Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Behavioral Sciences and Sociobiology: A Darwinian Approach

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover The Darwinian Tradition in Context

Abstract

Darwinian natural selection theory is the theory of choice for the overwhelming majority of behavioral biologists interested in the evolution of adaptive social behavior despite many challenges to the discipline of sociobiology over the years. The initial criticisms came from a group of ideologues who argued that sociobiology was based on a form of genetic determinism. This view was dismissed by working sociobiologists for several reasons but primarily because the criticism fundamentally misrepresents the goal of the discipline, which is to test hypotheses about the evolution and adaptive value of social traits and not to examine the proximate causes that influence the development of an individual’s social behavior during its lifetime. Among the additional opposing views to the discipline that have been presented over the years are those held by academics who believe (1) that evolution occurs because of differences among groups (not individuals), (2) that kin selection theory (an amendment to Darwinian natural selection theory) has failed and should be dropped, and (3) that Darwinian sexual selection (a subset of natural selection theory) should be replaced by a more modern and inclusive theory of the evolutionary effects of the interactions between the sexes. This chapter debunks each of these competitors. Darwinian theory as modified over the last 50 years continues to be the basis for evolutionary research into the interactions between the sexes, helpful behavior in its various forms, especially the evolution of altruistic behavior, and all aspects of human sociality.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abbot P, Abe J, Alcock J et al (2011) Inclusive fitness theory and eusociality. Nature 471:E1–E4. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09831

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Albo MJ, Bilde T, Uhl H (2013) Sperm storage mediated by cryptic female choice for nuptial gifts. Proc R Soc B 280. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.1735

  • Alcock J (1994) Post-insemination associations between males and females in insects: the mate guarding hypothesis. Ann Rev Ent 39:1–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alcock J (1998) Unpunctuated equilibrium in the natural history essays of Stephen Jay Gould. Evol Hum Behav 19:321–336

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alcock J (2001) The triumph of sociobiology. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Alcock J (2013) Animal behavior: an evolutionary approach, 10th edn. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander RD (1971) The search for an evolutionary philosophy of man. Proc R Soc Vic 84:99–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander RD (1974) The evolution of social behaviour. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 5:325–383

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alexander RD (1975) The search for a general theory of behavior. Behav Sci 20:77–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alexander RD (1979) Darwinism and human affairs. University of Washington Press, Seattle

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander RD (1987) The biology of moral systems. Aldine de Gruyter, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Andersson M (1994) Sexual selection. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Barclay P (2013) Strategies for cooperation in biological markets, especially for humans. Evol Hum Behav 34:164–175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berra TM (1990) Evolution and the myth of creationism. A basic guide to the facts in the evolution debate. Stanford, Stanford University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Biernaskie JM, Foster KR (2016) Ecology and multilevel selection explain aggression in spider colonies. Ecol Let 19:873–879

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birkhead TR (2002) Promiscuity: an evolutionary history of sperm competition. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Birkhead TR (2010) How stupid not to have thought of that: post-copulatory sexual selection. J Zool 281:78–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birkhead TR, Møller AP (eds) (1998) Sperm competition and sexual selection. Academic, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Borgia G (1994) The scandals of San Marco. Q Rev Biol 69:373–375

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowler PJ (2017) Alternatives to Darwinism in the early twentieth century. In: Delisle RG (ed) The Darwinian tradition in context: research programs in evolutionary biology. Springer, Cham, pp 195–218

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Brown JL (1982) The adaptationist program. Science 217:884, 886

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burton-Chellew MN, Dunbar RIM (2015) Hamilton’s rule predicts anticipated social support in humans. Behav Ecol 26:30–137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buss DM (1989) Sex differences in human mate preferences: evolutionary hypothesis testing in 37 cultures. Behav Brain Sci 12:1–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buss DM (1995) Evolutionary psychology: a new paradigm for psychological science. Psychol Inq 6:1–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buss DM (1998) Sexual strategies theory: historical origins and current status. J Sex Res 35:19–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buss DM (2003) The evolution of desire, 4th edn. Basic Books, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Buss DM (2016) Evolutionary psychology: the new science of the mind. Routledge, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman T, Liddle LF, Kalb JM et al (1995) Cost of mating in Drosophila melanogaster females is mediated by male accessory gland products. Nature 373:241–244

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock T (2010) We do not need a sexual selection 2.0-nor a theory of genial selection. Anim Behav 79:e7–e10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins FS (2006) The language of god: a scientist presents evidence for belief. Free Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Coyne J (2009) Why evolution is true. Penguin Publishing Group, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Creel S, Creel NM (2015) Opposing effects of group size on reproduction and survival in African wild dogs. Behav Ecol 26:1414–1422

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darwin C (1859) On the origin of species by means of natural selection. John Murray, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Darwin C (1871) The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. John Murray, London

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Davies NB (1983) Polyandry, cloaca pecking and sperm competition in dunnocks. Nature 302:334–336

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawkins R (1976) The selfish gene. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawkins R (1981) The blind watchmaker. WW Norton, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Dean T, Nakagawa S, Pizzari T (2011) The risk and intensity of sperm ejection in female birds. Am Nat 178:343–354

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Delisle RG (2017) From Charles Darwin to the evolutionary synthesis: weak and diffused connections only. In: Delisle RG (ed) The Darwinian tradition in context: research programs in evolutionary biology. Springer, Cham, pp 133–168

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Dìaz-Muñoz SL, Duval EH, Krakauer AH et al (2014) Cooperating to compete: altruism, sexual selection and male coalitions. Anim Behav 88:67–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Driessens T, Huyghe K, Vanhooydonck B et al (2015) Messages conveyed by assorted facets of the dewlap, in both sexes of Anolis sagrei. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 69:1251–1264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunson DB, Colombo B, Baird DB (2002) Changes with age in the level and duration of fertility in the menstrual cycle. Hum Reprod 17:1399–1403

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eberhard WG (1991) Copulatory courtship and cryptic female choice in insects. Biol Rev 66:1–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eberhard WG (1996) Female control: sexual selection and cryptic female choice. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Eberhard WG (2009) Postcopulatory sexual selection: Darwin’s omission and its consequences. Proc Nat Acad Sci 106:10025–10032

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Edward DA, Chapman T (2011) The evolution and significance of male mate choice. Trends Ecol Evol 26:647–654

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Edward DA, Stockley P, Hosken DJ (2015) Sexual conflict and sperm competition. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 7. https://doi.org/10.1101/cshperspect.a017707

  • Esposito M (2017) The organismal synthesis: holistic science and developmental evolution in the English-speaking world, 1915–1954. In: Delisle RG (ed) The Darwinian tradition in context: research programs in evolutionary biology. Springer, Cham, pp 219–242

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Gangestad SW, Thornhill R (2008) Human oestrus. Proc R Soc B 275:991–1000

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gardner A, West SA (2014) Inclusive fitness: 50 years on. Philos Trans R Soc B 369. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0356

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaulin SJC, McBurney D (2004) Evolutionary psychology. Pearson/Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River

    Google Scholar 

  • Geary DC, Vigil J, Byrd-Craven J (2004) Evolution of human mate choice. J Sex Res 41:27–42

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Giffith SC, Owens IPF, Thurman KA (2002) Extra pair paternity in birds: a review of interspecific variation and adaptive function. Mol Ecol 11:2195–2212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilby IC, Brent LJN, Wroblewski EE et al (2013) Fitness benefits of coalitionary aggression in male chimpanzees. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 67:373–381

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gottleib A (2012) It ain’t necessarily so. New Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/09/17/it-aint-necessarily-so

  • Gould SJ (1976) Biological potential vs. biological determinism. Nat Hist 85:12–16, 18–20, 22

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould SJ (1981) Hyena myths and realities. Nat Hist 90:16–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould SJ (1982) The guano ring. Nat Hist 91(12–14):17–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould SJ (1984) Only his wings remained. Nat Hist 93:10–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould SJ, Lewontin R (1979) The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: a critique of the adaptionist programme. Proc R Soc Lond B 205:581–598

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gwynne DT (1984) Sexual selection and sexual differences in Mormon crickets (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae, Anabrus simplex). Evolution 38:011–1022

    Google Scholar 

  • Gwynne DT (1985) Role reversal in katydids: Habitat influences reproductive behaviour (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae, Metaballus species). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 16:355–361

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gwynne DT, Simmons LW (1990) Experimental reversal of courtship role in an insect. Nature 346:172–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hagen EH (2005) Controversial issues in evolutionary psychology. In: Buss DM (ed) The handbook of evolutionary psychology. Wiley, Hoboken, pp 145–173

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton WD (1964) The genetical evolution of social behaviour, I, II. J Theor Biol 7:1–16

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kavanagh EE (2006) Debating sexual selection and mating strategies. Science 312:689–697

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly CD (2015) Male-biased sex ratios and plasticity in post-insemination behaviour in the New Zealand stick insect Micrarchus hystriculeus. Behaviour 152:653–666

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krams I, Krama T, Igaune K et al (2007) Experimental evidence of reciprocal altruism in the pied flycatcher. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 62:599–605

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kutschera U (2017) Symbiogenesis and cell evolution: an anti-Darwinian research agenda? In: Delisle RG (ed) The Darwinian tradition in context: research programs in evolutionary biology. Springer, Cham, pp 302–332

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Levins R, Lewontin R (1985) The dialectical biologist. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Li NP, Kenrick DT (2006) Sex similarities and differences in preferences for short-term mates: what, whether, and why. J Pers Soc Psychol 90:468–489

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Liao X, Rong S, Queller D (2015) Relatedness, conflict and the evolution of eusociality. PLOS One 13. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002098

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall JAR (2011) Group selection and kin selection: formally equivalent approaches. Trends Ecol Evol 26:325–332

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miller SL, Maner JK (2011) Ovulation as a male mating prime: subtle signs of women’s fertility influence men’s mating cognition and behavior. J Pers Soc Psychol 100:295–308

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miller G, Tybur JM, Jordan BD (2007) Ovulatory cycle effects on tip earnings by lap dancers: economic evidence for human estrus? Evol Hum Behav 28:375–381

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montoya B, Torres R (2015) Male skin color signals direct and indirect benefits in a species with biparental care. Behav Ecol 26:425–436

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore D, Wigby S, English S et al (2002) Selflessness is sexy: reported helping behaviour increases desirability of men and women as long-term sexual partners. BMC Evol Biol 13. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-13-182

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Nowak MA, Tarnita CE, Wilson EO (2010) The evolution of eusociality. Nature 466:1057–1062

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Packer C, Gilbert DA, Pusey AE et al (1991) A molecular genetic-analysis of kinship and cooperation in African lions. Nature 351:562–565

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Parker GA (1970) Sperm competition and its evolutionary consequences in insects. Biol Rev 45:525–567

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petrie M, Halliday T (1994) Experimental and natural changes in the peacocks’ (Pavo cristatus) train can affect mating success. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 35:213–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pigliucci M (2017) Darwinism after the modern synthesis. In: Delisle RG (ed) The Darwinian tradition in context: research programs in evolutionary biology. Springer, Cham, pp 89–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Queller DC (1995) The spaniels of St. Marx and the Panglossian paradox: a critique of a rhetorical programme. Q Rev Biol 70:485–489

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rachlin H, Jones BA (2008) Altruism among relatives and non-relatives. Behav Proc 79:120–123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ratnieks FLW, Foster KR, Wenseleers T (2006) Conflict resolution in social insects. Annu Rev Ent 51:581–608

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reeve HK (2000) Review of Unto others: the evolution and psychology of unselfish behavior. Evol Hum Behav 21:65–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ridley M (1996) The origins of virtue. Viking, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts G (2015) Human cooperation: the race to give. Curr Biol 25:R425–R427

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts SC, Havilcek J, Flegr J et al (2004) Female facial attractiveness increases during the fertile phase of the menstrual cycle. Proc R Soc B 271:S270–S272

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Roughgarden J (2004) Evolution’s rainbow: diversity, gender and sexuality in nature and people. University of California Press, Los Angeles

    Google Scholar 

  • Roughgarden J (2012) The social selection alternative to sexual selection. Philos Trans R Soc B 367:2294–2303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roughgarden J, Akçay E (2010) Do we need a sexual selection 2.0? Anim Behav 79:e1–e4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rumbaugh KP, Trivedi U, Watters C et al (2012) Kin selection, quorum sensing and virulence in pathogenic bacteria. Proc R Soc B 279:3584–3588

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ruse M (1979) Sociobiology – sense or nonsense? D Reidel, Dordrecht

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Schultner E, Gardner A, Karhunen M et al (2014) Ant larvae as players in social conflict: relatedness and individual identity mediate cannibalism intensity. Am Nat 184:E161–E174

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shanahan T (2017) Selfish genes and lucky breaks: Richard Dawkins’ and Stephen Jay Gould’s: divergent Darwinian agendas. In: Delisle RG (ed) The Darwinian tradition in context: research programs in evolutionary biology. Springer, Cham, pp 11–36

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Singh M, Boomsma JJ (2015) Policing and punishment across the domains of social evolution. Oikos 124:971–982

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simmons LW (2001) Sperm competition and its evolutionary consequences in the insects. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Slater D (2013) Darwin was wrong about dating. NY Times, Jan 13. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/opinion/sunday/darwin-was-wrong-about-dating.html?_r=0

  • Sober E, Wilson DS (1998) Unto others: the evolution and psychology of unselfish behavior. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Sociobiology Study Group (1976) Sociobiology: another biological determinism. BioScience 26(182):184–186

    Google Scholar 

  • Strassmann JE, Page RE Jr, Robinson GE et al (2011) Kin selection and eusociality. Nature 471:E5–E6

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thornhill R (1983) Cryptic female choice in the scorpionfly Harpobittacus nigriceps and its implications. Am Nat 122:765–788

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tinbergen N (1963) On the aims and methods of ethology. Z Tierpsychol 20:410–433

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tinbergen N, Broekhuysen GJ, Feekes F et al (1962) Egg shell removal by the black-headed gull, Larus ridibundus L.; a behaviour component of camouflage. Behaviour 19:74–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trivers RL (2015) Vignettes of famous evolutionary biologists, large and small. Unz Review. http://www.unz.com/article/vignettes-of-famous-evolutionary-biologists-large-and-small/. Accessed 16 Nov 2015

  • Waage JK (1979) Dual function of the damselfly penis: sperm removal and transfer. Science 203:916–918

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wada T, Takegaki T, Mori T et al (2010) Sperm removal, ejaculation and their behavioural interaction in male cuttlefish in response to female mating history. Anim Behav 79:613–619

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • West SA, El Moulden C, Gardner A (2011) Sixteen common misconceptions about cooperation in humans. Evol Hum Behav 32:231–262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westneat DF, Sherman PW, Morton ML (1990) The ecology and evolution of extra-pair copulations in birds. Curr Ornithol 7:331–369

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams GC (1966) Adaptation and natural selection. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson DS (1975a) A general theory of group selection. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 72:143–146

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson DS (1977) Structured demes and the evolution of group advantageous traits. Am Nat 111:157–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson DS, Wilson EO (2007) Rethinking the theoretical foundation of sociobiology. Q Rev Biol 82:327–348

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson EO (1975b) Sociobiology, the new synthesis. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson EO (1976) Academic vigilantism and the political significance of sociobiology. Bioscience 26:183, 187–190

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wu GM, Boivin G, Broideur J et al (2010) Altruistic defence behaviours in aphids. BMC Evol Biol 10:19. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-10-19

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Wynne-Edwards VC (1962) Animal dispersion in relation to social behavior. Oliver and Boyd, London

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287-4501, USA

    John Alcock

Authors
  1. John Alcock
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John Alcock .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Liberal Education and Philosophy, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

    Richard G. Delisle

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Alcock, J. (2017). The Behavioral Sciences and Sociobiology: A Darwinian Approach. In: Delisle, R. (eds) The Darwinian Tradition in Context. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69123-7_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation