Abstracts 393

Social asymmetry, psychopathology and reconciliatlo”. Presented by John Price, Milton Keynes, U.K.

A major step in human evolution was the development of external medlstion of sexual selection: external to the competing dyad in the case of lntrasexual selection and external to the mating dyad In the case of intersexual (eplgamic) selection. Social asymmetry came to depend not on power wrested from another by coercion, but on status conferred by others In response to the display of attractive qualities. And mate choice became the choice of parents rather than of the mates themselves. This allowed for total cultural control of the criteria of selection, and permltted. for example, selectlon for cooperative behaviour. One result was an increase in the complexity of social competition, so that, eve” in the public performance of cooperative behaviour, competition might be occurring. Another result was the modification of the components of agonlsric behavfour (i.e., the various forms of RHP display) to fit the new social processes. A third result was the loss of a” important intradyadlc mechanism to forestall or mitigate the depression which follows loss of rank (and the psychopathology which follows prolonged or intense fighting), and which 1s seen conspicuously in chimpanzees: reconciliation.

In order to clarify the complex relation between rank and enotlonal states, a classification is offered of methods of generating social asymmetry within a group:

1. Internallv aenerated asvmmetries.

a) Catathetic asymmetry, based on catathetic (putting down) signals. This is the usual vertebrate asymmetry, as see” In dominance hierarchies, and tends to be associated with what M.R.A. Chance has called the agonic mode. b) Anathetic asymmetry, based on anathetic (boosting up) signals. This is seen in adulation and hero-worship.

2. Externallv mediated asvmmetries.

a) Asymmetry of patronage. Relative rank between two rivals Is decided by an individual (or group) of higher rank (or by custom, as in primogeniture). b) Asymmetry of election. Relative rank between two rivals is decided by the group as a whole.

3. Miscellaneous asvmmetries,

a) Asymmetry due to the accumulation or loss of wealth by trading, gambling, etc. b) Asymmetry by negotiation; e.g., the employer/employee relationship.

References: Price, J.S. (1988) Alternative channels for negotiating asymmetry In social relationships. In Social Fabrics of the Mind (ed. M.R.A.Chance) Hove: Lawrence Er 1 baum. Gilbert, P. (1989) &uman Nature and Suffering. Hove: Lawence Erlbaum.

PllomAN miAvIollR P.M.DRIVER k D.A.HlJ%fPHRIES

This paper will sujmarlze the practice and principles of pmtean behaviour In

the animal kingdom.

Protean - of‘ ~systematically unpredictable' - behatiours are those which are

sufficiently unsystematic in appearance to prevent a reactor predicting the

position or actions of the actor. Pmtean - as opposed to random - behatiours

are organized neumlogically, ard in other ways, to cause confusion in rea&omf

sensory ad central nervous systems, while pmtecting the actor. A principb

of 'anamhization' seems to have been operating in evolution.