SOCIOBIOLOGY

Sociobiology

The study of the evolution of social behavior in humans and other animals.

Adaptation of social behavior

The process by which social traits evolve over time in response to social environments.

The Cinderella Effect

The preference for ensuring the survival of genetically related offspring suggesting an evolved behavioral bias.

Inclusive fitness

The concept that evolutionary success comes not only from an individual's own reproduction but also from helping relatives reproduce.

E.O. Wilson

A biologist who argued that social behaviors should be analyzed through an evolutionary lens.

Natural selection

The process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.

Behavioral evolution evidence

Behavior and physical traits can evolve similarly, as suggested by Dmitri Belyaev’s fox breeding experiment.

Evolutionary psychology

A field of psychology that focuses on identifying evolved psychological mechanisms influencing behavior.

Naturalistic fallacy

The assumption that what is found in nature is good or moral.

Heuristics

Cognitive strategies used by the human mind to solve problems based on ancestral challenges.

Just-so stories

Unverifiable narrative explanations for cultural practices or biological traits.

Maladaptive behaviors

Behaviors that were once beneficial but may now hinder survival due to environmental changes.

Emotional expressions

Facial expressions that communicate emotions and can modify perception, potentially evolving for social communication.

Phineas Gage

An individual whose frontal lobe injury illustrated the connection between behavior regulation and brain function.

Mate age preferences

Universal patterns observed across cultures in which men prefer younger women and women prefer older men for reproductive success.

Cheater detection

A cognitive mechanism suggesting humans are better at solving social problems when framed in an evolutionary context.