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The Parasite-Stress Theory of Values and Sociality

Infectious Disease, History and Human Values Worldwide

  • Book
  • © 2014

Overview

Authors:
  1. Randy Thornhill

    1. Department of Biology, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, USA

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  2. Corey L. Fincher

    1. Department of Psychology, The University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom

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  • Builds the revolutionary theory that human evolution is subject to parasite and disease stress that shapes human qualities as personality, political tendencies and propensity toward religiosity

  • Comprehensive coverage of the topic and its underpinnings and wide scope including value systems, mate choice, political preferences, personality, religiosity and economics

  • The summation of years of field-defining work by Thornhill and Fincher

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Table of contents (14 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xix
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Background and Overview of the Book

    • Randy Thornhill, Corey L. Fincher
    Pages 1-19

  3. Evolutionary Aesthetics, Values, and Methodology

    • Randy Thornhill, Corey L. Fincher
    Pages 21-58

  4. The Parasite-Stress Theory of Values

    • Randy Thornhill, Corey L. Fincher
    Pages 59-82

  5. Human Values Research Prior to the Parasite-Stress Theory

    • Randy Thornhill, Corey L. Fincher
    Pages 83-111

  6. Collectivism–Individualism, Family Ties, and Philopatry

    • Randy Thornhill, Corey L. Fincher
    Pages 113-170

  7. Mating Systems, Mate Choice, Marriage, Sexual Behavior, and Inbreeding

    • Randy Thornhill, Corey L. Fincher
    Pages 171-194

  8. Personality

    • Randy Thornhill, Corey L. Fincher
    Pages 195-206

  9. Interpersonal Violence

    • Randy Thornhill, Corey L. Fincher
    Pages 207-235

  10. Religiosity

    • Randy Thornhill, Corey L. Fincher
    Pages 237-264

  11. Democracy and Other Governmental Systems

    • Randy Thornhill, Corey L. Fincher
    Pages 265-302

  12. Economics, Values, and Cognitive Ability

    • Randy Thornhill, Corey L. Fincher
    Pages 303-331

  13. Wars, Revolutions and Coups, and the Absence of Peace Across the World

    • Randy Thornhill, Corey L. Fincher
    Pages 333-352

  14. Biodiversity and the Parasite-Driven Wedge

    • Randy Thornhill, Corey L. Fincher
    Pages 353-393

  15. Reflections, Criticisms, and Future Research

    • Randy Thornhill, Corey L. Fincher
    Pages 395-440

  16. Back Matter

    Pages 441-449
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Keywords

About this book

This book develops and tests an ecological and evolutionary theory of the causes of human values—the core beliefs that guide people’s cognition and behavior—and their variation across time and space around the world. We call this theory the parasite-stress theory of values or the parasite-stress theory of sociality. The evidence we present in our book indicates that both a wide span of human affairs and major aspects of human cultural diversity can be understood in light of variable parasite (infectious disease) stress and the range of value systems evoked by variable parasite stress. The same evidence supports the hypothesis that people have psychological adaptations that function to adopt values dependent upon local infectious-disease adversity. The authors have identified key variables, variation in infectious disease adversity and in the core values it evokes, for understanding these topics and in novel and encompassing ways. Although the human species is the focus in the book, evidence presented in the book shows that the parasite-stress theory of sociality informs other topics in ecology and evolutionary biology such as variable family organization and speciation processes and biological diversity in general in non-human animals.

Reviews

“The book might appeal to academics looking for an introduction to this research program, for example, psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists, or political scientists concerned with cultural differences and seeking an alternative perspective. … The volume has much to offer for fans of consilience. … The book also has much to offer for those skeptical of parasite stress having such encompassing effects on culture as well as for those skeptical of the psychological processes claimed to cause the cultural variation.” (Florian van Leeuwen, The Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol. 91 (2), June, 2016)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Biology, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, USA

    Randy Thornhill

  • Department of Psychology, The University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom

    Corey L. Fincher

About the authors

Randy Thornhill is Distinguished Professor of Biology at The University of New Mexico. Dr. Thornhill's 150+ published papers and four books on the evolutionary and ecological aspects of sociality and behavior have been cited over 17,000 times. He served as President of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society from 2011 through 2013. Corey L. Fincher is an Assistant Professor in the University of Warwick, U.K.'s Department of Psychology. The parasite-stress model emerged as a result of his and Thornhill's research, and the two researchers' publications since 2005 established this theory of sociality.

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