The fitness of human sociobiology: The future utility of four concepts in four subdisciplines

Abstract

Reported here are the results of a survey inquiring into the rate of acceptance of four sociobiological concepts in regard to their usefulness for future research. Included in the survey were members of four subdisciplines: animal behavior (biology), biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, and developmental psychology. Three types of institutions were included: universities, four-and five-year colleges, and community colleges. A total of 1,631 responses are reported with the degree of acceptance varying from highest to lowest as follows: biology, biological anthropology, developmental psychology, and cultural anthropology. These variations are related to the central concepts of each subdiscipline. This paper details the results of an investigation into the rates of acceptance of some of sociobiology's key concepts in the subdisciplines of animal behavior, cultural anthropology, developmental psychology, and biological anthropology. We are not concerned here with assessing the empirical correctness of the concepts. 1 We limit ourselves to examining the sociocultural diffusion and acceptance of the concepts across four academic subdisciplines whose members are acquainted with sociobiology's key concepts and have actively debated the conceptual and social issues raised by their usage. MATERIALS AND METHODS THE QUESTIONNAIREDuring 1984 and 1985, a questionnaire was mailed to individuals occu-1 A more complete analysis of this topic is to be published in Outrageous Concepts: Race, Genes, and Sociobiology, General Hall Publisher.pying the response categories described below. The questionnaire was in the form of a booklet titled "Viewpoints About Human Sociobiology." Its stated purpose was to gather information helpful in describing and understanding the emerging diversity of viewpoints on sociobiology. Respondents were asked to address the following question: "To what degree do you think each of the following sociobiological concepts might be useful in future research on human behavior?" Answers were on a five-point Likert scale including "very useful, useful, undecided, probably not useful, very unlikely to be useful."A study by Cathey and Brown (1986), addressing a related set of concerns, sent a questionnaire to 111 faculty at Michigan State University and received 88 returns, 79 per cent. About 52 per cent (31 of 59) of the responses agreed that sociobiology is a scientific discipline within biology, and 73 per cent (32 of 44) agreed that it is a con troversial area as applied to humans. 158