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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–4Cite as

Environmental Harshness

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Synonyms

Danger; Rate of death and disability; Risk

Definition

Environmental harshness: externally caused levels of morbidity and mortality in a population.

Introduction

Environmental harshness is one of the major components of an ecology implicated in guiding an organism’s life history decisions. As such, an organism’s experience with cues of harshness in an environment during critical periods of ontogeny is capable of modifying developmental trajectories and energy budget tradeoffs (Ellis et al. 2009). In humans, encountering harshness and unpredictability has also been revealed to predispose an individual to a suite of psychological tendencies: impulsivity, risk-taking, and the propensity to discount delayed rewards (Griskevicius et al. 2011b, 2013). Harshness emerges as a principal characteristic of an ecology’s profile that predicts both between-species and within-species variation in life history strategies (Ellis et al. 2009).

Extrinsic Threats Versus Intrinsic Threats

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX, USA

    Jeffrey W. Gassen & Emily Fuller

Authors
  1. Jeffrey W. Gassen
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  2. Emily Fuller
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jeffrey W. Gassen or Emily Fuller .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland Univ Dept of Psycholgy, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana Weekes-Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  3. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Gassen, J.W., Fuller, E. (2016). Environmental Harshness. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1919-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1919-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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