Papers by Aurelio José Figueredo
Contextual influences on sustainable behaviour
Raymond B. Cattell: Bequeathing a Dual Inheritance to Life History Theory
Raymond Cattell distinguished crystallized intelligence, akin to stored knowledge, from fluid int... more Raymond Cattell distinguished crystallized intelligence, akin to stored knowledge, from fluid intelligence, akin to raw reasoning abilities. Likewise, he delineated personality into component parts. Though intelligence and personality each qualify as subdisciplines within psychology, both are subsumed, along with other traits, under the meta-theory of life history evolution. The relationship is profound, though not straightforward. As described in this chapter, both intelligence and personality vary along a life history continuum, such that, as life history slows, population mean intelligence increases, as do personality traits like risk aversion, conscientiousness, anxiety, and agreeableness. Nevertheless, this effect occurs on average, and there is strategic variation occurring, which obscures the relationship between population-mean intelligence, personality, and life history. Once understood, these relationships color and clarify Cattell’s life’s work.
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2016
Our commentary articulates some of the commonalities between Baumeister et al.'s theory of social... more Our commentary articulates some of the commonalities between Baumeister et al.'s theory of socially differentiated roles and Strategic Differentiation-Integration Effort. We expand upon the target article's position by arguing that differentiating social roles is contextual and driven by varying ecological pressures, producing character displacement not only among individuals within complex societies, but also across social systems and multiple levels of organization. Baumeister et al. present a provocative paper arguing that psychological theories of group and self can be more comprehensive if they include the concept of individual differentiation, which suggests that productivity and accountability will increase in groups where individuals are assigned distinct roles. Integrative, multilevel papers like this are rare in our field; thus, this endeavor is laudatory. The authors omitted one fundamental component, however: an outline of a mechanism for determining the degree to which groups differentiate among individuals. What causes some groups to highly specialize while others remain relatively socially stagnant and undifferentiated? Although we agree with the core of the authors' position, we also present an evolutionary ecological perspective that complements and expands upon the authors' theory by specifying how and why certain ecological factors promote individual differentiation. Specifically, Baumeister et al.'s work on individual differentiation mirrors recent work investigating the Strategic Differentiation-Integration Effort (SD-IE) hypothesis, which posits that specialization and role differentiation within and among individuals and groups is an evolutionary adaptation to ecological pressures. In essence, SD-IE articulates the ecological conditions under which individual differentiation should occur and ultimately why it does. According to SD-IE theory, slow life history strategies favor the evolution and development of individuals who are strategically ,
European Journal of Personality, 2017
We evaluated five competing hypotheses about what predicts romantic interest. Through a halfblock... more We evaluated five competing hypotheses about what predicts romantic interest. Through a halfblock quasi-experimental design, a large sample of young adults (i.e., responders; n = 335) viewed videos of opposite-sex persons (i.e., targets) talking about themselves and responders rated the targets' traits and their romantic interest in the target. We tested whether similarity, dissimilarity, or overall trait levels on mate value, physical attractiveness, life history strategy, and the Big-Five personality factors predicted romantic interest at zero acquaintance, and whether sex acted as a moderator. We tested the responders' individual perception of the targets' traits, in addition to the targets' own self-reported trait levels and a consensus rating of the targets made by the responders. We used polynomial regression with response surface analysis within multilevel modeling to test support for each of the hypotheses. Results suggest a large sex difference in trait perception; when women rated men, they agreed in their perception more often than when men rated women. However, as a predictor of romantic interest, there were no sex differences. Only the responders' perception of the targets' physical attractiveness predicted romantic interest; specifically, responders' who rated the targets' physical attractiveness as higher than themselves reported more romantic interest.
What causes the anti-Flynn effect? A data synthesis and analysis of predictors
Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, Oct 1, 2018
Anti-Flynn effects (i.e., secular declines in IQ) have been noted in a few countries. Much specul... more Anti-Flynn effects (i.e., secular declines in IQ) have been noted in a few countries. Much speculation exists about the causes of these trends; however, little progress has been made toward comprehensively testing these. A synthetic literature search yielded a total of 66 observations of secular IQ decline from 13 countries, with a combined sample size of 302,234 and study midyears spanning 87 years, from 1920.5 to 2007.5. Multilevel modeling (MLM) was used to examine the effect of study midyear, and (after controlling for this and other factors) hierarchical general linear modeling (GLM) was used to examine the following sequence of predictors: domain “g-ness” (a rank-order measure of g saturation) Index of Biological State (IBS; a measure of relaxed/reversed selection operating on g), per capita immigration, and the 2-way interactions IBS × g-ness and Immigration × g-ness. The MLM revealed that the anti-Flynn effect has strengthened in more recent years. Net of this, the GLM found that g-ness was a positive predictor; that is, less aggregately g-loaded measures exhibited bigger IQ declines; IBS was not a significant predictor; however immigration predicted the decline, indicating that high levels of immigration promote the anti-Flynn effect. Among the interactions there was a negative effect of the Immigration × g-ness interaction, indicating that immigration promotes IQ decline the most when the measure is higher in g-ness. The model accounted for 37.1% of the variance among the observations.
The Evolution of Personality : Revisiting Buss (1991)
SAGE Publications Ltd eBooks, 2019
Archives of Sexual Behavior, Nov 21, 2018
Intelligence, May 1, 2020
Various neuroanatomical volume measures (NVMs) are frequently used as proxies for intelligence in... more Various neuroanatomical volume measures (NVMs) are frequently used as proxies for intelligence in comparative studies, such as the size of the brain, neocortex, and hippocampus, either absolute or controlled for other size measures (e.g., body size, or rest of the brain). Mean species NVMs are moderately correlated with aggregate general intelligence (G), however G and NVMs are yet to be compared in their evolutionary patterns (e.g., conservatism and evolutionary rates) and processes (i.e., their fit to diverse models of evolution reflecting selection regimes). Such evolutionary information is valuable for examining convergence in the evolutionary history among traits and is not available from simple correlation coefficients. Considering accumulating evidence that non-volumetric neurological measures may be as important as (or more so than) volumetric measures as substrates of intelligence, and that certain NVMs negatively predict neuronal density, we hypothesized that discrepancies would be found in evolutionary patterns and processes of G compared to NVMs. We collated data from the literature on primate species means for G, the volumes of the brain, neocortex, cerebellum, and hippocampus, and body mass, and employed phylogenetic comparative methods that examine phylogenetic signal (λ, K), evolutionary rates (σ 2 ), and several parameters of evolutionary models (Brownian motion, Early-burst, acceleration, and Ornstein-Uhlenbeck). Evolutionary rates and acceleration trends were up to an order of magnitude higher for G than for most NVMs, and a strong selection optimum toward which clades evolved was found for G, whereas NVMs conformed mostly to Brownian motion. Brain size was the most contrasting NVM compared to intelligence across most phylogenetic indices examined, showing signs of deceleration and extreme conservativeness. Only certain operationalizations of neocortical and hippocampal volume showed convergence with G, albeit still notably weakly. The NVM with results that most strongly approached the patterns identified for G is residual cerebellar size (relative to body size). In comparison to the most commonly used volumetric measures (operationalization of brain and neocortex size), G must be seen as an evolutionarily labile trait under considerable selection pressure, necessitating that the role of the cerebellum be more aptly recognized and that other neurological factors be invoked as potential substrates for its evolutionary trajectory. Laland, 2011) and for controlled, laboratory tasks . In fact, these methods lead to correlated indices of general intelligence, at the cross-species level, and are also highly correlated with expert rankings of the species . These findings replicate evidence of a g factor of individual differences across many mammal species studied so far, including primates and also rodents (for reviews, see Burkart,
Journal of Methods and Measurement in the Social Sciences, Jul 7, 2022
The present article describes the development of a Modern Biased Information Test (MBIT) inspired... more The present article describes the development of a Modern Biased Information Test (MBIT) inspired by the work published by Donald Campbell in 1950 on indirect measures of prejudice. A biased information test aims to tap individuals' intergroup attitudes from the selective information they use to describe group members. Two biased information tests were developed to measure ethnocentric and androcentric biases, respectively, and applied in four convenience samples of students from two different cultural settings (Costa Rica and the USA). The internal consistency for the accuracy indicators derived from both tests was acceptable and comparable across cultures. In contrast, the internal consistency for ethnocentric biases was adequate across samples and cultures, but the internal consistency for androcentric biases was unacceptable across both cultures. Results are discussed in the line of the usefulness of alternative measures for tapping implicit attitudes.
Commentary on Fuerst and Kirkegaard: Some groups have all the luck, some groups have all the pain, some groups get all the breaks
Mankind Quarterly, 2016
Soy extranjero en mi tierra, y no vengo a darles guerra, soy hombre trabajador. Y si no miente la... more Soy extranjero en mi tierra, y no vengo a darles guerra, soy hombre trabajador. Y si no miente la historia, aqui se sento en la gloria la poderosa nacion entre guerreros valientes, indios de dos continentes, mezclados con espanol ("Somos Mas Americanos" by Los Tigres Del Norte).Fuerst and Kirkegaard have written a comprehensive paper that examines the Racial-Cognitive Ability-Socioeconomic (R-CA-S) hypothesis, a synthesis of hypotheses that broadly conceptualize racial differences in cognitive abilities as resulting from environmental, genetic/epigenetic, and evolutionary progression (e.g., Lynn 2008). This paper follows other research that examines whether cognitive abilities mediate the association between race and socioeconomic status. Collecting regional and intra-regional data is often elusive. Fuerst and Kirkegaard have not only been diligent and creative, but have also been appropriately transparent by presenting their raw data for others to replicate or reinterpret the analyses. Further, although tackling such a topic is often met with immediate knee-jerk resistance, science is built on testing a wide range of hypotheses even when they are not popular. To their credit, the authors have handled a controversial topic tactfully and respectfully.Broadly, we agree with the overall results of the findings. We concede that the reported associations among European ancestry, cognitive abilities, and socioeconomic status in the Americas are robust. European-descended groups in the United States, for instance, have both higher incomes and greater social capital with which to increase both their individual and aggregate wealth (DeNavas-Walt & Proctor, 2014) and also perform better on measures of cognitive abilities (e.g., National Center for Education Statistics, 2015). We do, however, take some exception to the interpretations proffered for their findings and the atheoretical approach the authors took toward analyzing the data. Our present commentary focuses on the conceptual problems in their paper that we believe need to be addressed to expand research on the R-CA-S hypothesis, as well as their corresponding parallels in the seemingly suboptimal statistical methodologies used. While we applaud the authors for being more transparent than most, there is a notable absence of clarity when describing some of the methods used in this paper, so our characterization of these methods as "suboptimal" might be due to their inadequate description in this paper rather than the procedures that were actually applied.Paraphrase of Main ThesisFuerst and Kirkegaard essentially argue that being genetically of European heritage provides an advantage in general cognitive abilities, and that those higher cognitive abilities lead in turn to the achievement of a higher mean level of socioeconomic achievement. We will summarize in turn our concerns regarding each of the points in this proposed causal progression.Estimation of Genetic HeritageAmong the methodological concern that we had was one regarding admixture in the Americas analyses. Fuerst and Kirkegaard obtained admixture frequencies from genetic studies that estimated the proportion of admixture present within the states of each respective country. For data points that they were unable to find, they took steps to impute estimates based on surrounding areas. For these analyses, some of the admixture estimates were estimated by dividing parental groups:In regards to hybrid identities such as Mestizo and Mulatto, percentages were split by parental group e.g., one half European and one half Amerindian. For tribrid identities such as Montubio, percentages were split three ways. Assumptions had to be made for a number of nations. (p.281).Dividing admixed populations in half (or in thirds) based on their parental groups may produce an over or underestimation of levels of racial descent. That is, the estimations derived from imputed data may be unrepresentative of the underlying distributions. …
The influence of individual differences and local ecological conditions on emotional empathy, cognitive empathy, and harm avoidance towards nonhuman animals
Human-Animal Interactions
Increased interest in the study of the relationships between human and nonhuman animals over the ... more Increased interest in the study of the relationships between human and nonhuman animals over the past few decades has often focused on what factors shape people’s attitudes and treatment towards nonhuman animals. Some scholars have focused on features of the nonhuman animals (cuteness, intelligence, and utility) and how those features predict human behavior while others have concentrated more on possible human individual differences that influence their attitudes and positive or negative actions towards nonhuman animals. In this study, with 978 participants from five different cross-cultural study sites (Arizona, California, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Spain), we utilized three superordinate categories of animal species representing three “Concentric Circles” surrounding our own (from Kith-Kin , to Domestic , to Wild Animals) to investigate the influence of individual differences and local ecological conditions on empathy and harm avoidance scores across these categories. Specifically, ...
The Historical Geography of Alan R. H. Baker: Scratching Out a Living After the Neolithic Revolution
Life History Evolution, 2018
Alan Baker’s work documents the fulfillment of the Neolithic Revolution with its mature societies... more Alan Baker’s work documents the fulfillment of the Neolithic Revolution with its mature societies resting on a foundation of staple grain crops. In Studies of Field Systems in the British Isles, Baker studies agriculture and its laboring class, while in Man Made the Land, he takes up the social outgrowths of agriculture. As evident in Baker’s studies of the French and English peasantry, much of the social changes following from agriculture are corollaries of population density. We interpret the technological advances, cooperation, and civilization as described by Baker, as outward manifestations of slowing life histories evolving through to historical time. Thus, Baker is eminently correct to assert that geography has shaped human history, even as he may not have been thinking of evolutionary history.
Humans: Between-Group Conflicts
Humans: Between-Group Conflicts
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science, 2017
Psychological adaptations for using physical force or other lethal strategies to eliminate anothe... more Psychological adaptations for using physical force or other lethal strategies to eliminate another individual or a group of individuals, either by oneself or as part of a coalition, with death occurring not as an accidental consequence of wounds or injuries that were meant to intimidate or subjugate.
Edward John Mostyn Bowlby: Reframing Parental Investment and Offspring Attachment
Introductory psychology classes and texts invariably feature attachment theory, which is rightly ... more Introductory psychology classes and texts invariably feature attachment theory, which is rightly regarded as a pillar of the field. The acknowledged founder of attachment theory, John Bowlby, resisted the tide of psychoanalysis and instead pursued a more biological explanation of parent–child relations, characterized by insecure attachment variants as dysfunctional miscarriages of mother–infant bonding. Contrary to Bowlby’s assumptions, the supposed pathology of the insecure attachment is reframed by life history evolution as strategic adaptation to reproductive ecologies. While insecure attachment is not specifically adaptive, eliciting rearing behaviors displayed by parents, like early sexual debut, mate diversity, completed fertility, and other resultant mating behaviors displayed by the child at maturity, are adaptive within unpredictable and stochastic environments.
Humans: Within-Group Conflicts
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science, 2021
Life History Evolution Forms the Foundation of the Adverse Childhood Experience Pyramid
Evolutionary Psychological Science, 2021
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are situated as the foundation of a six-tier pyramid, above ... more Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are situated as the foundation of a six-tier pyramid, above which rests: (1) disrupted neurodevelopment; (2) social, emotional, and cognitive impairment; (3) adoption of health-risk behaviors; (4) disease, disability, and social problems; and (5) early death. ACEs purportedly initiate a causal sequence of negative developmental, behavioral, social, and cognitive outcomes, culminating in heightened mortality risk. Militating against this causal explanation, life history evolution is herein hypothesized to be the true foundation of any such pyramid. Subsuming ACEs within a life history framework has two broad implications: First, to some extent, ACEs are effectively changed from cause to correlate; second ACEs are seen as markers of strategic life history variation, not markers of dysfunction.
Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, 2021
Paternal Investment Relative to Maternal Investment
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science, 2021
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Papers by Aurelio José Figueredo