Androphilia refers to sexual attraction and arousal to adult males, whereas gynephilia refers to sexual attraction and arousal to adult females. The Kin Selection Hypothesis posits that male androphilia may persevere over evolutionary time if the fitness costs of not reproducing directly are offset by increasing one’s inclusive fitness. Theoretically, this could be accomplished by allocating altruism toward close kin, thereby increasing the ability of those kin to reproduce. Evidence for this hypothesis has been garnered from research conducted in Samoa; (...) however, no support has been garnered from research conducted in other, more industrialized cultures. It has been suggested that geographic disconnect from kin might mitigate the potential for androphilic males to exhibit elevated kin-directed altruism in more industrialized cultures. We examined whether Canadian androphilic males expressed elevated willingness to engage in altruistic behavior towards nieces and nephews, compared to gynephilic males and androphilic females, when the activities in question could be executed from a distance. Contrary to our prediction, when comparing groups for willingness to engage in altruistic behavior towards nieces and nephews that could be performed from a distance, we did not find that Canadian androphilic males exhibited significantly higher avuncular tendencies. Other possible reasons for cross-cultural differences in avuncular tendencies by androphilic males are discussed. (shrink)

The evolved psychological process for producing social norms is both needed to facilitate emergent group-level traits and capable of delivering such a process. I discuss how this process can work to generate group-level traits and how specific mechanisms established to buttress social norms similarly can explain how group-level traits are supported.

Culturally inherited institutional norms structure much of human social life. Successfully replicating institutions train their current members to behave in the generally adaptive ways that served past members. Ancestor veneration is a well-known manifestation of this phenomenon whereby deference is conferred to prestigious past members who are used as cultural models. Such norms of respect may be maintained by punishment based on evidence from theory and laboratory experiments, but there is little observational evidence to show that punishment is commonly used. (...) To test for punishment as a mechanism that maintains these norms, we examine a norm of ancestor veneration in a natural field experiment at the Memorial Student Center at Texas A&M University. The MSC is a memorial to university war dead, and the expectation is that all who enter the building remove their hats out of respect. Observations reveal that hat removal is significantly more common at the MSC than at two control locations. Survey data indicate that most, but not all, subjects understand the norm to be veneration of the dead, and most expect others to follow the norm. Many report a strong negative emotional response when asked to imagine the norm being violated. Sixty-two percent report they would definitely or probably ask the noncompliant to uncover. Focal follow data show that punishment is relatively rare, however, with the majority of behatted subjects going unreproached as they pass through the building. Both survey and observational data indicate there is a motivated minority that enthusiastically enforces the norm. (shrink)