Psychological Aposematism: An Evolutionary Analysis of Suicide

Abstract

The evolutionary advantage of psychological phenomena can be gleaned by comparing them with physical traits that have proven adaptive in other organisms. The present article provides a novel evolutionary explanation of suicide in humans by comparing it with aposematism in insects. Aposematic insects are brightly colored, making them conspicuous to predators. However, such insects are equipped with toxins that cause a noxious reaction when eaten. Thus, the death of a few insects conditions predators to avoid other insects of similar coloration. Analogously, human suicides may increase the credibility of future suicide threats and attempts from others, conveying an evolutionary advantage to the phenotypic expression of suicidal behavior in low-fitness contexts.

A preliminary attempt to reconcile contradictory theories and findings regarding the relation between stigma and suicide

“…Second, Wiley (2020) suggests higher suicide rates mean more people are exposed to bereavement from suicides and thus have a more sympathetic view towards suicidality. Wiley (2020) further suggests that punitive norms towards suicide attempts will be most severe in societies where suicide is relatively rare, because those societies are less likely to perceive suicidality as sincere given death results so infrequently. Thus, harsher punishments are designed to test whether the victims are sincerely willing to die-if not, they may think more carefully before expressing suicidality again.…”

“…Soper and Humphrey extend this further by proposing humans have either evolved or culturally developed certain safe-guards against suicide, only one of which is the cultural deterrent we refer to as stigma. Wiley (2020) proposes that suicide is a mechanism for conditioning society to alleviate undesirable social conditions. Wiley refers first to the breadth of research conducted by Syme et al (2016;Hagen et al, 2008;Syme & Hagen, 2019) as evidence that suicidality can be used as a method of bargaining with one's community for a better living situation.…”

“…These brief descriptions are only intended to give the reader a taste of these theories. It is recommended interested readers and skeptics consult the original publications (Humphrey, 2018;Soper, 2017Soper, , 2021Wiley, 2020).…”

Choosing Death Over Survival: A Need to Identify Evolutionary Mechanisms Underlying Human Suicide

“…Borrowing from evolutionary biology, the concept of Aposematism has been used by theorists to suggest a novel stance on human suicide ( Wiley, 2020 , p. 228–229). Aposematism is a term in ecology and evolution ( Wallace, 1867 ; Poulton, 1890 ).…”

“…Suicidologists have speculated that a sort of psychological aposematism may explain the adaptive nature of human suicide. In case an individual dies by suicide, the aposematic consequence is two-fold: (a) The negative impact of death would deter other at-risk individuals from engaging in self-destructive behavior and (b) allow community members to develop preventive measures for persons who might engage in suicidal behaviors ( Wiley, 2020 , p. 228). Since evolutionary traits are claimed to be hereditary ( Darwin, 1909 ), the aposematic trait could also be inherited and the mechanism is conceived to benefit people with the same phenotype, thereby resulting in the sustenance of that trait owing to its net fitness benefits despite the initial death of an organism ( Wiley, 2020 , p. 227–228).…”