In this timely collection, biological and behavioral scientists address
questions emerging from new research about the origins and
interconnections of altruism and aggression within and across species.
They explore the genetic underpinnings of affiliative and aggressive
orientations as well as the biological correlates of these behaviors.
They consider environmental variables--family patterns, childrearing
practices--that influence prosocial and antisocial behaviors. And they
examine internal processes such as empathy, socio-inferential abilities,
and cognitive attributions, that regulate "kindness" and "selfishness."
The first section focuses on biological, sociobiological, and
ethological approaches. It explores the utility of animal models for
understanding both human and infrahuman social behavior. The second
section focuses on the development, socialization, and mediation of
altruism and aggression in children. Several concerns underly both
sections. These include the role of attachment processes, separation
distress, reciprocal interchanges, and social play in determining the
quantity and quality of aggressive and affiliative interactions; the
function of emotions (e.g. empathy, guilt, and anger) as instigators of
altruism and aggression; and the nature of sex differences. Several
chapters present data on emotions that mediate altruism and aggression
and also on patterns of association between prosocial and antisocial
behaviors. The authors take an ethological perspective, placing special
importance on the need to explore altruism and aggression in the real
lives and natural habitats of humans and other animals.
