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Balanced Biosocial Theory for the Social Sciences UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-2004 Balanced biosocial theory for the social sciences Michael A Restivo University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Restivo, Michael A, "Balanced biosocial theory for the social sciences" (2004). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 1635. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/5jp5-vy39 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BALANCED BIOSOCIAL THEORY FOR THE SOCIAL SCIENCES by Michael A. Restivo Bachelor of Arts IPIoridkijSjlarrhcIJiuAHsrsity 2001 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillm ent ofdœnxpnnnnenkfbrthe Master of Arts Degree in Sociology Departm ent of Sociology College of Liberal Arts Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas M ay 2004 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 1422154 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform 1422154 Copyright 2004 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Copyright by Michael A. Restivo A ll Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Thesis Approval The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas A p r il 2.2004 The Thesis prepared by Michael A. Restivo E n titled Balanced Biosocial Theory For The Social Sciences is approved in partial fulfilm ent of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology __________________________ ramzMgftOM Commfftgg CAair DggM t^flzg Grodwatg CoZZggg fgg M ^ b g r acuffy Rgptgsgnfafzpg u Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Balanced Biosocial Theory fo r the Social Sciences by Michael A. Restivo Dr. David Dickens, Examination Committee Chair Professor o f Sociology University of Nevada, Las Vegas Evolutionary theory is the unquestioned paradigm for all biological sciences and is gaining acceptance in many of the social sciences, predominantly psychology and anthropology. Sociology, as a discipline, has failed to embrace evolutionary theory and remains uninformed about the most powerfid scientific theory o f living things: the theory o f evolution by Darwinian selection. Traditional sociological theory is based largely on empirically questionable ideas about human development, behavior, and psychology, and often contradicts fundamental knowledge about evolution. As such, it often fails to contribute to a coherent and progressive corpus o f sociological knowledge. Biosocial theories present a compelling alternative to the standard social science model. They provide an empirical account for human behavior by drawing on research from the biological sciences. I propose the fbUowing research as a conceptual 6amework for biosocial theories in the social sciences, explaining how they might be successftdly incorporated into sociological thought 111 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. T.4BLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................... ÜÎ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .......................................................................................................v CHAPTER 1 SCIENCE AND SOCIOLOGY ................................................................. 1 Social Science..................................................................................................................... 4 The Importance of Theory.................................................................................................. 6 Defending Science.............................................................................................................. 8 Unification ......................................................................................................................... 11 B iophobia. ......................................................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER 2 EVOLUTIONARY THEORY ................................................................ 20 Natural Selection.............................................................................................................. 20 Phenotype and Genotype.................................................................................................. 21 Chromosomes, Genes, and Alleles.................................................................................. 23 The Synthetic Theory of Evolution.................................................................................. 24 Adaptations ....................................................................................................................... 25 Proximate and Ultimate Causes ....................................................................................... 26 How Genes Influence Behavior....................................................................................... 27 Common Misconceptions of Evolutionary Biology ........................................................ 30 CHAPTER 3 SOCIOBIOLOGY....................................................................................38 Human Sociobiology ........................................................................................................ 45 Human Behavioral Ecology .............................................................................................. 49 Evolutionary Psychology .................................................................................................. 53 M em etics........................................................................................................................... 57 Gene-Culture Coevolutionary Theory.............................................................................. 61 CHAPTER 4 BIOSOCIAL THEORY ........................................................................... 65 Why Context Matters........................................................................................................ 70 The Sociological Connection............................................................................................71 REFERENCES....................................................................................................................... 76 VITA ....................................................................................................................................... 86 IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I owe a debt of gratitude to all the people who provided me with support and guidance through the process o f conducting and vmting this research. Thank you. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. C H A P TE R 1 SCIENCE AND SOOOLOGY If, as professional sociologists, we agree that the goal of our discipline is to understand social behavior through the systematic study of humans in their collective aspect, then I believe sociology has been slow to realize this goal. Its slow progress is, in part, due to sociology's incoherency. As a discipline, it operates with m ultiple, and oftentimes contradictory, conceptual hameworks. As such it is unable to integrate all its research projects into a unified corpus of knowledge. Sociology's three grand approaches to studying society and social behavior— scientiEc, interpretive, and historical— have yielded insightfW yet only partial answers to questions that lie at the heart of the discipline. Each provides a different perspective, which consist o f assumptions about ways of thinking about the world, a preferred means o f conceptualizing the objects o f inquiry, and seeking answers to those questions that can be adequately addressed by that perspechve. These perspectives are practiced as though they are mutually exclusive, but in actuality their content domains overlap. The theoretical challenge for sociology lies in creating an integrative approach, one that incorporates
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