Human Sociobiology: A Holistic Approach

251 Pages·1979·6.7 MB·English

by  Daniel G. Freedman

Human
Sociobiology
A HOLISTIC APPROACH
Daniel G. Freedman
THE FREE PRESS
A Division of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.
NEW YORK
Collier Macmillan Publishers
LONDON
Copyright © 1979 by The Free Press
A Division of Macmillan Publishing Co,, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the Publisher.
The Free Press
A Division of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.
866 Third Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10022
Collier Macmillan Canada, Ltd.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 78-73025
Printed in the United States of America
printing number
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Freedman, Daniel G
Human sociobiology,
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Sociobiology. 2. Human behavior. 3. Human
biology. I. Title {DNLM: 1. Genetics, Behavioral.
2. Social behavior. 3. Behavior, Animal. GN365.9 FS53h1
GN365.9.F73 301.2 78-73025
ISBN 0-02-910660-5
For my wife, Nina,
and for those with whom I share half my genes:
Toby, Tony, Gregory, and 'Granpa' YankeL

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
1. Basic Issues 1
2. Gametic Potential 12
3. Social Arrangements among Primates 27
4. Men, Women, and the Status Hierarchy 45
5. Interlude: Further Thoughts on Polygyny
and Monogamy 77
6. Signals of Status 85
7. Blood Is Thicker than Water 113
8. Breeding-out and Breeding-in 131
9. Biology or Culture? 141
Appendix: Abstracts of Studies 163
Bibliography 213
Index 227

Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the following colleagues, friends, and
students (categories that are not mutually exclusive) for their com
ments: Bea Neugarten, Dare\1 Bock, Michael Wade, Richard
Shweder, two generations of Kayes-Kenneth and Sol, john Pfeiffer,
Merri Monks, Alan Fogel, Paul Ekman, Glenn Weisfeld, William
Kruskal, Harvey Ginsburg, Mike Csikszentmihalyi, Seymour Larock,
',
Joe Tobin, Charmane Eastman, Fred Kaplan, Dennis Couzin, Richard
Savin-Williams, Sharafuddin Malik, James Weinrich, jeanne
Altmann, j. Paul Scott, and Marshall Sahlins. Given so long a list of
readers, many of them distinguished scholars, it may be surprising to
find any problems at all with the text. Unfortunately, inasmuch as
each reader found a separate set of problems and inaccuracies, I
have no reason to believe this would not be a permanent process.
Furthermore, and in their defense, I did not always respond to a
reader's recommendations.
Thanks also to Ron Chambers of the Free Press for his en
thusiasm, perspicacity, and for his editorial suggestions; and last,
but not least, to Professor E. 0. Wilson for his encouragement and
for having written Sociobiology.
As for research support, the Harry Frank Guggenheim Founda
tion, whose directors of research are Lionel Tiger and Robin Fox,
was most generous just when sources of funding appeared to have
evaporated. I am most grateful to the Foundation.
ix

Human Sociobiology