Evolution and Human Behavior最新文献

{"title":"Coalitional Psychology and the Evolution of Intelligence","authors":"Jonathan Egeland ,&nbsp;Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair ,&nbsp;Thomas Haarklau Kleppestø","doi":"10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2026.106839","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2026.106839","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Abstract</h3><div>As evolutionary and behavioral scholars have long noted, humans are “uniquely unique,” partly due to our remarkable cognitive sophistication. Since Darwin, scientists have sought both proximate and ultimate explanations for how human thinking and information processing differ from those of other species, and why humans evolved such advanced cognitive skills. Research over the past few decades suggests that various aspects of human socioecology—such as large group sizes and intensified social competition driven by ecological dominance—have selected for greater intelligence. However, a clear account of how intelligence enables individuals to adaptively navigate the complex web of social interactions within human groups remains an unsatisfied desideratum. To address this issue, we synthesize insights from psychology, anthropology, cognitive science, and other evolutionarily informed fields to formulate the <em>Coalitional Intelligence Hypothesis</em>. This hypothesis posits that the behavioral manifestations of human intelligence function as honest signals of coalitional value, facilitating adaptive exchanges of status and cognitive–computational services. We derive five testable predictions from this hypothesis and evaluate them against core findings in the literature.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55159,"journal":{"name":"Evolution and Human Behavior","volume":"47 3","pages":"Article 106839"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146147697","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Paleo-medicine at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov","authors":"David A. Jopling","doi":"10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2025.106807","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2025.106807","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The 780,000 year-old archaeological site at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov (in current day Israel) contains a large assemblage of well-preserved plant remnants, among which are about 9,000 remnants that are hypothesized to be representative of the plant foods consumed by the hominins who occupied the site. This paper argues that some of the plant taxa were more likely to have been used as medicines than as foods. Six arguments support the medicinal plant hypothesis: 1. a literature search of major phytochemical and botanical databases (e.g., <em>USDA Dr. Duke's phytochemical and ethnobotanical databases; Kew State of the world's plants</em>) shows that a significant portion of the plant taxa in the assemblage are potentially toxic to humans, suggesting that they were more likely to have had non-dietary than dietary uses; 2. a literature search of major food nutrition databases (e.g., <em>USDA Food Data Central</em>) shows that a significant portion of the plant taxa have low nutritional and caloric value compared to other plant taxa and faunal material in the assemblage, also suggesting that they were more likely to have had non-dietary than dietary uses; 3. a literature search of major botanical databases shows that the proportion of medicinal to non-medicinal plant taxa in the assemblage is significantly higher than global proportions; 4. a literature search of major herbal medicine databases and reference works (e.g., <em>USDA Dr. Duke's phytochemical and ethnobotanical databases</em>; <em>Native American ethnobotany database; Complete German Commission E monographs: Therapeutic guide to herbal medicines</em>) shows that all 55 edible plant taxa in the assemblage have been used as plant medicines in traditional medicine, and most are still in use in contemporary herbal medicine; 5. a literature search of published phytochemical and pharmacological analyses of the 55 edible plant taxa shows that almost all contain medicinally active properties; and 6. the use of plant medicines would have provided significant fitness benefits to the hominins who occupied the site. Taken together, these arguments suggest that the plant assemblage at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov contains evidence of the oldest medicines used by humans.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55159,"journal":{"name":"Evolution and Human Behavior","volume":"47 2","pages":"Article 106807"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146173260","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Resource allocation and romantic jealousy: An experimental test of sex differences using economic games","authors":"Ana María Fernández ,&nbsp;María Teresa Barbato ,&nbsp;Michele Dufey ,&nbsp;Belén Zavalla ,&nbsp;María Luíza Rodrigues Sampaio de Souza","doi":"10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2025.106816","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2025.106816","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Romantic jealousy is theorized to have evolved as an adaptive mechanism triggered by sex-specific threats to reproductive fitness. In men, sexual infidelity poses risks of paternal uncertainty, whereas in women, emotional infidelity threatens resource diversion. To test evolutionary predictions about sex differences in jealousy responses, the present study employed an improved economic game paradigm with heterosexual couples. Specifically, the modified dictator game was refined to <em>explicitly state</em> that the participant's partner would not only allocate resources to a newly introduced intrasexual rival but also receive resources that the partner would directly accept from this rival, thereby clarifying the intentionality and directionality of the exchange. This adjustment enhances ecological validity by modeling both partner-initiated and rival-initiated threats in a more realistic mate-poaching context. Seventy-nine heterosexual couples participated in a laboratory setting. Controlling for individual differences such as attachment anxiety and digital jealousy, it was hypothesized that women would experience greater jealousy than men when their partner allocated resources to a rival, while men would experience greater jealousy than women when their partner received resources from a rival to the detriment of the rival's partner. Results partially supported these hypotheses: resource allocation to a rival triggered greater jealousy responses in all participants, particularly among women, consistent with emotional infidelity models, whereas the reception condition yielded weaker and less differentiated effects. These findings suggest that allocation-based paradigms effectively model generalized romantic jealousy in partner–rival contexts involving resource exchange but may have limited sensitivity for detecting mate-poaching-related jealousy. More broadly, the study highlights the promise and constraints of economic games for experimentally investigating sex-specific adaptations in emotional responses.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55159,"journal":{"name":"Evolution and Human Behavior","volume":"47 2","pages":"Article 106816"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145886227","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Abstract core knowledge may shape the basins of cultural attraction: romantic kissing as a case study","authors":"Hossein Samani ,&nbsp;Ashley J. Thomas","doi":"10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2025.106810","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2025.106810","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Romantic kissing is prevalent across human societies, yet far from universal—a puzzling pattern given it also appears to have been invented independently across cultures. We consider the role of infant cognition—specifically, abstract, early-emerging knowledge about social intimacy that forms part of “core knowledge.” Drawing on theories of cultural attraction, we argue that the common knowledge that arises from this early-emerging knowledge shapes the “basins of attraction” for particular cultural practices. Using romantic kissing as a case study, we build on evidence that even infants interpret physical closeness and behaviors like saliva sharing as signals of intimate social relationships. When romantic love becomes personally or culturally salient, this abstract knowledge makes practices like romantic kissing intuitive to invent, learn, and maintain because they fit pre-existing expectations about how intimacy, more broadly construed, is displayed. We further suggest that variation in the prevalence of romantic kissing depends on the importance placed on romantic love within a culture. Our account provides a framework for understanding both the cross-cultural diversity and recurrent emergence of romantic kissing, and for theorizing about how universal cognitive representations may interact with local social and ecological factors to shape the emergence and form of cultural practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55159,"journal":{"name":"Evolution and Human Behavior","volume":"47 2","pages":"Article 106810"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145886229","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evolutionary and social functions of gaming: Integrating experimental evidence and mathematical modeling","authors":"Yago Lukševičius de Moraes ,&nbsp;Marco Antonio Correa Varella ,&nbsp;Leonardo Cezar Silva Costa ,&nbsp;Nayara Teles ,&nbsp;Jaroslava Varella Valentova","doi":"10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2026.106833","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2026.106833","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This research examines the evolutionary and social functions of gaming by proposing that rule-bounded competitive play could operate as a strategy for forming and sustaining long-term alliances. To investigate this hypothesis, we conducted two complementary studies. Study 1 tested whether engaging in a game, compared with a non-game interaction (role playing), influences how same-sex strangers perceive each other's value and relational closeness across repeated encounters. Although both constructs changed over time, gaming did not produce stronger or faster shifts than the comparison activity. Study 2 used an agent-based evolutionary model to explore the conditions under which gaming could spread in a population as a tactic for ally selection. The simulations indicated that gaming is favored when players possess above-average skill and when environmental risk coevolves with population skill; otherwise, gaming tends to drift or disappear. Together, these studies suggest that the social effects of gaming are context-dependent and may not emerge uniformly across game types or interaction settings. The modeling results highlight that risk, skill, and reliability of performance cues are key parameters for understanding the potential evolutionary role of gaming in alliance formation. Future work should integrate long-term interactions, participants' skill levels, and different game ecologies to clarify under what circumstances gaming strengthens social bonds.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55159,"journal":{"name":"Evolution and Human Behavior","volume":"47 2","pages":"Article 106833"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146173261","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mortality perceptions in the context of the Trivers-Willard hypothesis","authors":"Joseph G. Guerriero ,&nbsp;Mary K. Shenk ,&nbsp;Robert F. Lynch ,&nbsp;Madeleine Zoeller ,&nbsp;Lisa S. McAllister ,&nbsp;Nurul Alam","doi":"10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2025.106812","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2025.106812","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Trivers-Willard hypothesis (TWH) posits that parents who can easily provide for their children are expected to have more sons and invest more in sons while parents who have difficulty providing for their children are expected to have and invest more in daughters. In the present study, we test plausible proxies of parental condition largely ignored by prior investigations: worry about family member mortality and perceptions of community mortality risk. We administered an in-person survey to 302 married women living in Matlab, Bangladesh, and captured both mortality and financial-related proxies of parental condition and three parental bias variables (hypothetical investment in sons vs. daughters, preferences for sons vs. daughters, and the sex ratio of respondents' children). Using Bayesian regression, we found only two of nine of our a-priori predictions were supported: there is a 61 % probability that perceptions of community mortality risk are positively associated with preferring daughters over sons and a 66 % probability that financial standing is positively associated with preferring more sons than daughters. Other tests did not reveal clear effects or revealed an effect opposite to what was expected. However, in line with our TWH-inspired hypotheses, exploratory tests revealed that <em>early life</em> exposure to mortality is positively associated with having more daughters than sons and <em>early life</em> financial standing is positively associated with having more sons than daughters. We conclude that tests of the TWH remain sensitive to how parental condition and bias are operationalized, and that assessments of parental condition earlier in life may be particularly predictive of parental bias patterns in accordance with the Trivers-Willard hypothesis.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55159,"journal":{"name":"Evolution and Human Behavior","volume":"47 2","pages":"Article 106812"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145842473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cross-sex theory of mind in the domain of sexual violence: upset, fear, and perceived likelihood","authors":"Rebecka K. Hahnel-Peeters ,&nbsp;William Costello ,&nbsp;Paola Baca ,&nbsp;David P. Schmitt ,&nbsp;David M. Buss","doi":"10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2026.106835","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2026.106835","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>An evolutionary perspective on theory of mind (ToM) leads us to hypothesize that inferences about others' beliefs, desires, and emotions are somewhat domain specific. In domains in which women and men have recurrently confronted different adaptive problems, selection should favor sex-differentiated ToM design features. One such domain centers on sexual violence; men have been the primary perpetrators and women the primary victims over time and across cultures. Using a mixed-subjects design (<em>N</em> = 781; 39% men), we tested two preregistered competing evolutionary hypotheses of sex-differentiated ToM inferences. The <em>byproduct hypothesis</em> posits that mind-reading errors occur because individuals use their own sexual psychology as a reference point, leading to an egocentric bias when inferring emotional reactions in the other sex. The <em>adaptation hypothesis</em> posits selection has favored adaptive inferential biases, analogous to men's oversexualization bias, that function to minimize more costly errors even if they result in more frequent low-cost errors. These biases could function to facilitate some sexual strategies. Underestimating victims' upset from sexual assault, for example, could facilitate a sexually exploitative strategy. We tested several predictions from both the <em>byproduct hypothesis</em> and the <em>adaptation hypothesis</em> across dimensions of cross-sex inference—upset, fear, and perceived likelihood of sexual victimization in a sample collected from social media and a public university in the southern United States. Men, on average, statistically underperceived women's self-reported upset following intimate partner sexual assault (Cohen's <em>d</em> = 0.48). Women, on average, statistically overperceived men's self-reported upset (Cohen's <em>d</em> = 0.64). In contrast, men and women were relatively accurate in predicting the opposite sex's fear of sexual violence<em>.</em> Men accurately inferred women's perceived likelihood of sexual victimization; whereas women statistically overestimated men's perceived likelihood of victimization (Cohen's <em>d</em> = 0.69). We tested individual differences theoretically relevant to the <em>adaptation hypothesis</em>. Discussion focuses on evidence bearing on adaptation and byproduct hypotheses.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55159,"journal":{"name":"Evolution and Human Behavior","volume":"47 2","pages":"Article 106835"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146078632","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Questioning claims of parasite-induced sexual aggression in humans","authors":"Andrew A. Davinack","doi":"10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2026.106836","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2026.106836","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":55159,"journal":{"name":"Evolution and Human Behavior","volume":"47 2","pages":"Article 106836"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146023671","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Early sex differences in sociosexual behavior of wild robust capuchin monkeys: Ontogenetic and evolutionary insights","authors":"Irene Delval ,&nbsp;Solimary García-Hernández ,&nbsp;Nayara Teles ,&nbsp;Juan Caixeta ,&nbsp;Leonardo Cezar ,&nbsp;Jaroslava V. Valentova ,&nbsp;Patrícia Izar ,&nbsp;Jean-Baptiste Leca","doi":"10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2026.106834","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2026.106834","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sex differences in sexual behavior are a fundamental aspect of reproductive strategies across animal species, including primates. While non-reproductive sexual behaviors such as play and courtship can support social bonding and skill acquisition, their developmental origins remain underexplored. We investigated the ontogeny of sociosexual behavior in 16 wild infant robust capuchin monkeys (<em>Sapajus libidinosus</em> and <em>S. xanthosternos</em>) observed longitudinally over their first year of life. In particular, we explored the influence of sex, age, species, breeding season (inferred from birth season and gestation length), and individual identity on these behaviors. We found that males displayed sexual behaviors earlier, more frequently, and with greater diversity than females, despite adult Sapajus courtship being predominantly female-led. Sociosexual behaviors increased in frequency and complexity with age. Species differences were not significant, aligning with similarities in adult sexual patterns, and we didn't find an influence of the breeding season on sexual behavioral rates. Overall, our results suggest that sociosexual behavior in capuchins is sexually differentiated from infancy, follows a flexible developmental trajectory, and may serve functions beyond reproduction. These findings challenge the practice hypothesis, which posits that early sexual behaviors primarily serve as rehearsal for adult reproductive roles. Instead, they suggest that early sociosexual behaviors may reflect sex-specific developmental pathways linked to hormonal maturation or broader social functions such as bonding, dominance, or motor skill acquisition. Our results highlight the flexibility of primate sexual development and contribute to comparative perspectives on the evolution of sexual behavior in humans and other primates.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55159,"journal":{"name":"Evolution and Human Behavior","volume":"47 2","pages":"Article 106834"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146078631","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Health, attractiveness, and marriageability among Aka hunter-gatherers and Ngandu farmer adolescents and young adults in the Central African Republic","authors":"Bonnie Hewlett ,&nbsp;Harshita Agrawal ,&nbsp;Barry Hewlett","doi":"10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2025.106815","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2025.106815","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates how adolescents from two culturally distinct Central African communities—the Aka hunter-gatherers and Ngandu farmers—perceive health, attractiveness, and marriageability, focusing on how local socio-ecological contexts shape perceptions of health, attraction, and mate preferences. The research examines how body mass index and parasite load relate to perceived health and attractiveness. Seventy-five adolescents (39 Aka and 36 Ngandu) evaluated photographs of peers for health, attractiveness, and marriagability, while physical health was objectively measured using anthropometric and parasitological data. Regression analyses revealed that BMI was a consistent and significant predictor of both perceived health and attractiveness, whereas total parasite load did not significantly influence either outcome. Notably, perceptions of health strongly predicted attractiveness and marriageability, but not vice versa. Ethnic and gender differences in perception were also found: Aka adolescents prioritized social traits like kindness and cooperation, while Ngandu participants emphasized physical cleanliness and robustness. Male raters showed more variability and stricter standards, particularly when evaluating females. These findings underscore the role of robust phenotypic features, such as BMI, in determining how health, beauty, and reproductive value are interpreted. This research contributes to understanding how evolutionarily evolved preferences and cultural contexts shape perceptions of health, attraction, and marriageability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55159,"journal":{"name":"Evolution and Human Behavior","volume":"47 2","pages":"Article 106815"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145927397","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}