Sociobiology

Sociobiology is a field of biology that aims to explain social behavior in terms of evolution. It draws from disciplines including psychology, ethology, anthropology, evolution, zoology, archaeology, and population genetics. Within the study of human societies, sociobiology is closely allied to evolutionary anthropology, human behavioral ecology, evolutionary psychology,[1] and sociology.[2][3]

Sociobiology investigates social behaviors such as mating patterns, territorial fights, pack hunting, and the hive society of social insects. It argues that just as selection pressure led to animals evolving useful ways of interacting with the natural environment, so also it led to the genetic evolution of advantageous social behavior.[4]

While the term "sociobiology" originated at least as early as the 1940s; the concept did not gain major recognition until the publication of E. O. Wilson's book Sociobiology: The New Synthesis in 1975. The new field quickly became the subject of controversy. Critics, led by Richard Lewontin and Stephen Jay Gould, argued that genes played a role in human behavior, but that traits such as aggressiveness could be explained by social environment rather than by biology. Sociobiologists responded by pointing to the complex relationship between nature and nurture. Among sociobiologists, the controversy between laying weight to different levels of selection was settled between D.S. Wilson and E.O. Wilson in 2007.[5]

  1. ^ Wilson, Edward O. (2000-03-24), "The Social Insects", Sociobiology, Harvard University Press, pp. 397–437, doi:10.2307/j.ctvjnrttd.22, ISBN 978-0-674-74416-5
  2. ^ Nielsen, François (1994). "Sociobiology and Sociology". Annual Review of Sociology. 20 (1): 267–303. doi:10.1146/annurev.so.20.080194.001411. ISSN 0360-0572.
  3. ^ de Sousa, Ronald (1990-01-01). "The sociology of sociobiology". International Studies in the Philosophy of Science. 4 (3): 271–283. doi:10.1080/02698599008573367. ISSN 0269-8595.
  4. ^ Freedman, Daniel G. (January 1985). "Sociobiology and the human dimension". Ethology and Sociobiology. 6 (2): 121–122. doi:10.1016/0162-3095(85)90006-8. ISSN 0162-3095.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).