---
title: "Sociobiology"
chunk: 2/2
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociobiology"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:37:24.998969+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

Certain behavioral traits are inherited,
Inherited behavioral traits have been honed by natural selection and were adaptive in the environment in which they evolved.
Sociobiology uses Nikolaas Tinbergen's four questions to search for explanations of animal behavior. Two of these categories are at the species level; two, at the individual level. The species-level categories (often called "ultimate explanations") are

the adaptive function that a behavior serves and
the historical evolutionary process that resulted in this functionality.
The individual-level categories (often called "proximate explanations") are

the development of the individual and
the proximate mechanism (such as brain anatomy and hormones).

=== In humans ===
Studies of human behavior genetics have found behavioral traits such as creativity, extroversion, aggressiveness, and IQ have high heritability. Researchers are careful to point out that heritability does not constrain the influence that environmental or cultural factors may have on these traits.
Various theorists have argued that in some environments criminal behavior might be adaptive. The evolutionary neuroandrogenic (ENA) theory, by sociologist/criminologist Lee Ellis, posits that female sexual selection has led to increased competitive behavior among men, sometimes resulting in criminality. In another theory, Mark van Vugt argues that a history of intergroup conflict for resources between men have led to differences in violence and aggression between men and women. The novelist Elias Canetti also has noted applications of sociobiological theory to cultural practices such as slavery and autocracy.

== Genetics ==
Genetic mouse mutants illustrate the power that genes exert on behavior. For example, the transcription factor FEV (aka Pet1), through its role in maintaining the serotonergic system in the brain, is required for normal aggressive and anxiety-like behavior. Thus, when FEV is genetically deleted from the mouse genome, male mice will instantly attack other males, whereas their wild-type counterparts take significantly longer to initiate violent behavior. In addition, FEV has been shown to be required for correct maternal behavior in mice, such that offspring of mothers without the FEV factor do not survive unless cross-fostered to other wild-type female mice.
A genetic basis for instinctive behavioral traits among non-human species, such as in the above example, is commonly accepted among many biologists; however, attempting to use a genetic basis to explain complex behaviors in human societies has remained extremely controversial.

== Reception ==
Steven Pinker argues that critics have been overly swayed by politics and a fear of biological determinism, accusing among others Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Lewontin of being "radical scientists", whose stance on human nature is influenced by politics rather than science, while Lewontin, Steven Rose and Leon Kamin, who drew a distinction between the politics and history of an idea and its scientific validity, argue that sociobiology fails on scientific grounds. Gould grouped sociobiology with eugenics, criticizing both in his book The Mismeasure of Man. When Napoleon Chagnon scheduled sessions on sociobiology at the 1976 American Anthropological Association convention, other scholars attempted to cancel them with what Chagnon later described as "Impassioned accusations of racism, fascism and Nazism"; Margaret Mead's support caused the sessions to occur as scheduled.
Noam Chomsky has expressed views on sociobiology on several occasions. During a 1976 meeting of the Sociobiology Study Group, as reported by Ullica Segerstråle, Chomsky argued for the importance of a sociobiologically informed notion of human nature. Chomsky argued that human beings are biological organisms and ought to be studied as such, with his criticism of the "blank slate" doctrine in the social sciences (which would inspire a great deal of Steven Pinker's and others' work in evolutionary psychology), in his 1975 Reflections on Language. Chomsky further hinted at the possible reconciliation of his anarchist political views and sociobiology in a discussion of Peter Kropotkin's Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution, which focused more on altruism than aggression, suggesting that anarchist societies were feasible because of an innate human tendency to cooperate.
Wilson has claimed that he had never meant to imply what ought to be, only what is the case. However, some critics have argued that the language of sociobiology readily slips from "is" to "ought", an instance of the naturalistic fallacy. Pinker has argued that opposition to stances considered anti-social, such as ethnic nepotism, is based on moral assumptions, meaning that such opposition is not falsifiable by scientific advances. The history of this debate, and others related to it, are covered in detail by Cronin (1993), Segerstråle (2000), and Alcock (2001).

== See also ==

== Notes ==

== References ==

== Sources ==
Alcock, John (2001). The triumph of sociobiology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-514383-6.
Barkow, Jerome, ed. (2006). Missing the Revolution: Darwinism for Social Scientists. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-513002-7.
Cronin, Helena (1993). The ant and the peacock: Altruism and sexual selection from Darwin to today. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-45765-1.
Segerstråle, Ullica (2000). Defenders of the truth: The sociobiology debate. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-286215-0.

== Further reading ==
Etcoff, Nancy (1999). Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty. Anchor Books. ISBN 978-0-385-47942-4.
Kaplan, Gisela; Rogers, Lesley J. (2003). Gene Worship: Moving Beyond the Nature/Nurture Debate over Genes, Brain, and Gender. Other Press. ISBN 978-1-59051-034-6.
Lerner, Richard M. (1992). Final Solutions: Biology, Prejudice, and Genocide. Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 978-0-271-00793-9.
Ovcharov, Dmitry (2023). "The problem of biological and social in Russian philosophy of the second half of the XX — beginning of the XXI century: historical and philosophical analytical review". Bulletin of the Chelyabinsk State University. 477 (7): 61–67. doi:10.47475/1994-2796-2023-477-7-61-67.
Richards, Janet Radcliffe (2000). Human Nature After Darwin: A Philosophical Introduction. London: Routledge.

== External links ==

Sociobiology (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
The Sociobiology of Sociopathy, Mealey, 1995
Speak, Darwinists! – interviews with leading sociobiologists
Race and creation by Richard Dawkins
Scientist at Work |Edward O. Wilson |Taking a Cue From Ants on Evolution of Humans by Nicholas Wade