Is friendship akin to kinship
TL;DR: A domain-specific over a domain-general approach to understanding intimate relationships is supported and a number of interesting questions about the modular structure of cognitive and affective processes involved in these relationships are raised.
About: This article is published in Evolution and Human Behavior.The article was published on 2007-09-01 and is currently open access. It has received 125 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Kin recognition & Kinship.
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01 Jan 2015
TL;DR: This chapter reviews how these evolutionary explanations answer two questions: what proximate psychological mechanisms or cognitive algorithms do people use in choosing to bestow exceptional aid to friends and what evolutionary challenges are likely selected for this tendency to help friends.
Abstract: Humans frequently cultivate friendships, or enduring and selective social bonds in which partners help each other in times of need, often at great cost to themselves. In recent years, researchers have proposed several evolutionary explanations for the increased helping and sharing among close friends. In this chapter, we review how these evolutionary explanations answer two questions: (1) what proximate psychological mechanisms or cognitive algorithms do people use in choosing to bestow exceptional aid to friends? (2) What evolutionary challenges are likely selected for this tendency to help friends? We then assess how these hypotheses fare in the light of existing evidence from psychology, anthropology, and biology on how close friends help each other and how people cultivate friendships.
7 citations
TL;DR: This article reasons that in more industrialized settings, friends’ children may serve as non-adaptive proxies for nieces and nephews and predicted that Canadian androphilic men would exhibit elevated altruistic tendencies toward their friends' children compared with gynephilic men and andphilic women, but this prediction was not supported.
Abstract: Given that same-sex sexual orientation is associated with lower reproductive success, how have genes associated with male androphilia (i.e., male sexual attraction/arousal to adult men) persisted over evolutionary time? The Kin Selection Hypothesis proposes that by directing valuable resources toward kin, androphilic men may enhance their indirect fitness and thereby offset the fitness costs of not reproducing directly. Support for this hypothesis has been garnered from studies conducted in Samoa, but not from studies of “gay” men in industrialized cultures (i.e., Canada, Japan, United Kingdom, and the United States). This cross-cultural difference may be due to relatively greater geographic and familial disconnect experienced by androphilic “gay” men in industrialized cultures. This article reasons that in more industrialized settings, friends’ children may serve as non-adaptive proxies for nieces and nephews. Hence, it was predicted that Canadian androphilic men would exhibit elevated altruistic tendenc...
7 citations
Cites background from "Is friendship akin to kinship"
...Ackerman, Kenrick, and Schaller (2007) found that women, in particular, were more likely to treat friends like kin, whereas men were more likely to treat friends like strangers....
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...From an ultimate (evolutionary) perspective, Ackerman et al. (2007) suggested the fitness costs of erroneously perceiving kin as nonkin may have been greater for women than for men over evolutionary time....
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...Ackerman, Kenrick, and Schaller ( 2007 ) found that women, in particular, were more likely to treat friends like kin, whereas men were more likely to treat friends like strangers....
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...Ackerman et al. (2007) suggested that the sexes may differ with respect to the cognitive mechanisms that underlie the processing of information pertaining to close relationships....
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...First, on the basis of the existing literature (Ackerman et al., 2007), we predicted that a heterosexual sex difference would exist in altruistic tendencies toward friends’ children....
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined three theoretical frameworks (inclusive fitness, reciprocal altruism, and parental investment) for understanding why individuals would be more willing to help some individuals find mates instead of others.
Abstract: Individuals prefer helping some people more that others when it comes to finding a mate, and these preferences depend on whether long- or short-term mates are considered. Study 1 (N = 108) examined three theoretical frameworks (inclusive fitness, reciprocal altruism, and parental investment) for understanding why individuals would be more willing to help some individuals find mates instead of others. College participants reported how willing they were to help different types of individuals (e.g., sister, stranger) find a mate. When considering willingness to help others find a long-term mate, people preferred kin over nonkin, supporting an inclusive fitness model. However, when considering willingness to help others find short-term mates, people preferred helping people their own age, supporting a reciprocal altruism model. Study 2 (N = 143) replicated this age-cohort effect. Although rates of willingness to help others find mates were generally low, people were more likely to help others find a long-term...
7 citations
Cites background from "Is friendship akin to kinship"
...In fact, similar sentiments have been expressed by Ackerman, Kenrick, and Schaller (2007), when they stated that interactions among kin and nonkin had different functional consequences....
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01 Jan 2014
TL;DR: Research has repeatedly furnished support for the Kin Selection Hypothesis in Samoa where transgendered male androphiles (fa’afafine) exhibit elevated avuncular tendencies compared to women and gynephilic men.
Abstract: Androphilia refers to predominant sexual attraction and arousal to adult males, whereas gynephilia refers to predominant sexual attraction and arousal to adult females. The manner in which male androphilia is expressed varies cross-culturally. Sex-gender congruent male androphiles occupy the gender role typical of their sex, behave in a relatively masculine manner, and identify as “men.” In contrast, transgendered male androphiles often behave in a highly effeminate manner and identify as neither “men” nor “women.” Both forms are characterized by many of the same biodemographic and developmental correlates, which indicates that they share a common etiological basis despite being superficially different in appearance. Evidence suggests that the ancestral form of male androphilia was likely the transgendered form. Male androphilia represents an evolutionary paradox because (1) it appears to have a genetic component, yet (2) it compromises reproduction, and (3) archaeological evidence indicates that male-male sexual behavior has persisted for millennia. Two hypotheses that purport to explain the evolution of male androphilia have garnered support: the Kin Selection Hypothesis and the Sexually Antagonistic Gene Hypothesis. Research has repeatedly furnished support for the Kin Selection Hypothesis in Samoa where transgendered male androphiles (fa’afafine) exhibit elevated avuncular tendencies compared to women and gynephilic men. Tests of the Sexually Antagonistic Gene Hypothesis have been conducted in diverse populations of transgendered and sex-gender congruent male androphiles. Overall, these tests indicate that the female kin of male androphiles produce more offspring than those of male gynephiles.
7 citations
01 Jan 2012
7 citations
References
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Book•
01 Jan 1935
TL;DR: In this paper, Neuberg and Heine discuss the notion of belonging, acceptance, belonging, and belonging in the social world, and discuss the relationship between friendship, membership, status, power, and subordination.
Abstract: VOLUME 2. Part III: The Social World. 21. EVOLUTIONARY SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY (Steven L. Neuberg, Douglas T. Kenrick, and Mark Schaller). 22. MORALITY (Jonathan Haidt and Selin Kesebir). 23. AGGRESSION (Brad J. Bushman and L. Rowell Huesmann). 24. AFFILIATION, ACCEPTANCE, AND BELONGING: THE PURSUIT OF INTERPERSONAL CONNECTION (Mark R. Leary). 25. CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS (Margaret S. Clark and Edward P. Lemay, Jr.). 26. INTERPERSONAL STRATIFICATION: STATUS, POWER, AND SUBORDINATION (Susan T. Fiske). 27. SOCIAL CONFLICT: THE EMERGENCE AND CONSEQUENCES OF STRUGGLE AND NEGOTIATION (Carsten K. W. De Dreu). 28. INTERGROUP RELATIONS 1(Vincent Yzerbyt and Stephanie Demoulin). 29. INTERGROUP BIAS (John F. Dovidio and Samuel L. Gaertner). 30. SOCIAL JUSTICE: HISTORY, THEORY, AND RESEARCH (John T. Jost and Aaron C. Kay). 31. INFLUENCE AND LEADERSHIP (Michael A. Hogg). 32. GROUP BEHAVIOR AND PERFORMANCE (J. Richard Hackman and Nancy Katz). 33. ORGANIZATIONAL PREFERENCES AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES (Deborah H. Gruenfeld and Larissa Z. Tiedens). 34. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF POLITICAL BEHAVIOR (Jon A. Krosnick, Penny S. Visser, and Joshua Harder). 35. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY AND LAW (Margaret Bull Kovera and Eugene Borgida). 36. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY AND LANGUAGE: WORDS, UTTERANCES, AND CONVERSATIONS (Thomas Holtgraves). 37. CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY (Steven J. Heine). AUTHOR INDEX. SUBJECT INDEX.
13,453 citations
12 Jul 2017
TL;DR: The p,cnetics of sex nas now becn clarif ied, and Fishcr ( 1958 ) hrs produccd , n,od"l to cxplarn sex ratios at coDception, a nrodel recently extendcd to include special mccha_ nisms that operate under inbreeding (Hunrilron I96?).
Abstract: There is a tendency among biologists studying social behavior to regard the adult sex ratio as an independent variable to which the species reacts with appropriate adaptations D Lack often interprets social behavior as an adaptation in part to an unbalanced (or balanced) sex ratio, and J Verner has summarized other instances of this tendency The only mechanism that will generate differential mortality independent of sexual differences clearly related to parental investment and sexual selection is the chromosomal mechanism, applied especially to humans and other mammals: the unguarded X chromosome of the male is presumed to predispose him to higher mortality Each offspring can be viewed as an investment independent of other offspring, increasing investment in one offspring tending to decrease investment in others Species can be classified according to the relative parental investment of the sexes in their young In the vast majority of species, the male's only contribution to the survival of his offspring is his sex cells
10,571 citations
"Is friendship akin to kinship" refers background in this paper
...A second line of reasoning applies more clearly to cross-sex friendships and draws on the logic of differential parental investment which suggests that, compared to men, women are likely to be more cautious and risk-averse in their approach to mating (Trivers, 1972)....
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...In line with the immense literature on differential parental investment (Trivers, 1972), it also makes sense that these modules would operate somewhat differently for males and females....
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Book•
01 Jan 1959
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on patterns of interdependence and assume that these patterns play an important causal role in the processes, roles, and norms of relationships in interpersonal relations.
Abstract: This landmark theory of interpersonal relations and group functioning argues that the starting point for understanding social behavior is the analysis of dyadic interdependence. Such an analysis portrays the ways in which the separate and joint actions of two persons affect the quality of their lives and the survival of their relationship. The authors focus on patterns of interdependence, and on the assumption that these patterns play an important causal role in the processes, roles, and norms of relationships. This powerful theory has many applications in all the social sciences, including the study of social and moral norms; close-pair relationships; conflicts of interest and cognitive disputes; social orientations; the social evolution of economic prosperity and leadership in groups; and personal relationships.
5,869 citations
TL;DR: In the second series of experiments, it was found that the maximum joint profit independent of group membership did not affect significantly the manner in which the subjects divided real pecuniary rewards; however, maximum profit for own group did affect the distribution of rewards; and the clearest effect on the subject's attempt to achieve a maximum difference between the ingroup and the outgroup even at the price of sacrificing other "objective" advantages.
Abstract: The aim of the studies was to assess the effefcs of social categorization on intergroup behaviour when, in the intergroup situation, neither calculations of individual interest nor previously existing attitudes of hostility could have been said to have determined discriminative behaviour against an outgroup. These conditions were satisfied in the experimental design. In the first series of experiments, it was found that the subjects favoured their own group in the distribution of real rewards and penalities in a situation in which nothing but the variable of fairly irrelevant classification distinguished between the ingroup and the outgroup. In the second series of experiments it was found that: 1) maximum joint profit independent of group membership did not affect significantly the manner in which the subjects divided real pecuniary rewards; 2) maximum profit for own group did affect the distribution of rewards; 3) the clearest effect on the distribution of rewards was due to the subjects' attempt to achieve a maximum difference between the ingroup and the outgroup even at the price of sacrificing other ‘objective’ advantages.
The design and the results of the study are theoretically discussed within the framework of social norms and expectations and particularly in relation to a ‘generic’ norm of outgroup behaviour prevalent in some societies.
4,523 citations