Date: January 27, 2016
Source: Florida State University
Could human suicide have
evolutionary roots in self-sacrificial behaviors like those seen in species
such as honeybees and ants?
A Florida State University
researcher who is one of the nation's foremost experts in suicide is trying to
find out.
Thomas Joiner, the Robert O.
Lawton Distinguished Professor of Psychology, led a team of researchers in
examining scientific knowledge and drawing parallels between suicide in humans
and the self-sacrificial behaviors of colony-like -- or eusocial -- species
such as shrimp, mole rats and insects.
"The idea that something
mysterious and scary like suicide in humans could have some sort of analog in
animals is not only kind of fascinating, but also really promising in terms of
trying to figure it all out," Joiner said.
In a paper recently published in
the journal Psychological Review, the researchers theorize that humans
exhibit the characteristics of eusocial species such as relying on
multigenerational and cooperative care of young and utilizing division of labor
for successful survival.
"Humans are a species that is
eusocial, and that's an important starting point," Joiner said. "That
suggests a certain set of characteristics, including some really striking
self-sacrifice behaviors."
Those eusocial behaviors,
understood as part of what is called inclusive fitness in evolutionary biology,
are adaptive.
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