Toward a general theory of human individual differences: Can evolutionary psychology meet the challenge?

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 384-389
Author(s):  
Wael Taji ◽  
Coltan Scrivner ◽  
Dario Maestripieri
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
General Theory ◽  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Human Individual

Shamanism within a general theory of religious action (no cheesecake needed)

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Psychology Of Religion ◽  
General Term ◽  
Evolutionary Constraints ◽  
Religious Rituals ◽  
The Creation

AbstractSingh places the understanding of shamanism within the cognitive/evolutionary psychology of religion but is then sidetracked by presenting unhelpful analogies. The concepts of “superstition” as a general term for religious rituals and of “superstitious learning” as a mechanism accounting for the creation of rituals in humans reflect an underestimation of the human imagination, which is guided by cognitive/evolutionary constraints. Mentalizing, hypervigilance in agent detection, and anthropomorphism explain the behaviors involved in religious illusions (or delusions).

Is Compassion Innate? A Psychological Perspective

2020 ◽  
pp. 29-44
Author(s):  
Agnes M.F. Wong
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Developmental Psychology ◽  
Psychological Perspective ◽  
Reward Systems ◽  
Support Provision ◽  
Two Systems ◽  
Support Seeking

In this chapter, the author looks at compassion from two psychological perspectives: evolutionary and developmental. Evolutionary psychology proposes that there are three emotion systems: threat/self-protect, drive/reward, and affiliative/soothing. By developing our capacity to mindfully access, accept, and direct affiliative motives and emotions—for others and ourselves—we can cultivate compassion skills to shift our mind toward the affiliative/soothing system and down-regulate the threat/self-protect and drive/reward systems. Developmental psychology further contributes to our understanding of compassion by proposing two behavioural systems: the attachment behavioural system that governs support-seeking and the caregiving behavioural system that governs support provision. It suggests that the interplay between these two systems may account for individual differences in the disposition to compassion. Last, the author shows that compassion not only benefits the recipients, but also improves the psychological health of the caregivers.

Astrobiology’s Intra-Active Aliens

2020 ◽  
pp. 32-45
Author(s):  
Adam Pryor
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
Theological Anthropology ◽  
Human Existence ◽  
Living Systems ◽  
Conceptual Foundation ◽  
Human Individual

This chapter lays a conceptual foundation by introducing how the intra-active quality of astrobiological phenomena provides a distinctive context for framing what constitutes meaningful human existence, because the scale of these phenomena is so vast. To think astrobiologically requires that we imagine significant ontological units beyond the human individual and her agency that accord with the more general theory of living-systems that astrobiology is beginning to articulate. It explores how the interdisciplinary discoveries of astrobiology proffer a particular transdisciplinary vision of the cosmos with significance for theological anthropology and environmental thinking about the Anthropocene.

Self-Control Theory and Crime

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Gottfredson
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
General Theory ◽  
Control Theory ◽  
Problem Behaviors ◽  
Self Control ◽  
General Theory Of Crime ◽  
Theory Of Crime ◽  
Serious Offenders ◽  
Gottfredson And Hirschi

Gottfredson and Hirschi advanced self-control theory in 1990 as part of their general theory of crime. Self-control is defined as the ability to forego acts that provide immediate or near-term pleasures, but that also have negative consequences for the actor, and as the ability to act in favor of longer-term interests. An individual’s level of self-control is influenced by family or other caregiver behavior early in life. Once established, differences in self-control affect the likelihood of delinquency in childhood and adolescence and crime in later life. Persons with relatively high levels of self-control do better in school, have stronger job prospects, establish more stable interpersonal relationships, and attain higher income and better health outcomes. Self-control theory was initially constructed to reconcile the age, generality, and stability findings of criminological research with the standard assumptions of control theory. As such, it acknowledges the general decline in crime with age, versatility in types of problem behaviors engaged in by delinquents and offenders, and the generally stable individual differences in the tendency to engage in delinquency and crime over one’s life-course. Self-control theory applies to a wide variety of illegal behaviors (most crimes) and to many noncrime problem behaviors, including school problems, accidents, and substance abuse. A considerable amount of research has been undertaken on self-control theory and on Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime. As a result, self-control theory is likely the most heavily researched perspective in criminology during the past 30 years. Most reviews find substantial empirical support for the principal positions of the theory, including the relationship between levels of self-control and delinquency, crime, and other problem behaviors. These relationships appear to be strong throughout life, among most groups of people, types of crime, in the United States and other countries, and over time. The posited important role of the family in the genesis of self-control is consistent with substantial bodies of research, although some researchers argue in favor of important genetic components for self-control. The theory’s expectations about the age distribution of crime, versatility of offending, and stability of individual differences over long periods of time also receive substantial support. Researchers have long studied variations in age effects, particularly seeking continuously high levels of offending for the most serious offenders, but reviewers have found that the evidence for meaningful variability is not convincing. For public policy, self-control theory argues that the most promising approach for crime reduction focuses primarily on prevention, especially in early childhood, and secondarily on situational prevention for specific types of crimes. Gottfredson and Hirschi argue that self-control theory is inconsistent with reliance on the criminal justice system to affect crime levels. On the one hand, general reviews of the empirical literature on deterrence and incapacitation support the expectations of self-control theory by finding little support for severity of sanctions, sanctions long removed from the act, and selective incapacitation for “serious offenders.” On the other hand, experimental studies from education, psychology, and criminology generally support the idea that early-childhood family and educational environments can be altered to enhance self-control and lower expected delinquency, crime, and other problem behaviors later in life.

Individual Differences in Vigor and Deliberation: Development of Two New Measures from an Evolutionary Psychology Theory of Human Motivation

2008 ◽  
Vol 103 (1) ◽  
pp. 243-270
Author(s):  
Larry C. Bernard
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Psychometric Properties ◽  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Total N ◽  
Human Motivation ◽  
Psychology Theory

Three studies (total N = 403 participants; M age = 31.1 yr.; SD=13.8) are reported on the development, psychometric properties, and convergent and discriminant validities of two individual differences dimensions of Vigor (constructive arousal and energy that drives the general intensity of behavior) and Deliberation (prudence in the delay of immediate action and consideration of competing motives, emotions, and consequences of action that promote convergence of behavior toward socially desirable outcomes). These dimensions are part of Bernard, Mills, Swenson, and Walsh's evolutionary psychology theory of human motivation. Analysis suggests Vigor and Deliberation scales have reasonably good psychometric properties and may aid research on motivation from an evolutionary perspective.

A Theory for Predicting Ability/Skill Relations: An Approach from Automatic and Controlled Processing

1983 ◽  
Vol 27 (11) ◽  
pp. 919-923 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phillip L. Ackerman
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
General Theory ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Short Review ◽  
Motor Abilities ◽  
Controlled Processing ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Resource Characteristics ◽  
And Task

The basic phenomena from studies relating Individual differences in cognitive and perceptual-motor abilities to skill development are investigated. A general theory is provided for predicting patterns of correlations between ability measures and performance scores during training. The theory is based on two major perspectives, Automatic and Controlled Processing types and modern hierarchical theories of cognitive abilities. Additional attention is devoted to Performance-Resource characteristics, task difficulty and task content. A short review of supporting data is also provided.

Trade-offs, individual differences, and misunderstandings about evolutionary psychology.

2010 ◽  
Vol 65 (9) ◽  
pp. 930-932 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carin Perilloux ◽  
David M. G. Lewis ◽  
Cari D. Goetz ◽  
Diana S. Fleischman ◽  
Judith A. Easton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Trade Offs
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