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Are sentiments subject to selection pressures? The case of oxytocin

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2017

Chelsea D. Christie  and
Frances S. Chen
Chelsea D. Christie
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada. frances.chen@psych.ubc.ca chelsea.christie@psych.ubc.ca http://chenlab.psych.ubc.ca
Frances S. Chen
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada. frances.chen@psych.ubc.ca chelsea.christie@psych.ubc.ca http://chenlab.psych.ubc.ca
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Abstract

We argue that natural selection operates on emotional and cognitive capacities supporting the subjective experience of sentiments, rather than on discrete sentiments themselves. We support this argument by examining the case of oxytocin in relation to the sentiment of love. We also explore future directions for health psychology research that includes “cold” aspects of contempt in conjunction with “hot” aspects.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 40 , 2017 , e231
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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