session14-biological

• explains personality traits as adaptations shaped by natural and sexual selection

• to solve recurrent problems of survival and reproduction in ancestral environments.

Survival (competition for resources, protection from threats)

and reproduction (passing on one’s genes).

• refers to the ancestral environments and selection pressures that shaped human psychological adaptations,

• largely corresponding to Stone Age conditions.

• Distal explanations refer to ultimate evolutionary functions (e.g., reproduction),

• while proximate explanations refer to immediate motivations (e.g., pleasure, emotions).

• the ability to pass on one’s genes either directly through offspring or indirectly by supporting genetically related individuals.

Evolution views humans as organisms shaped by survival and reproductive pressures,

• rather than beings defined primarily by moral or metaphysical principles.

• The mind consists of evolved, domain-specific modules implemented in neural circuits,

• adapted to solve recurrent adaptive problems in the EEA.

Because many psychological mechanisms evolved under ancestral conditions and may be mismatched to modern environments.

• proposes that humans are biologically predisposed to live in groups

• personality reflects strategies for gaining status, acceptance, and roles within social hierarchies.

Protection from predators, access to resources, cooperative child-rearing, and improved mate selection.

Seeking social status, maintaining social roles and identities, and engaging in ritualized social interactions governed by norms.

Altruism evolved because cooperation improves survival through shared resources, protection, and stable social hierarchies.

• Facial expressions are often context-dependent,

• do not always match prototypes,

• and there is limited evidence for distinct brain systems for each emotion.

• Facial expressions alone are insufficient to determine emotional states; body context strongly influences emotion perception.

• individual differences in traits such as extraversion, neuroticism, and agreeableness across many species.

• Gosling & John (1999)

  • Animal personality can be reliably measured, is not mere anthropomorphism, and shows structural similarities to human personality.

• Primates show structures closest to humans; dogs, cats, and other mammals show E, N, and A;

  • even fish and octopuses show E and N.

Aggression evolved to facilitate competition for resources, territory, dominance, and mating opportunities.

Men show higher physical aggression, while women show more indirect aggression, particularly during adolescence.

• no differnces in anger but in the form o anger

Mate selection, sexual competition, conception, mate retention, parental care, coalition formation, and kin investment.

• The sex that invests more in offspring (typically females) is more selective,

• while the lower-investing sex (typically males) competes more for mating opportunities.

Women tend toward selectivity and long-term alliances; men show greater mating competition and short-term strategies.

Men prioritize physical attractiveness;

women prioritize resources, earning potential, and agreeableness.

• Attractiveness predicts popularity;

• women’s selectivity is influenced by age and socio-economic factors;

• selectivity changes across the lifespan.

No. Both sexes value honesty, compassion, long-term bonds, and offspring survival.

Men are more distressed by sexual infidelity, while women are more distressed by emotional infidelity.

Male jealousy evolved due to uncertainty of paternity, motivating behaviors that ensure genetic continuity.

Cultural norms, socialization, and cognitive interpretations may also contribute.

Through frequency-dependent selection and trade-offs, where different trait levels confer advantages and disadvantages depending on context.

Pros: creativity, exploration, mating success.

Cons: risk of unusual thinking and vulnerability to mental disorders.

Pros: longevity, health, reliability.

Cons: rigidity, missed opportunities, delayed gratification.

Pros: mating success, exploration.

Cons: increased risk-taking, accidents, unstable relationships.

Pros: cooperation, social harmony.

Cons: vulnerability to exploitation

Pros: vigilance, harm avoidance, effort.

Cons: poorer mental and physical health.

Strong biological grounding,

explanation of sex differences,

integration of personality with survival and reproduction.

• Lack of a unified theory,

• unclear mechanisms,

• and overreliance on group-level comparisons.