Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-18T04:40:26.503Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The sociobiology of sociopathy: An alternative hypothesis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2004

Wim E. Crusio*
Affiliation:
Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA01604

Abstract:

Mealey argued that sociopathy is an evolutionary stable strategy subject to frequency-dependent selection – high levels of sociopathy being advantageous to the individual if population-wide frequencies of it are low, and vice versa. I argue that at least one alternative hypothesis exists that explains her data equally well. Alternative hypotheses must be formulated and tested before any theory can be validated.

Type
Continuing Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Broadhurst, P. L. & Jinks, J. L. (1974) What genetical architecture can tell us about the natural selection of behavioural traits. In: The genetics of behaviour, ed. van Abeelen, J. H. F. North-Holland. [WEC]Google Scholar
Clutton-Brock, T. H., O’Riain, M. J., Brotherton, P. N. M., Gaynor, D., Kansky, R., Griffin, A. S. & Manser, M. (1999) Selfish sentinels in cooperative mammals. Science 284:1640–44. [WEC]Google Scholar
Crusio, W. E. (1991) No evolution without genetic variation. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 14:267. [WEC]Google Scholar
Crusio, W. E. (1995) The sociopathy of sociobiology. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 18(3):552. [WEC]Google Scholar
Crusio, W. E. (2000) An introduction to quantitative genetics. In: Neurobehavioral genetics: Methods and applications, ed. Jones, B. C. & Mormède, P. CRC Press. [WEC]Google Scholar
Gould, S. J. (1995) Male nipples and clitoral ripples. In: Adam's navel. Penguin. [WEC]Google Scholar
Mealey, L. (1995) The sociobiology of sociopathy: An integrated evolutionary model. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 18(3):523–41. [WEC]Google Scholar
Thornhill, N. W. (1991a) An evolutionary analysis of rules regulating human inbreeding and marriage. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 14:247–61. [WEC]Google Scholar
Thornhill, N. W. (1991b) Mental mechanisms underlying inbreeding rule making. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 14:281–93. [WEC]Google Scholar