The sociobiology of sociopathy: An integrated evolutionary model

@article{Mealey1995TheSO,
  title={The sociobiology of sociopathy: An integrated evolutionary model},
  author={Linda Mealey},
  journal={Behavioral and Brain Sciences},
  year={1995},
  volume={18},
  pages={523-541}
}
  • L. Mealey
  • Published 1 September 1995
  • Psychology
  • Behavioral and Brain Sciences
Sociopaths are “outstanding” members of society in two senses: politically, they draw our attention because of the inordinate amount of crime they commit, and psychologically, they hold our fascination because most ofus cannot fathom the cold, detached way they repeatedly harm and manipulate others. Proximate explanations from behavior genetics, child development, personality theory, learning theory, and social psychology describe a complex interaction of genetic and physiological risk factors… 
View via Publisher
bibliotecapleyades.net
884 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
64
Background Citations
356
Methods Citations
13
Results Citations
23

884 Citations

Citation Type

Citation Type

America First Books
Sociopaths are "outstanding" members of society in two senses: politically, they command attention because of the inordinate amount of crime they commit, and psychologically, they elicit fascination…
Differentiating antisocial personality disorder, psychopathy, and sociopathy: evolutionary, genetic, neurological, and sociological considerations
This paper examines the separate but overlapping constructs of psychopathy, sociopathy, and antisocial personality disorder from evolutionary, genetic, neurological, and sociological perspectives.…
Evolutionary adaptationism: another biological approach to criminal and antisocial behaviour.
  • M. Daly
  • Psychology, Biology
    Ciba Foundation symposium
  • 1996
TLDR
The conceptual framework of evolutionary psychology, behavioural ecology and sociobiology is distinct from that of behaviour genetics, and increasing knowledge of the processes by which genotypes affect behavioural phenotypes should facilitate development of a more synthetic approach.
Aggression among men: An integrated evolutionary explanation
Nepotistic Patterns of Violent Psychopathy: Evidence for Adaptation?
TLDR
Contrary to the mental disorder hypothesis, it is shown that variation in psychopathy predicts a decrease in the genetic relatedness of victims to offenders, and support is provided for the hypothesis that psychopathy reflects an evolutionary strategy largely favoring the exploitation of non-relatives.
Cooperative Punishment and Religion’s Role in the Evolution of Prosocial Altruism (Version 6)
TLDR
Whereas genes have been shown to contribute to human behavior in terms of congenital (present at birth) predispositions, virtually no human behavior is completely genetically determined.
ACTIVE CONSCIENCE ? THE ETIOLOGY OF PSYCHOPATHY REVISITED
Despite an impressive body of research spanning seven decades, the causes of psychopathy and psychopathic violence remain enigmatic for mental health professionals and society as a whole. A keystone…
Sex Differences and Intrasexual Variation in Competitive Confrontation and Risk Taking: An Evolutionary Psychological Perspective
Crime and Conflict: Homicide in Evolutionary Psychological Perspective
Criminological theories are usually framed in sociological terms but always entail psychological assumptions. Psychological accounts, in their turn, entail assumptions about the adaptive "design" of…
Etiology of antisocial personality disorder: benefits for society from an evolutionary standpoint.
...
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 490 REFERENCES
A General Theory of Expropriative Crime: An Evolutionary Ecological Approach
Ever since Durkheim, many social scientists have subscribed to the premise that deviance and crime anre "normal" properties of naturally functioning social systems. When trying to explain the causes…
Sociobiology: An Environmentalist Discipline?.
TLDR
The concepts of genetically organized life histories and of environmentally contingent strategies for implementing them are integrated with the notion of Darwinian algorithms to provide an evolutionary model of how organisms deal with varying environmental conditions.
Theoretical and political perspectives of American sociologists in the 1990s
This study investigated the theoretical allegiances of a national sample of 168 sociologists. Conflict theory and Marxism, symbolic interactionism, functionalism, and eclecticism were the approaches…
Animal analogues of ostracism: Biological mechanisms and social consequences
Toward an evolutionary history of female sociosexual variation.
TLDR
It is argued that genetic variance on this trait for females could have been maintained through frequency-dependent selection and one prediction that follows from this evolutionary history is tested and supported in three studies.
Childhood experience, interpersonal development, and reproductive strategy: and evolutionary theory of socialization.
The concept of "reproductive strategy" drawn from the field of behavioral ecology is applied to the study of childhood experience and interpersonal development in order to develop an evolutionary…
The biology of moral systems
TLDR
The author argues that the ultimate interests of humans are reproductive, and that the concept of morality has arisen within groups because of its contribution to unity in the context, ultimately, of success in intergroup competition.
Psychological and Biological Perspectives on Altruism
This paper presents the case for viewing altruism as an inherent part of human nature. The argument is first made that 'inclusive fitness', the key concept in modern evolutionary biology, dictates…
A cognitive developmental approach to morality: investigating the psychopath
Toward a synthesis of parental socialization and child temperament in early development of conscience.
It is argued that, while research on conscience development has emphasized the contribution of parental socialization, the influence of children's temperament has been largely neglected. Two…
...
...