Fearful apes or nervous goats? Another look at functions of dispositions or traits

2023

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DOI 10.1017/s0140525x22001959
Data confidence 70 medium
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Abstract

Abstract In his article, Grossmann argues that, in the context of human cooperative caregiving, heightened fearfulness in children and human sensitivity to fear in others are adaptive traits. I offer and briefly defend a rival hypothesis: Heightened fearfulness among infants and young children is a maladaptive trait that did not get deselected in the process of evolution because human sensitivity to fear in others mitigates its disadvantageous effects to a sufficient extent.