Autistic-like and schizotypal traits in a life history perspective: diametrical associations with impulsivity, sensation seeking, and sociosexual behavior

Giudice, Marco Del; Klimczuk, Amanda C. E.; Traficonte, Daniel M.; Maestripieri, Dario

doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.05.007

Cited by 50 publications

(36 citation statements)

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“…The hypermentalistic cognitive style of schizotypal individuals involves a heightened focus on others’ thoughts and emotions, which may also contribute to courtship success. Consistent with this hypothesis, several studies have shown that positive schizotypy is associated with artistic creativity, a larger number of sexual partners, and a preference for uncommitted sexual relatioships. Also, a moderate degree of reduction in white matter integrity has been linked to creative thinking and imagination.…”

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confidence: 84%

“…In this framework, schizophrenia spectrum disorders can be classified as fast spectrum conditions, together with borderline personality disorder, antisocial and conduct disorders, and eating disorders marked by behavioral dysregulation. Above and beyond their differences, these disorders share a functional link with fast life history‐related traits such as heightened mating effort and impulsivity, and form a comorbidity network with common risk factors and developmental correlates. They can be contrasted with slow spectrum conditions, such as obsessive‐compulsive personality disorder, at least a subtype of autism spectrum disorder (mainly in the high‐functioning range), and eating disorders characterized by elevated conscientiousness and self‐control.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Mating, sexual selection, and the evolution of schizophrenia

Giudice

2017

World Psychiatry

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this, our research team is trialling a digital therapy called SlowMo that targets problematic fast thinking to modify distressing appraisals of psychotic experiences and thereby reduce paranoia 10 . A SlowMo mobile app (see www.slowmotherapy.co. uk) assists people to slow down for a moment in their daily life to notice new information and develop safer thoughts, thereby aiming to optimize the clinical relevance of adaptive appraisals of psychotic experiences to real life. Mating, sexual selection, and the evolution of schizophrenia For over fifty years, evolutionary theorists have sought to understand the biological roots of our species' vulnerability to schizophrenia -a debilitating disorder that has a relatively high incidence despite being associated with markedly reduced fertility (the so-called "schizophrenia paradox"). While some models treat the entire spectrum of schizophrenia as a manifestation of biological dysfunction, others postulate that psychosis proneness (schizotypy) or even psychotic symptoms may confer adaptive benefits through enhanced survival or reproduction (or they used to do so during our evolutionary history) 1 .Adaptive models of this kind face some formidable challenges. In addition to the low fertility of patients -which is not balanced out by that of their close relatives -and the evidence of reduced IQ and neural integrity in schizophrenia, they need to account for the role played by deleterious de novo mutations (including rare copy number variations), which explain a larger share of schizophrenia risk than common genetic variants 1,2 .Schizophrenia is a heterogeneous category, and any comprehensive explanation is likely to require a combination of models. At the same time, theory and evidence increasingly point to mating as a contributing factor in the evolution of psychosis proneness. The sexual selection model (SSM) was first advanced by Nettle 3 and refined by Shaner et al 4 . According to this model, schizophrenia is a maladaptive condition, but schizotypal traitsin particular positive schizotypal traits such as magical thinking, ideas of reference, and unusual perceptual experiences -are associated with enhanced verbal and artistic creativity and, as a result, lead to increased success in courtship and mating. The hypermentalistic cognitive style of schizotypal individuals involves a heightened focus on others' thoughts and emotions, which may also contribute to courtship success 5,6 . Consistent with this hypothesis, several studies have shown that positive schizotypy is associated with artistic creativity, a larger number of sexual partners, and a preference for uncommitted sexual relatioships 7 . Also, a moderate degree of reduction in white matter integrity has been linked to creative thinking and imagination 8 .But how does this model account for the role of rare mutations in schizophrenia? Most sexually selected traits are fitness indicators in that they correlate with the organism's underlying condition, including good nutrition, absence of parasites, low levels of ...

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Mating, sexual selection, and the evolution of schizophrenia

Giudice

2017

World Psychiatry

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“…30 Some studies propose that autistic-like traits and schizotypal traits are two poles of slow-fast life history strategies continuum, respectively. 53 56 Autistic-like traits are associated with less risky behaviour and sensation seeking, 56 64 lower sex drive, 65 less mating effort and more long-term investment, 53 and later sexual maturation in women. 66 Moreover, older parents increase the risk for autism.…”

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confidence: 99%

An evolutionary life history approach to understanding mental health

Han

Chen

2020

Gen Psych

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In recent years, evolutionary life history theory has been used as a heuristic framework to understand mental health. This article reviews the life history theory and its integration with mental disorders and then introduces representative research methods and related empirical studies in the field of evolutionary psychopathology. In the end, this article concludes with future directions for further research examining and developing the evolutionary psychopathological framework.

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“…At the extreme end they may develop increases in goal directed behavior to get needs met (e.g., mania) or manifest behaviors associated with Cluster B ( American Psychiatric Association, 2013 ) personality disorders (i.e., narcissistic, borderline, histrionic, antisocial). Although schizophrenia has been suggested as being a potential adaptive response to early life adversity (a fast life strategy) that could convey some adaptive advantages (e.g., Reser, 2007 ), others (e.g., Nettle and Clegg, 2006 ; Del Giudice et al, 2014 ) suggest that it is more likely the traits at the lower end of the spectrum (i.e., schizotypy), such as increases in creativity, artistic ability, and mating effort that convey the evolutionary advantage, and when those traits are at the extreme end associated with the sequelae of schizophrenia they become less adaptive. This suggests an ‘optimal range’ in which these traits match the environment and when there is mismatch, these traits become pathological in their expression.…”

Section: Psychopathologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Are Expectations the Missing Link between Life History Strategies and Psychopathology?

Kavanagh

Kahl

2018

Front. Psychol.

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Despite advances in knowledge and thinking about using life history theory to explain psychopathology there is still a missing link. That is, we all have a life history strategy, but not all of us develop mental health problems. We propose that the missing link is expectations – a mismatch between expected environmental conditions (including social) set by variations in life history strategies and the current environmental conditions. The mismatch hypothesis has been applied at the biological level in terms of health and disease and we believe that it can also be applied more broadly at the psychological level in terms of perceived expectations in the social environment and the resulting distress—psychopathology—that manifests when our expectations are not met.

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Autistic-like and schizotypal traits in a life history perspective: diametrical associations with impulsivity, sensation seeking, and sociosexual behavior

Cited by 50 publications

References 73 publications

Mating, sexual selection, and the evolution of schizophrenia

Mating, sexual selection, and the evolution of schizophrenia

An evolutionary life history approach to understanding mental health

Are Expectations the Missing Link between Life History Strategies and Psychopathology?

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