Contemporary articles citing Tooby J (1990) Ethol Sociobiol
evolutionary, psychology, sociological, human, empirical, explain, principles, sex, second, nature
- Hopcroft, Rosemary. 2009. "The Evolved Actor in Sociology." Sociological Theory. 27:4 390-406.
- In this article, I show that principles from both evolutionary biology and evolutionary psychology inform a model of the actor that is usually implicit in sociological research on the family and social stratification. Making this evolved actor model explicit can unify and explain existing empirical sociological findings in these areas, and suggest new hypotheses for future research. I suggest the same is true in many other areas of sociology as well, and that explicitly incorporating a fully developed evolved actor model into sociology can both unify the discipline and reconnect it with the other life sciences.
- Machalek, R & MW Martin. 2004. "Sociology and the Second Darwinian Revolution: a Metatheoretical Analysis." Sociological Theory. 22:3 455-476.
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- Sociologists tend to eschew biological explanations of human social behavior. Accordingly, when evolutionary biologists began to apply neo-Darwinian theory to the study of human social behavior, the reactions of sociologists typically ranged from indifference to overt hostility. Since the mid-1960s, however, neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory has stimulated a ``second Darwinian revolution'' in traditional social scientific conceptions of human nature and social behavior, even while most sociologists remain largely uninformed about neo-Darwinian theory and research. This article traces sociology's long-standing isolation from the life sciences, especially evolutionary biology, to divergence in the metatheoretical assumptions that typify conventional sociological thought versus contemporary evolutionary biology. We conclude with a discussion of the recent emergence of a nascent ``evolutionary sociology'' that integrates sociobiological reasoning with contemporary sociological thought.
- Horne, C. 2004. "Values and Evolutionary Psychology." Sociological Theory. 22:3 477-503.
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- Scholars suggest that evolutionary psychology may provide a foundation for assumptions regarding human values. I explore this suggestion by developing two arguments regarding the permissiveness of norms regulating male and female sexual activity. The first relies on the standard rational choice assumption that people value resources, and the second relies on an assumption suggested by evolutionary psychology that actors value seeing their children successfully reach adulthood. These two assumptions produce contrasting predictions regarding sex norms. I describe the implications of these predictions for explaining cross-cultural variation and present evidence that supports the evolutionary psychology-based predictions in this context. I also suggest implications of the two approaches for explaining norms cross-nationally and within the United States. The article provides support for the utility of evolutionary psychology in developing assumptions about values.
- Savage, J & S Kanazawa. 2004. "Social Capital and the Human Psyche: Why Is Social Life ``capital''?." Sociological Theory. 22:3 504-524.
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- In this article, we propose a revised definition of social capital, premised on the principles of evolutionary psychology. We define social capital as any feature of a social relationship that, directly or indirectly, confers reproductive benefits to a participant in that relationship. This definition grounds the construct of social capital in human nature by providing a basis for inferring the underlying motivations that humans may have in common, rather than leaving the matter of what humans use capital for unspoken. Discussions and empirical reviews are presented on the innateness of human sociability, sex differences in sociability, and psychological mechanisms that mediate sociability.
- Kanazawa, S & MC Still. 2000. "Why Men Commit Crimes (and Why They Desist)." Sociological Theory. 18:3 434-447.
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- Hirschi and Gottfredson (1983) claim that the relationship between age and crime is similar in all social and cultural conditions and that no current sociological or criminological theory can account for this similarity. We introduce the new field of evolutionary psychology and extend Daly and Wilson's (1988) work on homicide to construct a general theory of male criminality, which explains why merl commit violent and property crimes. The theory can also explain the age-crime curve. It might also account for some empirical anomalies such as why physically smaller boys are more delinquent, and why violent criminals desist more slowly.