#evolutionarypsychology — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #evolutionarypsychology, aggregated by home.social.
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DATE: September 20, 2026 at 12:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Women show greater willingness to interact with creative individuals experiencing schizophrenia
A study published in the EvoS Journal: Evolutionary Studies and Higher Education presented results of an online experiment that asked participants how much they would like to interact with a social media profile of a creative individual who also suffers from schizophrenia. Results showed that women were more interested in such interactions than men, particularly in the condition when the creative expression of the target person was unsuccessful. When it was successful, there were no differences between men and women.
Mental health stigma refers to negative stereotypes and prejudice directed toward people with mental health conditions. Individuals with mental illness are often perceived as dangerous, unpredictable, weak, or socially incompetent, even when these assumptions are unsupported. Such stigma can contribute to social rejection, difficulties in employment and relationships, and reluctance to seek professional help. It can also be internalized by affected individuals, reducing self-esteem and worsening social and psychological outcomes.
That said, psychological disorders often do involve characteristics that interfere with everyday functioning. On the other hand, there tend to also be positive traits associated with mental health conditions. From an evolutionary perspective, genetic properties that predispose individuals to certain mental health conditions persist in the population precisely because they come in combinations of traits that can sometimes provide situational advantages, particularly if the mental health condition manifests in milder, subclinical forms.
Anxiety, for example, may heighten vigilance toward threats, while social withdrawal may sometimes reduce exposure to harmful or overwhelming social situations. Psychotic traits (such as delusional thinking or disorganized behaviors) are associated with substantial cognitive difficulties and a strong social stigma, but are also linked to creativity, novel thinking, and heightened emotional sensitivity.
Lead author A. Hicks and colleagues wanted to explore how much the potential benefits of creativity protect individuals with psychotic traits from mental illness stigma. More specifically, they wanted to know how much learning that an individual is successful in creative work and/or that they suffer from schizophrenia would affect participants’ willingness to interact with such a person.
They conducted an online study. Participants were 308 individuals recruited through Prolific Academic. Of these, 167 were women. Their average age was 35 years. Study authors paid them $1.50 for their participation in the study.
Participants viewed a hypothetical Facebook post and were tasked to evaluate the person presented in the post. The posts differed in two ways: whether the person in the post spoke about suffering from schizophrenia or not, and whether the person was successful in their creative work or not (i.e., whether a poem they wrote was accepted for publication or not).
This was done in the form of a post to a writers group made by a person named Taylor Ross. In the post, Taylor Ross says that they want to give a life update and that they are working on their poetry. They also note (depending on the condition) that they are doing well or that they are struggling with schizophrenia, and that one of their poems was published or that it was denied publication. The study specifically utilized a gender-neutral silhouette for the profile picture to prevent gender bias from influencing the results.
Participants rated how much they would like to interact with Taylor Ross by liking or commenting on their post, considering them as a friend, or as a romantic partner. They also completed an assessment of stereotype endorsement by rating how much an individual with schizophrenia differs (in their view) from the general population on 11 positive and 11 negative traits.
Results indicated that women showed a greater interest in interacting with the target (Taylor Ross) than men, regardless of the study condition. Whether Taylor Ross was presented as successful in publishing the poem or not did not have an effect on how much participants wanted to interact with them overall.
When study authors looked only at the variant where Taylor Ross suffered from schizophrenia and was not successful in having their poem published, women showed a greater desire to interact with them than men. In the condition when Taylor Ross was successful, men and women did not differ in their desire to interact.
The average desire to interact with Taylor Ross was closer to the negative pole of the scale (not wanting to interact). Participants who reported having friends with mental illness were more interested in interacting with the Taylor Ross version that was creatively successful and not suffering from schizophrenia, than with the version that was both not successful and not suffering from schizophrenia.
The study contributes to scientific knowledge about the social desirability of people with mental health conditions. However, it should be noted that participants evaluated the target individual (Taylor Ross) only based on a short post, without any background information. This is unlike how people make social judgments in most real-world situations. Results of studies providing a more comprehensive set of information about an individual may differ.
The paper, “Salience of the Benefits of Psychotic Traits Buffers Against Mental Illness Stigma,” was authored by A. Hicks, D. F. Sacco, K. N. Boykin, O. Olabegi, Z. Buckner, and M. Brown.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #MentalHealthStigma #CreativityAndPsychosis #SchizophreniaAwareness #WomenInSocialInteraction #CreativityBenefits #EvolutionaryPsychology #StigmaReduction #MentalHealthResearch #OnlineStudy #CreativityVsStigma
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DATE: September 20, 2026 at 12:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Women show greater willingness to interact with creative individuals experiencing schizophrenia
A study published in the EvoS Journal: Evolutionary Studies and Higher Education presented results of an online experiment that asked participants how much they would like to interact with a social media profile of a creative individual who also suffers from schizophrenia. Results showed that women were more interested in such interactions than men, particularly in the condition when the creative expression of the target person was unsuccessful. When it was successful, there were no differences between men and women.
Mental health stigma refers to negative stereotypes and prejudice directed toward people with mental health conditions. Individuals with mental illness are often perceived as dangerous, unpredictable, weak, or socially incompetent, even when these assumptions are unsupported. Such stigma can contribute to social rejection, difficulties in employment and relationships, and reluctance to seek professional help. It can also be internalized by affected individuals, reducing self-esteem and worsening social and psychological outcomes.
That said, psychological disorders often do involve characteristics that interfere with everyday functioning. On the other hand, there tend to also be positive traits associated with mental health conditions. From an evolutionary perspective, genetic properties that predispose individuals to certain mental health conditions persist in the population precisely because they come in combinations of traits that can sometimes provide situational advantages, particularly if the mental health condition manifests in milder, subclinical forms.
Anxiety, for example, may heighten vigilance toward threats, while social withdrawal may sometimes reduce exposure to harmful or overwhelming social situations. Psychotic traits (such as delusional thinking or disorganized behaviors) are associated with substantial cognitive difficulties and a strong social stigma, but are also linked to creativity, novel thinking, and heightened emotional sensitivity.
Lead author A. Hicks and colleagues wanted to explore how much the potential benefits of creativity protect individuals with psychotic traits from mental illness stigma. More specifically, they wanted to know how much learning that an individual is successful in creative work and/or that they suffer from schizophrenia would affect participants’ willingness to interact with such a person.
They conducted an online study. Participants were 308 individuals recruited through Prolific Academic. Of these, 167 were women. Their average age was 35 years. Study authors paid them $1.50 for their participation in the study.
Participants viewed a hypothetical Facebook post and were tasked to evaluate the person presented in the post. The posts differed in two ways: whether the person in the post spoke about suffering from schizophrenia or not, and whether the person was successful in their creative work or not (i.e., whether a poem they wrote was accepted for publication or not).
This was done in the form of a post to a writers group made by a person named Taylor Ross. In the post, Taylor Ross says that they want to give a life update and that they are working on their poetry. They also note (depending on the condition) that they are doing well or that they are struggling with schizophrenia, and that one of their poems was published or that it was denied publication. The study specifically utilized a gender-neutral silhouette for the profile picture to prevent gender bias from influencing the results.
Participants rated how much they would like to interact with Taylor Ross by liking or commenting on their post, considering them as a friend, or as a romantic partner. They also completed an assessment of stereotype endorsement by rating how much an individual with schizophrenia differs (in their view) from the general population on 11 positive and 11 negative traits.
Results indicated that women showed a greater interest in interacting with the target (Taylor Ross) than men, regardless of the study condition. Whether Taylor Ross was presented as successful in publishing the poem or not did not have an effect on how much participants wanted to interact with them overall.
When study authors looked only at the variant where Taylor Ross suffered from schizophrenia and was not successful in having their poem published, women showed a greater desire to interact with them than men. In the condition when Taylor Ross was successful, men and women did not differ in their desire to interact.
The average desire to interact with Taylor Ross was closer to the negative pole of the scale (not wanting to interact). Participants who reported having friends with mental illness were more interested in interacting with the Taylor Ross version that was creatively successful and not suffering from schizophrenia, than with the version that was both not successful and not suffering from schizophrenia.
The study contributes to scientific knowledge about the social desirability of people with mental health conditions. However, it should be noted that participants evaluated the target individual (Taylor Ross) only based on a short post, without any background information. This is unlike how people make social judgments in most real-world situations. Results of studies providing a more comprehensive set of information about an individual may differ.
The paper, “Salience of the Benefits of Psychotic Traits Buffers Against Mental Illness Stigma,” was authored by A. Hicks, D. F. Sacco, K. N. Boykin, O. Olabegi, Z. Buckner, and M. Brown.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #MentalHealthStigma #CreativityAndPsychosis #SchizophreniaAwareness #WomenInSocialInteraction #CreativityBenefits #EvolutionaryPsychology #StigmaReduction #MentalHealthResearch #OnlineStudy #CreativityVsStigma
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DATE: September 20, 2026 at 12:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Women show greater willingness to interact with creative individuals experiencing schizophrenia
A study published in the EvoS Journal: Evolutionary Studies and Higher Education presented results of an online experiment that asked participants how much they would like to interact with a social media profile of a creative individual who also suffers from schizophrenia. Results showed that women were more interested in such interactions than men, particularly in the condition when the creative expression of the target person was unsuccessful. When it was successful, there were no differences between men and women.
Mental health stigma refers to negative stereotypes and prejudice directed toward people with mental health conditions. Individuals with mental illness are often perceived as dangerous, unpredictable, weak, or socially incompetent, even when these assumptions are unsupported. Such stigma can contribute to social rejection, difficulties in employment and relationships, and reluctance to seek professional help. It can also be internalized by affected individuals, reducing self-esteem and worsening social and psychological outcomes.
That said, psychological disorders often do involve characteristics that interfere with everyday functioning. On the other hand, there tend to also be positive traits associated with mental health conditions. From an evolutionary perspective, genetic properties that predispose individuals to certain mental health conditions persist in the population precisely because they come in combinations of traits that can sometimes provide situational advantages, particularly if the mental health condition manifests in milder, subclinical forms.
Anxiety, for example, may heighten vigilance toward threats, while social withdrawal may sometimes reduce exposure to harmful or overwhelming social situations. Psychotic traits (such as delusional thinking or disorganized behaviors) are associated with substantial cognitive difficulties and a strong social stigma, but are also linked to creativity, novel thinking, and heightened emotional sensitivity.
Lead author A. Hicks and colleagues wanted to explore how much the potential benefits of creativity protect individuals with psychotic traits from mental illness stigma. More specifically, they wanted to know how much learning that an individual is successful in creative work and/or that they suffer from schizophrenia would affect participants’ willingness to interact with such a person.
They conducted an online study. Participants were 308 individuals recruited through Prolific Academic. Of these, 167 were women. Their average age was 35 years. Study authors paid them $1.50 for their participation in the study.
Participants viewed a hypothetical Facebook post and were tasked to evaluate the person presented in the post. The posts differed in two ways: whether the person in the post spoke about suffering from schizophrenia or not, and whether the person was successful in their creative work or not (i.e., whether a poem they wrote was accepted for publication or not).
This was done in the form of a post to a writers group made by a person named Taylor Ross. In the post, Taylor Ross says that they want to give a life update and that they are working on their poetry. They also note (depending on the condition) that they are doing well or that they are struggling with schizophrenia, and that one of their poems was published or that it was denied publication. The study specifically utilized a gender-neutral silhouette for the profile picture to prevent gender bias from influencing the results.
Participants rated how much they would like to interact with Taylor Ross by liking or commenting on their post, considering them as a friend, or as a romantic partner. They also completed an assessment of stereotype endorsement by rating how much an individual with schizophrenia differs (in their view) from the general population on 11 positive and 11 negative traits.
Results indicated that women showed a greater interest in interacting with the target (Taylor Ross) than men, regardless of the study condition. Whether Taylor Ross was presented as successful in publishing the poem or not did not have an effect on how much participants wanted to interact with them overall.
When study authors looked only at the variant where Taylor Ross suffered from schizophrenia and was not successful in having their poem published, women showed a greater desire to interact with them than men. In the condition when Taylor Ross was successful, men and women did not differ in their desire to interact.
The average desire to interact with Taylor Ross was closer to the negative pole of the scale (not wanting to interact). Participants who reported having friends with mental illness were more interested in interacting with the Taylor Ross version that was creatively successful and not suffering from schizophrenia, than with the version that was both not successful and not suffering from schizophrenia.
The study contributes to scientific knowledge about the social desirability of people with mental health conditions. However, it should be noted that participants evaluated the target individual (Taylor Ross) only based on a short post, without any background information. This is unlike how people make social judgments in most real-world situations. Results of studies providing a more comprehensive set of information about an individual may differ.
The paper, “Salience of the Benefits of Psychotic Traits Buffers Against Mental Illness Stigma,” was authored by A. Hicks, D. F. Sacco, K. N. Boykin, O. Olabegi, Z. Buckner, and M. Brown.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #MentalHealthStigma #CreativityAndPsychosis #SchizophreniaAwareness #WomenInSocialInteraction #CreativityBenefits #EvolutionaryPsychology #StigmaReduction #MentalHealthResearch #OnlineStudy #CreativityVsStigma
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DATE: September 3, 2026 at 06:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: New research questions the role of fertility in women’s indirect aggression
A new study finds that a woman’s competitive behavior toward other women is driven by her individual personality traits rather than changes in her menstrual cycle. The research suggests that fertility levels do not influence whether women act competitively in mating or social contexts. The findings were published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior.
Evolutionary psychologists study how human behavior adapts to ensure survival and reproduction. For women, competing for romantic partners and social alliances is an important part of life. Historically, direct physical fights posed severe risks, as injuries could limit a mother’s ability to raise offspring.
To avoid physical harm, female competition often takes the form of indirect aggression. Indirect aggression includes covert strategies like spreading rumors, social exclusion, and subtle character assassination. These tactics allow individuals to damage a rival’s reputation without initiating a physical confrontation.
Past research has suggested that hormone fluctuations during the menstrual cycle might dictate when and how women use these strategies. Estrogen reaches its peak just before ovulation. This is the phase of the menstrual cycle when women are most fertile and physically capable of becoming pregnant.
Because the immediate reproductive benefits of mating are highest during ovulation, some researchers hypothesized that this estrogen peak would trigger increased competition for romantic partners. Progesterone, another hormone, follows a different pattern. It remains low during ovulation but peaks later in the luteal phase as the body prepares for a potential pregnancy.
High progesterone levels have been linked to affiliative behaviors and a desire for social bonding. During a pregnancy, social support from other women would be highly beneficial for acquiring resources and childcare. Researchers theorized that during this high-progesterone phase, women might compete more fiercely to protect their existing social alliances from potential threats.
Lead author Jaime L. Palmer-Hague, a psychology researcher at Trinity Western University, and her colleagues set out to test these hormone-based theories. They wanted to see if women target their competitive behaviors toward strong rivals at specific points in their menstrual cycles.
The research team recruited 464 naturally cycling women for an online experiment. The participants did not use hormonal birth control, which alters natural hormone fluctuations. The researchers estimated each participant’s current menstrual cycle phase using a technique known as the backward counting method.
This method involves tracking exactly when a participant’s next period begins and counting backward to estimate the day ovulation likely occurred. Based on these estimates, participants were categorized into groups reflecting high or low fertility phases.
In the first part of the experiment, participants viewed computer-generated faces of hypothetical romantic rivals. The researchers used special software to blend existing photos into composite faces. One face was designed to be highly attractive, representing a strong mating threat, while the other face was less attractive, representing a weak mating threat.
Participants answered questions about how they would react to each woman in a romantic context. They rated their likelihood of introducing the rival to their boyfriend, their comfort leaving the two alone, and their likelihood of gossiping about the rival. The researchers then compared these behavioral responses across the different menstrual cycle phases.
Women reported a much higher likelihood of acting competitively toward the highly attractive rival than the less attractive one. However, the menstrual cycle phase had no effect on these behaviors. The statistical tests comparing competitive behavior across the different hormonal phases were not statistically significant.
Instead of hormones, the researchers found that an individual’s baseline personality predicted their responses. Women who scored high on a separate questionnaire measuring intrasexual competitiveness were much more likely to act competitively toward the attractive face. Intrasexual competitiveness is a psychological trait reflecting a general tendency to view same-sex peers as rivals.
Participant age also played a predictive role in the mating context. Younger participants displayed more competitive responses toward the highly attractive face than older participants. Estimated hormone levels played no role in predicting these behaviors.
In a second set of tasks, the researchers explored competition for social alliances. They showed the participants a different pair of computer-generated faces representing potential social rivals. One face represented a strong social threat, designed to look socially dominant and prone to indirect aggression, while the other represented a weak social threat.
Participants answered questions about how they would interact with these women in relation to their own best friend. They rated their comfort with the rival spending time with their best friend and their likelihood of gossiping about the rival. Once again, participants exhibited more competitive behavior toward the strong social threat compared to the weak one.
Just as in the mating context, the menstrual cycle phase did not influence the social competition results. Variations in estimated estrogen and progesterone levels played no role in how women reacted to the social rivals. Personality traits were the only factors that predicted social competition.
Women with higher levels of self-reported dominance and intrasexual competitiveness were more likely to act competitively toward the social rivals. Conversely, women who scored high in friendliness and self-esteem were less likely to engage in competitive behaviors in the social scenario.
The study relied on a mathematical estimation method to determine menstrual cycle phases rather than biological tests. The researchers did not use ovulation kits or blood tests to verify exact hormone levels. This limitation means that subtle hormonal effects might have been missed due to natural variations in cycle length across individuals.
Additionally, the experiment used hypothetical scenarios and computer-generated faces to gauge reactions. Self-reported responses in an online survey might not perfectly reflect how people behave in real-world situations. People are not always fully aware of their own competitive behaviors, which could lead to underreporting.
Future studies might benefit from observing actual social interactions to verify these self-reported tendencies. Larger samples and direct hormone tracking could also help evaluate whether any minor hormonal influences exist.
The study, “Women’s intrasexual competitiveness, but not fertility, predicts greater competitive behavior toward attractive women across the menstrual cycle,” was authored by Jaime L. Palmer-Hague, Jade S. Stobbart, and Benjamin J. Zubaly.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #WomensIntrasexualCompetitiveness #FertilityDoesNotDriveAggression #IndirectAggression #MatingCompetition #SocialAllianceCompetition #PersonalityTraitsMatter #EvolutionaryPsychology #MenstrualCycleMyths #AttractiveRivalImpact #ResearchOnBehavior
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DATE: September 3, 2026 at 06:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: New research questions the role of fertility in women’s indirect aggression
A new study finds that a woman’s competitive behavior toward other women is driven by her individual personality traits rather than changes in her menstrual cycle. The research suggests that fertility levels do not influence whether women act competitively in mating or social contexts. The findings were published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior.
Evolutionary psychologists study how human behavior adapts to ensure survival and reproduction. For women, competing for romantic partners and social alliances is an important part of life. Historically, direct physical fights posed severe risks, as injuries could limit a mother’s ability to raise offspring.
To avoid physical harm, female competition often takes the form of indirect aggression. Indirect aggression includes covert strategies like spreading rumors, social exclusion, and subtle character assassination. These tactics allow individuals to damage a rival’s reputation without initiating a physical confrontation.
Past research has suggested that hormone fluctuations during the menstrual cycle might dictate when and how women use these strategies. Estrogen reaches its peak just before ovulation. This is the phase of the menstrual cycle when women are most fertile and physically capable of becoming pregnant.
Because the immediate reproductive benefits of mating are highest during ovulation, some researchers hypothesized that this estrogen peak would trigger increased competition for romantic partners. Progesterone, another hormone, follows a different pattern. It remains low during ovulation but peaks later in the luteal phase as the body prepares for a potential pregnancy.
High progesterone levels have been linked to affiliative behaviors and a desire for social bonding. During a pregnancy, social support from other women would be highly beneficial for acquiring resources and childcare. Researchers theorized that during this high-progesterone phase, women might compete more fiercely to protect their existing social alliances from potential threats.
Lead author Jaime L. Palmer-Hague, a psychology researcher at Trinity Western University, and her colleagues set out to test these hormone-based theories. They wanted to see if women target their competitive behaviors toward strong rivals at specific points in their menstrual cycles.
The research team recruited 464 naturally cycling women for an online experiment. The participants did not use hormonal birth control, which alters natural hormone fluctuations. The researchers estimated each participant’s current menstrual cycle phase using a technique known as the backward counting method.
This method involves tracking exactly when a participant’s next period begins and counting backward to estimate the day ovulation likely occurred. Based on these estimates, participants were categorized into groups reflecting high or low fertility phases.
In the first part of the experiment, participants viewed computer-generated faces of hypothetical romantic rivals. The researchers used special software to blend existing photos into composite faces. One face was designed to be highly attractive, representing a strong mating threat, while the other face was less attractive, representing a weak mating threat.
Participants answered questions about how they would react to each woman in a romantic context. They rated their likelihood of introducing the rival to their boyfriend, their comfort leaving the two alone, and their likelihood of gossiping about the rival. The researchers then compared these behavioral responses across the different menstrual cycle phases.
Women reported a much higher likelihood of acting competitively toward the highly attractive rival than the less attractive one. However, the menstrual cycle phase had no effect on these behaviors. The statistical tests comparing competitive behavior across the different hormonal phases were not statistically significant.
Instead of hormones, the researchers found that an individual’s baseline personality predicted their responses. Women who scored high on a separate questionnaire measuring intrasexual competitiveness were much more likely to act competitively toward the attractive face. Intrasexual competitiveness is a psychological trait reflecting a general tendency to view same-sex peers as rivals.
Participant age also played a predictive role in the mating context. Younger participants displayed more competitive responses toward the highly attractive face than older participants. Estimated hormone levels played no role in predicting these behaviors.
In a second set of tasks, the researchers explored competition for social alliances. They showed the participants a different pair of computer-generated faces representing potential social rivals. One face represented a strong social threat, designed to look socially dominant and prone to indirect aggression, while the other represented a weak social threat.
Participants answered questions about how they would interact with these women in relation to their own best friend. They rated their comfort with the rival spending time with their best friend and their likelihood of gossiping about the rival. Once again, participants exhibited more competitive behavior toward the strong social threat compared to the weak one.
Just as in the mating context, the menstrual cycle phase did not influence the social competition results. Variations in estimated estrogen and progesterone levels played no role in how women reacted to the social rivals. Personality traits were the only factors that predicted social competition.
Women with higher levels of self-reported dominance and intrasexual competitiveness were more likely to act competitively toward the social rivals. Conversely, women who scored high in friendliness and self-esteem were less likely to engage in competitive behaviors in the social scenario.
The study relied on a mathematical estimation method to determine menstrual cycle phases rather than biological tests. The researchers did not use ovulation kits or blood tests to verify exact hormone levels. This limitation means that subtle hormonal effects might have been missed due to natural variations in cycle length across individuals.
Additionally, the experiment used hypothetical scenarios and computer-generated faces to gauge reactions. Self-reported responses in an online survey might not perfectly reflect how people behave in real-world situations. People are not always fully aware of their own competitive behaviors, which could lead to underreporting.
Future studies might benefit from observing actual social interactions to verify these self-reported tendencies. Larger samples and direct hormone tracking could also help evaluate whether any minor hormonal influences exist.
The study, “Women’s intrasexual competitiveness, but not fertility, predicts greater competitive behavior toward attractive women across the menstrual cycle,” was authored by Jaime L. Palmer-Hague, Jade S. Stobbart, and Benjamin J. Zubaly.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #WomensIntrasexualCompetitiveness #FertilityDoesNotDriveAggression #IndirectAggression #MatingCompetition #SocialAllianceCompetition #PersonalityTraitsMatter #EvolutionaryPsychology #MenstrualCycleMyths #AttractiveRivalImpact #ResearchOnBehavior
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DATE: September 3, 2026 at 06:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: New research questions the role of fertility in women’s indirect aggression
A new study finds that a woman’s competitive behavior toward other women is driven by her individual personality traits rather than changes in her menstrual cycle. The research suggests that fertility levels do not influence whether women act competitively in mating or social contexts. The findings were published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior.
Evolutionary psychologists study how human behavior adapts to ensure survival and reproduction. For women, competing for romantic partners and social alliances is an important part of life. Historically, direct physical fights posed severe risks, as injuries could limit a mother’s ability to raise offspring.
To avoid physical harm, female competition often takes the form of indirect aggression. Indirect aggression includes covert strategies like spreading rumors, social exclusion, and subtle character assassination. These tactics allow individuals to damage a rival’s reputation without initiating a physical confrontation.
Past research has suggested that hormone fluctuations during the menstrual cycle might dictate when and how women use these strategies. Estrogen reaches its peak just before ovulation. This is the phase of the menstrual cycle when women are most fertile and physically capable of becoming pregnant.
Because the immediate reproductive benefits of mating are highest during ovulation, some researchers hypothesized that this estrogen peak would trigger increased competition for romantic partners. Progesterone, another hormone, follows a different pattern. It remains low during ovulation but peaks later in the luteal phase as the body prepares for a potential pregnancy.
High progesterone levels have been linked to affiliative behaviors and a desire for social bonding. During a pregnancy, social support from other women would be highly beneficial for acquiring resources and childcare. Researchers theorized that during this high-progesterone phase, women might compete more fiercely to protect their existing social alliances from potential threats.
Lead author Jaime L. Palmer-Hague, a psychology researcher at Trinity Western University, and her colleagues set out to test these hormone-based theories. They wanted to see if women target their competitive behaviors toward strong rivals at specific points in their menstrual cycles.
The research team recruited 464 naturally cycling women for an online experiment. The participants did not use hormonal birth control, which alters natural hormone fluctuations. The researchers estimated each participant’s current menstrual cycle phase using a technique known as the backward counting method.
This method involves tracking exactly when a participant’s next period begins and counting backward to estimate the day ovulation likely occurred. Based on these estimates, participants were categorized into groups reflecting high or low fertility phases.
In the first part of the experiment, participants viewed computer-generated faces of hypothetical romantic rivals. The researchers used special software to blend existing photos into composite faces. One face was designed to be highly attractive, representing a strong mating threat, while the other face was less attractive, representing a weak mating threat.
Participants answered questions about how they would react to each woman in a romantic context. They rated their likelihood of introducing the rival to their boyfriend, their comfort leaving the two alone, and their likelihood of gossiping about the rival. The researchers then compared these behavioral responses across the different menstrual cycle phases.
Women reported a much higher likelihood of acting competitively toward the highly attractive rival than the less attractive one. However, the menstrual cycle phase had no effect on these behaviors. The statistical tests comparing competitive behavior across the different hormonal phases were not statistically significant.
Instead of hormones, the researchers found that an individual’s baseline personality predicted their responses. Women who scored high on a separate questionnaire measuring intrasexual competitiveness were much more likely to act competitively toward the attractive face. Intrasexual competitiveness is a psychological trait reflecting a general tendency to view same-sex peers as rivals.
Participant age also played a predictive role in the mating context. Younger participants displayed more competitive responses toward the highly attractive face than older participants. Estimated hormone levels played no role in predicting these behaviors.
In a second set of tasks, the researchers explored competition for social alliances. They showed the participants a different pair of computer-generated faces representing potential social rivals. One face represented a strong social threat, designed to look socially dominant and prone to indirect aggression, while the other represented a weak social threat.
Participants answered questions about how they would interact with these women in relation to their own best friend. They rated their comfort with the rival spending time with their best friend and their likelihood of gossiping about the rival. Once again, participants exhibited more competitive behavior toward the strong social threat compared to the weak one.
Just as in the mating context, the menstrual cycle phase did not influence the social competition results. Variations in estimated estrogen and progesterone levels played no role in how women reacted to the social rivals. Personality traits were the only factors that predicted social competition.
Women with higher levels of self-reported dominance and intrasexual competitiveness were more likely to act competitively toward the social rivals. Conversely, women who scored high in friendliness and self-esteem were less likely to engage in competitive behaviors in the social scenario.
The study relied on a mathematical estimation method to determine menstrual cycle phases rather than biological tests. The researchers did not use ovulation kits or blood tests to verify exact hormone levels. This limitation means that subtle hormonal effects might have been missed due to natural variations in cycle length across individuals.
Additionally, the experiment used hypothetical scenarios and computer-generated faces to gauge reactions. Self-reported responses in an online survey might not perfectly reflect how people behave in real-world situations. People are not always fully aware of their own competitive behaviors, which could lead to underreporting.
Future studies might benefit from observing actual social interactions to verify these self-reported tendencies. Larger samples and direct hormone tracking could also help evaluate whether any minor hormonal influences exist.
The study, “Women’s intrasexual competitiveness, but not fertility, predicts greater competitive behavior toward attractive women across the menstrual cycle,” was authored by Jaime L. Palmer-Hague, Jade S. Stobbart, and Benjamin J. Zubaly.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #WomensIntrasexualCompetitiveness #FertilityDoesNotDriveAggression #IndirectAggression #MatingCompetition #SocialAllianceCompetition #PersonalityTraitsMatter #EvolutionaryPsychology #MenstrualCycleMyths #AttractiveRivalImpact #ResearchOnBehavior
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Therapist shares 3 life-changing quotes she uses ‘almost daily’ with her patients
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.upworthy.com/therapist-3-daily-life-changing-quotes-ex1/
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Therapist shares 3 life-changing quotes she uses ‘almost daily’ with her patients
https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.upworthy.com/therapist-3-daily-life-changing-quotes-ex1/
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Therapist shares 3 life-changing quotes she uses ‘almost daily’ with her patients
https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.upworthy.com/therapist-3-daily-life-changing-quotes-ex1/
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Therapist shares 3 life-changing quotes she uses ‘almost daily’ with her patients
https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.upworthy.com/therapist-3-daily-life-changing-quotes-ex1/
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It’s not just a sentiment; it’s biology. The intensity of a mother’s love for her children is evolutionary, hardwired into almost every species to guarantee the survival of the next generation. While fatherhood is vital, the biological drive behind maternal protection is truly unmatched. 🌍✨
#Science #Biology #Motherhood #EvolutionaryPsychology #FamilyDynamics
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It’s not just a sentiment; it’s biology. The intensity of a mother’s love for her children is evolutionary, hardwired into almost every species to guarantee the survival of the next generation. While fatherhood is vital, the biological drive behind maternal protection is truly unmatched. 🌍✨
#Science #Biology #Motherhood #EvolutionaryPsychology #FamilyDynamics
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It’s not just a sentiment; it’s biology. The intensity of a mother’s love for her children is evolutionary, hardwired into almost every species to guarantee the survival of the next generation. While fatherhood is vital, the biological drive behind maternal protection is truly unmatched. 🌍✨
#Science #Biology #Motherhood #EvolutionaryPsychology #FamilyDynamics
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It’s not just a sentiment; it’s biology. The intensity of a mother’s love for her children is evolutionary, hardwired into almost every species to guarantee the survival of the next generation. While fatherhood is vital, the biological drive behind maternal protection is truly unmatched. 🌍✨
#Science #Biology #Motherhood #EvolutionaryPsychology #FamilyDynamics
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It’s not just a sentiment; it’s biology. The intensity of a mother’s love for her children is evolutionary, hardwired into almost every species to guarantee the survival of the next generation. While fatherhood is vital, the biological drive behind maternal protection is truly unmatched. 🌍✨
#Science #Biology #Motherhood #EvolutionaryPsychology #FamilyDynamics
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New research suggests we still pick friends using criteria built for hunter-gatherer life: strength, perceived hunting skill, cooperativeness. Even when it has nothing to do with our actual goals. #HumanEvolution #EvolutionaryPsychology #Anthropology https://www.anthropology.net/p/why-your-brain-still-wants-a-hunting
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New research suggests we still pick friends using criteria built for hunter-gatherer life: strength, perceived hunting skill, cooperativeness. Even when it has nothing to do with our actual goals. #HumanEvolution #EvolutionaryPsychology #Anthropology https://www.anthropology.net/p/why-your-brain-still-wants-a-hunting
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New research suggests we still pick friends using criteria built for hunter-gatherer life: strength, perceived hunting skill, cooperativeness. Even when it has nothing to do with our actual goals. #HumanEvolution #EvolutionaryPsychology #Anthropology https://www.anthropology.net/p/why-your-brain-still-wants-a-hunting
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New research suggests we still pick friends using criteria built for hunter-gatherer life: strength, perceived hunting skill, cooperativeness. Even when it has nothing to do with our actual goals. #HumanEvolution #EvolutionaryPsychology #Anthropology https://www.anthropology.net/p/why-your-brain-still-wants-a-hunting
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New research suggests we still pick friends using criteria built for hunter-gatherer life: strength, perceived hunting skill, cooperativeness. Even when it has nothing to do with our actual goals. #HumanEvolution #EvolutionaryPsychology #Anthropology https://www.anthropology.net/p/why-your-brain-still-wants-a-hunting
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Why Buddhism is True "The reason we suffer—and the reason we make other people suffer—is that we don’t see the world clearly" Sale: $12.99 to $1.99 by Robert Wright Rating: 4.5/5 (2,297 Reviews) #Buddhism #Mindfulness #Meditation #Psychology #EvolutionaryPsychology #Wellness #SelfHelp #BookSky
Why Buddhism is True -
Why Buddhism is True "The reason we suffer—and the reason we make other people suffer—is that we don’t see the world clearly" Sale: $12.99 to $1.99 by Robert Wright Rating: 4.5/5 (2,297 Reviews) #Buddhism #Mindfulness #Meditation #Psychology #EvolutionaryPsychology #Wellness #SelfHelp #BookSky
Why Buddhism is True -
Why Buddhism is True "The reason we suffer—and the reason we make other people suffer—is that we don’t see the world clearly" Sale: $12.99 to $1.99 by Robert Wright Rating: 4.5/5 (2,297 Reviews) #Buddhism #Mindfulness #Meditation #Psychology #EvolutionaryPsychology #Wellness #SelfHelp #BookSky
Why Buddhism is True -
Why Buddhism is True "The reason we suffer—and the reason we make other people suffer—is that we don’t see the world clearly" Sale: $12.99 to $1.99 by Robert Wright Rating: 4.5/5 (2,297 Reviews) #Buddhism #Mindfulness #Meditation #Psychology #EvolutionaryPsychology #Wellness #SelfHelp #BookSky
Why Buddhism is True -
Therapist shares 3 life-changing quotes she uses ‘almost daily’ with her patients
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Therapist shares 3 life-changing quotes she uses ‘almost daily’ with her patients
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Therapist shares 3 life-changing quotes she uses ‘almost daily’ with her patients
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Therapist shares 3 life-changing quotes she uses ‘almost daily’ with her patients
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Left-Handed People Are More Competitive, Says Science
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Left-Handed People Are More Competitive, Says Science
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Left-Handed People Are More Competitive, Says Science
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Left-Handed People Are More Competitive, Says Science
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Left-Handed People Are More Competitive, Says Science
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"Edge - Jeffrey Epstein's favourite intellectual salon - was sold to me as a gathering of the world's finest minds, writes Virginia Heffernan. The files reveal it was something far darker: a decades-long project that cloaked eugenics, race science and sexual misconduct in Ivy League respectability"
#epstein #highereducation #evolutionarypsychology
https://www.thenerve.news/p/epstein-billionaires-eugenics-project-harvard-academia-john-brockman
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I recently finished reading Richard Wollheim's "Painting As An Art".
I found much of it stimulating in the close attention paid to particular pictures and thought provoking with regard to his theory of "seeing in" as the way to understand our perception of paintings.
On the other hand, his use of psychoanalytic theory left me with questions.
Surprisingly, his use of this theory reminded of some recent reading of mine in evolutionary psychology. Both Wollheim and the evolutionary psychologists stress the significance of a common human nature and are inclined to downplay the importance of systems of symbols or culture in general.
I do think that a substantive concept of human nature makes sense, and I am open to the possibility of evolutionary psychology and psychoanalytical theory contributing to an understanding of of human nature.
Altogether less agreeable to me is the tendency of these theories to smuggle in a social ontology in which culture is merely the creation of atomized individuals. One can believe in the evolved nature of the mind and allow for the possibility of certain kinds of psychic forces at work in the individual without denying the importance, still less the existence, of social facts. Thinking about languages as at once learned and used by individuals but also existing as entities external to those individuals is helpful here.
Image: The Construction of the Tower of Babel -- Folio xvii, The Bedford Book of Hours -- 1423 - 30 - The British Library.
#Wollheim #RichardWollheim #PaintingAsAnArt #EvolutionaryPsychology #Psychoanalysis #SocialOntology #Art #Philosophy #IlluminatedManuscript #BookOfHours #BedfordBBookOfHours #15thCenturyArt #TowerOfBabel
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I recently finished reading Richard Wollheim's "Painting As An Art".
I found much of it stimulating in the close attention paid to particular pictures and thought provoking with regard to his theory of "seeing in" as the way to understand our perception of paintings.
On the other hand, his use of psychoanalytic theory left me with questions.
Surprisingly, his use of this theory reminded of some recent reading of mine in evolutionary psychology. Both Wollheim and the evolutionary psychologists stress the significance of a common human nature and are inclined to downplay the importance of systems of symbols or culture in general.
I do think that a substantive concept of human nature makes sense, and I am open to the possibility of evolutionary psychology and psychoanalytical theory contributing to an understanding of of human nature.
Altogether less agreeable to me is the tendency of these theories to smuggle in a social ontology in which culture is merely the creation of atomized individuals. One can believe in the evolved nature of the mind and allow for the possibility of certain kinds of psychic forces at work in the individual without denying the importance, still less the existence, of social facts. Thinking about languages as at once learned and used by individuals but also existing as entities external to those individuals is helpful here.
Image: The Construction of the Tower of Babel -- Folio xvii, The Bedford Book of Hours -- 1423 - 30 - The British Library.
#Wollheim #RichardWollheim #PaintingAsAnArt #EvolutionaryPsychology #Psychoanalysis #SocialOntology #Art #Philosophy #IlluminatedManuscript #BookOfHours #BedfordBBookOfHours #15thCenturyArt #TowerOfBabel
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I recently finished reading Richard Wollheim's "Painting As An Art".
I found much of it stimulating in the close attention paid to particular pictures and thought provoking with regard to his theory of "seeing in" as the way to understand our perception of paintings.
On the other hand, his use of psychoanalytic theory left me with questions.
Surprisingly, his use of this theory reminded of some recent reading of mine in evolutionary psychology. Both Wollheim and the evolutionary psychologists stress the significance of a common human nature and are inclined to downplay the importance of systems of symbols or culture in general.
I do think that a substantive concept of human nature makes sense, and I am open to the possibility of evolutionary psychology and psychoanalytical theory contributing to an understanding of of human nature.
Altogether less agreeable to me is the tendency of these theories to smuggle in a social ontology in which culture is merely the creation of atomized individuals. One can believe in the evolved nature of the mind and allow for the possibility of certain kinds of psychic forces at work in the individual without denying the importance, still less the existence, of social facts. Thinking about languages as at once learned and used by individuals but also existing as entities external to those individuals is helpful here.
Image: The Construction of the Tower of Babel -- Folio xvii, The Bedford Book of Hours -- 1423 - 30 - The British Library.
#Wollheim #RichardWollheim #PaintingAsAnArt #EvolutionaryPsychology #Psychoanalysis #SocialOntology #Art #Philosophy #IlluminatedManuscript #BookOfHours #BedfordBBookOfHours #15thCenturyArt #TowerOfBabel
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I recently finished reading Richard Wollheim's "Painting As An Art".
I found much of it stimulating in the close attention paid to particular pictures and thought provoking with regard to his theory of "seeing in" as the way to understand our perception of paintings.
On the other hand, his use of psychoanalytic theory left me with questions.
Surprisingly, his use of this theory reminded of some recent reading of mine in evolutionary psychology. Both Wollheim and the evolutionary psychologists stress the significance of a common human nature and are inclined to downplay the importance of systems of symbols or culture in general.
I do think that a substantive concept of human nature makes sense, and I am open to the possibility of evolutionary psychology and psychoanalytical theory contributing to an understanding of of human nature.
Altogether less agreeable to me is the tendency of these theories to smuggle in a social ontology in which culture is merely the creation of atomized individuals. One can believe in the evolved nature of the mind and allow for the possibility of certain kinds of psychic forces at work in the individual without denying the importance, still less the existence, of social facts. Thinking about languages as at once learned and used by individuals but also existing as entities external to those individuals is helpful here.
Image: The Construction of the Tower of Babel -- Folio xvii, The Bedford Book of Hours -- 1423 - 30 - The British Library.
#Wollheim #RichardWollheim #PaintingAsAnArt #EvolutionaryPsychology #Psychoanalysis #SocialOntology #Art #Philosophy #IlluminatedManuscript #BookOfHours #BedfordBBookOfHours #15thCenturyArt #TowerOfBabel
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I recently finished reading Richard Wollheim's "Painting As An Art".
I found much of it stimulating in the close attention paid to particular pictures and thought provoking with regard to his theory of "seeing in" as the way to understand our perception of paintings.
On the other hand, his use of psychoanalytic theory left me with questions.
Surprisingly, his use of this theory reminded of some recent reading of mine in evolutionary psychology. Both Wollheim and the evolutionary psychologists stress the significance of a common human nature and are inclined to downplay the importance of systems of symbols or culture in general.
I do think that a substantive concept of human nature makes sense, and I am open to the possibility of evolutionary psychology and psychoanalytical theory contributing to an understanding of of human nature.
Altogether less agreeable to me is the tendency of these theories to smuggle in a social ontology in which culture is merely the creation of atomized individuals. One can believe in the evolved nature of the mind and allow for the possibility of certain kinds of psychic forces at work in the individual without denying the importance, still less the existence, of social facts. Thinking about languages as at once learned and used by individuals but also existing as entities external to those individuals is helpful here.
Image: The Construction of the Tower of Babel -- Folio xvii, The Bedford Book of Hours -- 1423 - 30 - The British Library.
#Wollheim #RichardWollheim #PaintingAsAnArt #EvolutionaryPsychology #Psychoanalysis #SocialOntology #Art #Philosophy #IlluminatedManuscript #BookOfHours #BedfordBBookOfHours #15thCenturyArt #TowerOfBabel
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Reciprocal altruism (Evolutionary biology 🧬)
In evolutionary biology, reciprocal altruism is a behaviour whereby an organism acts in a manner that temporarily reduces its fitness while increasing another organism's fitness, with the expectation that the other organism will act in a similar manner at a later time. The concept was initially developed by Rob...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reciprocal_altruism
#ReciprocalAltruism #Altruism #Symbiosis #EvolutionaryBiology #EvolutionaryPsychology
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Reciprocal altruism (Evolutionary biology 🧬)
In evolutionary biology, reciprocal altruism is a behaviour whereby an organism acts in a manner that temporarily reduces its fitness while increasing another organism's fitness, with the expectation that the other organism will act in a similar manner at a later time. The concept was initially developed by Rob...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reciprocal_altruism
#ReciprocalAltruism #Altruism #Symbiosis #EvolutionaryBiology #EvolutionaryPsychology
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Therapist shares 3 life-changing quotes she uses 'almost daily' with her patients
https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.upworthy.com/therapist-3-life-changing-quotes
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Therapist shares 3 life-changing quotes she uses 'almost daily' with her patients
https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.upworthy.com/therapist-3-life-changing-quotes
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Therapist shares 3 life-changing quotes she uses 'almost daily' with her patients
https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.upworthy.com/therapist-3-life-changing-quotes
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The Mind as Semi-Solid Smoke
This post continues the series on Socratic Thinking, turning the space-and-place lens inward to examine the mind itself. Human minds can be thought of as an imperfect place with the ability to create their own insta-places to navigate ambiguity.
On the Trail (1889) by Winslow Homer. Original from The National Gallery of Art. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel.Exploration in any real or conceptual space needs navigational markers with sufficient meaning. Humans are biologically predisposed to seek out and use navigational markers. This tendency is rooted in our neural architecture, emerges early in life, and is shared with other animals, reflecting its deep evolutionary origins 1,2 . Even the simplest of life performing chemotaxis uses the signal-field of food to navigate.
When you’re microscopic, the territory is the map; at human scale, we externalise those cues as landmarks—then mirror the process inside our heads. Just as cells follow chemical gradients, our thoughts follow self-made landmarks, yet these landmarks are vaporous.
From the outside our mind is a single place, it is our identity. Probe closer and our identity is nebulous and dissolves the way a city dissolves into smaller and smaller places the closer you look. We use our identity to create the first stable place in the world and then use other places to navigate life. However, these places come from unreliable sources, our internal and external environments. How do we know the places are even real, and do we have the knowledge to trust their reality? Well, we don’t. We can’t judge our mental landmarks false. Callard calls this normative self-blindness: the built-in refusal to saw off the branch we stand on.
Normative self-blindness is a trick to gloss over details and keep moving. Insta-places are conjured from our experience and are treated as solid no matter how poorly they are tied down by actual knowledge. We can accept that a place was loosely formed in the past, an error, or is not yet well defined in the future, is unknown. However, in the moment, the places exist and we use them to see.
Understanding and accepting that our minds work this way is a key tenet of Socratic Thinking. It makes adopting the posture of inquiry much easier. Socratic inquiry begins by admitting that everyone’s guiding landmarks may be made of semi-solid smoke.
1Chan, Edgar, Oliver Baumann, Mark A. Bellgrove, and Jason B. Mattingley. “From Objects to Landmarks: The Function of Visual Location Information in Spatial Navigation.” Frontiers in Psychology 3 (2012). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00304
2Freas, Cody A., and Ken Cheng. “The Basis of Navigation Across Species.” Annual Review of Psychology 73, no. 1 (January 4, 2022): 217–41. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-020821-111311.
#AgnesCallard #cognitiveBiases #cognitiveScience #criticalThinking #decisionMaking #epistemology #evolutionaryPsychology #humanPsychology #identity #introspection #mentalModels #metacognition #mindset #navigation #neuroscience #normativeSelfBlindness #personalDevelopment #philosophy #sensemaking #socraticThinking #spaceAndPlace
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The Mind as Semi-Solid Smoke
This post continues the series on Socratic Thinking, turning the space-and-place lens inward to examine the mind itself. Human minds can be thought of as an imperfect place with the ability to create their own insta-places to navigate ambiguity.
On the Trail (1889) by Winslow Homer. Original from The National Gallery of Art. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel.Exploration in any real or conceptual space needs navigational markers with sufficient meaning. Humans are biologically predisposed to seek out and use navigational markers. This tendency is rooted in our neural architecture, emerges early in life, and is shared with other animals, reflecting its deep evolutionary origins 1,2 . Even the simplest of life performing chemotaxis uses the signal-field of food to navigate.
When you’re microscopic, the territory is the map; at human scale, we externalise those cues as landmarks—then mirror the process inside our heads. Just as cells follow chemical gradients, our thoughts follow self-made landmarks, yet these landmarks are vaporous.
From the outside our mind is a single place, it is our identity. Probe closer and our identity is nebulous and dissolves the way a city dissolves into smaller and smaller places the closer you look. We use our identity to create the first stable place in the world and then use other places to navigate life. However, these places come from unreliable sources, our internal and external environments. How do we know the places are even real, and do we have the knowledge to trust their reality? Well, we don’t. We can’t judge our mental landmarks false. Callard calls this normative self-blindness: the built-in refusal to saw off the branch we stand on.
Normative self-blindness is a trick to gloss over details and keep moving. Insta-places are conjured from our experience and are treated as solid no matter how poorly they are tied down by actual knowledge. We can accept that a place was loosely formed in the past, an error, or is not yet well defined in the future, is unknown. However, in the moment, the places exist and we use them to see.
Understanding and accepting that our minds work this way is a key tenet of Socratic Thinking. It makes adopting the posture of inquiry much easier. Socratic inquiry begins by admitting that everyone’s guiding landmarks may be made of semi-solid smoke.
1Chan, Edgar, Oliver Baumann, Mark A. Bellgrove, and Jason B. Mattingley. “From Objects to Landmarks: The Function of Visual Location Information in Spatial Navigation.” Frontiers in Psychology 3 (2012). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00304
2Freas, Cody A., and Ken Cheng. “The Basis of Navigation Across Species.” Annual Review of Psychology 73, no. 1 (January 4, 2022): 217–41. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-020821-111311.
#AgnesCallard #cognitiveBiases #cognitiveScience #criticalThinking #decisionMaking #epistemology #evolutionaryPsychology #humanPsychology #identity #introspection #mentalModels #metacognition #mindset #navigation #neuroscience #normativeSelfBlindness #personalDevelopment #philosophy #sensemaking #socraticThinking #spaceAndPlace
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The Mind as Semi-Solid Smoke
This post continues the series on Socratic Thinking, turning the space-and-place lens inward to examine the mind itself. Human minds can be thought of as an imperfect place with the ability to create their own insta-places to navigate ambiguity.
On the Trail (1889) by Winslow Homer. Original from The National Gallery of Art. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel.Exploration in any real or conceptual space needs navigational markers with sufficient meaning. Humans are biologically predisposed to seek out and use navigational markers. This tendency is rooted in our neural architecture, emerges early in life, and is shared with other animals, reflecting its deep evolutionary origins 1,2 . Even the simplest of life performing chemotaxis uses the signal-field of food to navigate.
When you’re microscopic, the territory is the map; at human scale, we externalise those cues as landmarks—then mirror the process inside our heads. Just as cells follow chemical gradients, our thoughts follow self-made landmarks, yet these landmarks are vaporous.
From the outside our mind is a single place, it is our identity. Probe closer and our identity is nebulous and dissolves the way a city dissolves into smaller and smaller places the closer you look. We use our identity to create the first stable place in the world and then use other places to navigate life. However, these places come from unreliable sources, our internal and external environments. How do we know the places are even real, and do we have the knowledge to trust their reality? Well, we don’t. We can’t judge our mental landmarks false. Callard calls this normative self-blindness: the built-in refusal to saw off the branch we stand on.
Normative self-blindness is a trick to gloss over details and keep moving. Insta-places are conjured from our experience and are treated as solid no matter how poorly they are tied down by actual knowledge. We can accept that a place was loosely formed in the past, an error, or is not yet well defined in the future, is unknown. However, in the moment, the places exist and we use them to see.
Understanding and accepting that our minds work this way is a key tenet of Socratic Thinking. It makes adopting the posture of inquiry much easier. Socratic inquiry begins by admitting that everyone’s guiding landmarks may be made of semi-solid smoke.
1Chan, Edgar, Oliver Baumann, Mark A. Bellgrove, and Jason B. Mattingley. “From Objects to Landmarks: The Function of Visual Location Information in Spatial Navigation.” Frontiers in Psychology 3 (2012). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00304
2Freas, Cody A., and Ken Cheng. “The Basis of Navigation Across Species.” Annual Review of Psychology 73, no. 1 (January 4, 2022): 217–41. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-020821-111311.
#AgnesCallard #cognitiveBiases #cognitiveScience #criticalThinking #decisionMaking #epistemology #evolutionaryPsychology #humanPsychology #identity #introspection #mentalModels #metacognition #mindset #navigation #neuroscience #normativeSelfBlindness #personalDevelopment #philosophy #sensemaking #socraticThinking #spaceAndPlace
-
The Mind as Semi-Solid Smoke
This post continues the series on Socratic Thinking, turning the space-and-place lens inward to examine the mind itself. Human minds can be thought of as an imperfect place with the ability to create their own insta-places to navigate ambiguity.
On the Trail (1889) by Winslow Homer. Original from The National Gallery of Art. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel.Exploration in any real or conceptual space needs navigational markers with sufficient meaning. Humans are biologically predisposed to seek out and use navigational markers. This tendency is rooted in our neural architecture, emerges early in life, and is shared with other animals, reflecting its deep evolutionary origins 1,2 . Even the simplest of life performing chemotaxis uses the signal-field of food to navigate.
When you’re microscopic, the territory is the map; at human scale, we externalise those cues as landmarks—then mirror the process inside our heads. Just as cells follow chemical gradients, our thoughts follow self-made landmarks, yet these landmarks are vaporous.
From the outside our mind is a single place, it is our identity. Probe closer and our identity is nebulous and dissolves the way a city dissolves into smaller and smaller places the closer you look. We use our identity to create the first stable place in the world and then use other places to navigate life. However, these places come from unreliable sources, our internal and external environments. How do we know the places are even real, and do we have the knowledge to trust their reality? Well, we don’t. We can’t judge our mental landmarks false. Callard calls this normative self-blindness: the built-in refusal to saw off the branch we stand on.
Normative self-blindness is a trick to gloss over details and keep moving. Insta-places are conjured from our experience and are treated as solid no matter how poorly they are tied down by actual knowledge. We can accept that a place was loosely formed in the past, an error, or is not yet well defined in the future, is unknown. However, in the moment, the places exist and we use them to see.
Understanding and accepting that our minds work this way is a key tenet of Socratic Thinking. It makes adopting the posture of inquiry much easier. Socratic inquiry begins by admitting that everyone’s guiding landmarks may be made of semi-solid smoke.
1Chan, Edgar, Oliver Baumann, Mark A. Bellgrove, and Jason B. Mattingley. “From Objects to Landmarks: The Function of Visual Location Information in Spatial Navigation.” Frontiers in Psychology 3 (2012). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00304
2Freas, Cody A., and Ken Cheng. “The Basis of Navigation Across Species.” Annual Review of Psychology 73, no. 1 (January 4, 2022): 217–41. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-020821-111311.
#AgnesCallard #cognitiveBiases #cognitiveScience #criticalThinking #decisionMaking #epistemology #evolutionaryPsychology #humanPsychology #identity #introspection #mentalModels #metacognition #mindset #navigation #neuroscience #normativeSelfBlindness #personalDevelopment #philosophy #sensemaking #socraticThinking #spaceAndPlace
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Scientists investigating human sperm competition stumble upon an intriguing paradox
#health #reproductivehealth #evolutionarybiology #evolutionarypsychology #menshealth
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Scientists investigating human sperm competition stumble upon an intriguing paradox
#health #reproductivehealth #evolutionarybiology #evolutionarypsychology #menshealth
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Scientists investigating human sperm competition stumble upon an intriguing paradox
#health #reproductivehealth #evolutionarybiology #evolutionarypsychology #menshealth
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Scientists investigating human sperm competition stumble upon an intriguing paradox
#health #reproductivehealth #evolutionarybiology #evolutionarypsychology #menshealth
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Scientists investigating human sperm competition stumble upon an intriguing paradox
#health #reproductivehealth #evolutionarybiology #evolutionarypsychology #menshealth
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Evolutionary ethics (Evolution 🧬)
Evolutionary ethics is a field of inquiry that explores how evolutionary theory might bear on our understanding of ethics or morality. The range of issues investigated by evolutionary ethics is quite broad. Supporters of evolutionary ethics have argued that it has important implications in the fields of descri...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_ethics
#EvolutionaryEthics #Bioethics #Evolution #Sociobiology #DescriptiveEthics #EvolutionaryPsychology
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Evolutionary ethics (Evolution 🧬)
Evolutionary ethics is a field of inquiry that explores how evolutionary theory might bear on our understanding of ethics or morality. The range of issues investigated by evolutionary ethics is quite broad. Supporters of evolutionary ethics have argued that it has important implications in the fields of descri...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_ethics
#EvolutionaryEthics #Bioethics #Evolution #Sociobiology #DescriptiveEthics #EvolutionaryPsychology
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Inspired in part by @siin on another platform… There’s plenty of documentation about why we like (or hate) certain things, experiences, sensations (#biology, #EvolutionaryPsychology #biochemistry etc ) not so much about why we CARE so much about our own likes & hates… it’s the caring that causes the upset & anxiety, that causes all the awful SHOULDs & imperatives to enter our lives.
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Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind, Fifth Edition by David Buss, 2014
Provides students with the conceptual tools of evolutionary psychology, and applies them to empirical research on the human mind. Content topics are logically arrayed, starting with challenges of survival, mating, parenting, and kinship; and then progressing to challenges of group living...
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Why #obesity is not well-explained by #evolutionaryPsychology, according to Daniel Nettle.
Perhaps you've heard we evolved to cherish sweet, calories-dense foods and [blah blah] therefore overconsumption of sugar explained the obesity epidemic.
Daniel distills the premises of this argument and rebuts each of them: https://www.danielnettle.eu/2024/07/24/sweet-nothings/
#science #health #nutrition #evolution #psychology #history #PhilosophyOfScience #logic #epistemology
