Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T09:12:41.807Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Analyses do not support the parasite-stress theory of human sociality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2012

Thomas E. Currie  and
Ruth Mace
Thomas E. Currie
Affiliation:
Human Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Anthropology, University College London, London WC1H 0BW, United Kingdom. [email protected]@ucl.ac.ukhttp://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucsatechttp://www.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology/staff/r_macehttp://www.ucl.ac.uk/heeg
Ruth Mace
Affiliation:
Human Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Anthropology, University College London, London WC1H 0BW, United Kingdom. [email protected]@ucl.ac.ukhttp://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucsatechttp://www.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology/staff/r_macehttp://www.ucl.ac.uk/heeg
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Re-analysis of the data provided in the target article reveals a lack of evidence for a strong, universal relationship between parasite stress and the variables relating to sociality. Furthermore, even if associations between these variables do exist, the analyses presented here do not provide evidence for Fincher & Thornhill's (F&T's) proposed causal mechanism.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 35 , Issue 2 , April 2012 , pp. 83 - 85
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

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

References

Currie, T. E., Greenhill, S. J. & Mace, R. (2010) Is horizontal transmission really a problem for phylogenetic comparative methods? A simulation study using continuous cultural traits. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 365:3903–12.Google Scholar
Currie, T. E. & Mace, R. (2009) Political complexity predicts the spread of ethnolinguistic groups. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 106(18):7339–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Currie, T. E. & Mace, R. (in press) The evolution of ethnolinguistic diversity. Advances in Complex Systems. DOI:10.1142/S0219525911003372.Google Scholar
Diamond, J. (1997) Guns, germs and steel. Vintage.Google Scholar
Mace, R. & Jordan, F. M. (2011) Macro-evolutionary studies of cultural diversity: A review of empirical studies of cultural transmission and cultural adaptation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 366(1563):402–11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murdock, G. P. (1949) Social structure. MacMillan.Google Scholar
Raudenbush, S. W. & Bryk, A. S. (2002) Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods. Sage.Google Scholar