Citation

Climenhage LJ, Krebs DL. Evol. Psychol. 2005; 3: 208-215.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, The Author(s), Publisher Ian Pitchford and Robert M. Young)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Reviews the book, "Kindness in a Cruel World: The Evolution of Altruism" by Nigel Barber (see record 2004-21132-000). The main premise of Barber's book is that humans inherit a capacity for altruism that can be enhanced or diminished through nurture. Barber suggests that the core of this capacity evolved through kin selection and is reflected in parental investment. From this center, altruism ripples outward in concentric circles to reciprocity between members of ingroups, systems of cooperation in societies, and relations among nations. However, the larger the circle, the weaker the altruistic dispositions. In supporting this model, the author adduces a potpourri of evidence drawn from a wide array of disciplines, including evolutionary biology, economics, political science, history, social and developmental psychology, game theory, anthropology, and neuroscience. By and large, this book is a good read for lay people and students, but we fear evolutionary psychologists will find many of the analyses simplified and compartmentalized, and some of the conclusions overgeneralized and sensationalized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)