrent statistical association between a woman's age and her residual reproductive value (future reproductive potential). As a consequence, we hypothesized a positive correlation for men (but not women) between the number of children desired and preferred spousal age difference Ða context-specific shift in mate preference depending on whether the man is pursuing a``quality'' or``quantity'' reproductive strategy. We tested this hypothesis with data provided by 9809 participants from 37 cultures located in six continents and five islands. Betweenculture analyses confirmed the hypothesis, even after statistically controlling for preferred age at first marriage, current age of participant, and current marital status. Discussion notes limitations and focuses on other possible context-sensitive shifts in mate preferences.
Humans have evolved adaptations for infidelity, as well defenses against a partner's betrayal-cen... more Humans have evolved adaptations for infidelity, as well defenses against a partner's betrayal-centrally the emotion of jealousy. Both create problems that bring couples to therapy. Diagnosing jealousy as pathological versus normal turns out to be difficult, in part because infidelity has evolved to be concealed from the betrayed mate, which creates a signal detection problem. Because missing an infidelity committed by a mate has been more costly in evolutionary currencies than falsely suspecting a partner of cheating, selection has created an error management cognitive bias to over-infer a partner's betrayal. Moreover, adaptations for jealousy become activated by predictors of infidelity, such as mate value discrepancies, when no actual infidelities have occurred. Cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) offers several ways to deal with these complexities. One way is to highlight potential mismatches, distinguishing between jealous emotions that were functional in ancestral environments but are less so in modern environments. A second is to distinguish between the goal of personal well-being and reproductive outcomes. Understanding the evolutionary logic of jealousy, in short, provides patients with conceptual tools for cognitively reframing jealousy and infidelity.
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Papers by D. Buss