Endocrinology of Social Relationships

In social relationships―whether between mates, parents and offspring, or friends―we find much of life’s meaning. But in these relationships, so critical to our well-being, might we also detect the workings, even directives, of biology? This book, a rare melding of human and animal research and theoretical and empirical science, ventures into the most interesting realms of behavioral biology to examine the intimate role of endocrinology in social relationships. The importance of hormones to reproductive behavior―from breeding cycles to male sexual display―is well known. What this book considers is the increasing evidence that hormones are just as important to social behavior. Peter Ellison and Peter Gray include the latest findings―both practical and theoretical―on the hormonal component of both casual interactions and fundamental bonds. The contributors, senior scholars and rising scientists whose work is shaping the field, go beyond the proximate mechanics of neuroendocrine physiology to integrate behavioral endocrinology with areas such as reproductive ecology and life history theory. Ranging broadly across taxa, from birds and rodents to primates, the volume pays particular attention to human endocrinology and social relationships, a focus largely missing from most works of behavioral endocrinology.

In social relationships—whether between mates, parents and offspring, or friends—we find much of life’s meaning. But in these relationships, so critical to our well-being, might we also detect the workings, even directives, of biology? This book, a rare melding of human and animal research and theoretical and empirical science, ventures into the most interesting realms of behavioral biology to examine the intimate role of endocrinology in social relationships.

The importance of hormones to reproductive behavior—from breeding cycles to male sexual display—is well known. What this book considers is the increasing evidence that hormones are just as important to social behavior. Peter Ellison and Peter Gray include the latest findings—both practical and theoretical—on the hormonal component of both casual interactions and fundamental bonds. The contributors, senior scholars and rising scientists whose work is shaping the field, go beyond the proximate mechanics of neuroendocrine physiology to integrate behavioral endocrinology with areas such as reproductive ecology and life history theory. Ranging broadly across taxa, from birds and rodents to primates, the volume pays particular attention to human endocrinology and social relationships, a focus largely missing from most works of behavioral endocrinology.

Elizabeth Adkins-Regan - Science

The editors and their authors have produced a definitive and scholarly, yet readable, state-of-the-art presentation of a fascinating and timely topic. This landmark volume is rich in ideas, conclusions, and questions for the future. As the editors point out, we are all being exposed, like it or not, to hormones in the environment and to ads full of claims about the benefits of administering hormones. We need to understand how such hormones might (or might not) be affecting social relationships. Will spraying on some oxytocin make your colleagues like you? Probably not, but reading Endocrinology of Social Relationships produced warm feelings about the ability of good science to illuminate the human condition.

Evolution and ecological diversity in animal mating and parenting systems / Phyllis C. Lee Neuroendocrine mechanisms underlying social relationships / Kim Wallen and Janice Hassett Social relationships and reproductive ecology / Peter T. Ellison Hormone-behavior interrelationships in a changing environment / John C. Wingfield The endocrinology of the human adaptive complex / Jane B. Lancaster and Hillard S. Kaplan The endocrinology of social relationships in rodents / C. Sue Carter ... [et al.] The endocrinology of family relationships in bi-parental monkeys / Toni E. Ziegler and Charles T. Snowdon Hormonal and neurochemical influences on aggression in group-living monkeys / Lynn A. Fairbanks The endocrinology of intersexual relationships in the apes / Melissa Emery Thompson Human sex differences in social relationships: organizational and activational effects of androgens / Matthew H. McIntyre and Carole K. Hooven The role of sex hormones in the initiation of human mating relationships / James R. Roney Human male testosterone, pair bonding and fatherhood / Peter B. Gray and Benjamin C. Campbell Neurobiology of human maternal care / Alison S. Fleming and Andrea Gonzalez Oxytocin, vasopressin, and human social behavior / Roxanne Sanchez ... [et al.] Androgens and diversity in adult human partnering / Sari M. van Anders Early life influences on the ontogeny of neuroendocrine stress response in the human child / Pablo Nepomnaschy and Mark Flinn. "In Social Relationships - whether between mates, parents and offspring, or friends - we find much of life's meaning. But in these relationships, so critical to our well-being, might we also detect the workings, even directives, of biology? This book, a rare melding of human and animal research and theoretical and empirical science, ventures into the most interesting realms of behavioral biology to examine the intimate role of endocrinology in social relationships." "The importance of hormones to reproductive behavior - from breeding cycles to male sexual display - is well known. What this book considers is the increasing evidence that hormones are just as important to social behavior. Peter Ellison and Peter Gray include the latest findings - both practical and theoretical - on the hormonal component of both casual interactions and fundamental bonds. The contributors, senior scholars and rising scientists whose work is shaping the field, go beyond the proximate mechanics of neuroendocrine physiology to integrate behavioral endocrinology with areas such as reproductive ecology and life-history theory. Ranging broadly across taxa, from birds and rodents to primates, the volume pays particular attention to human endocrinology and social relationships, a focus largely missing from most works of behavioral endocrinology."--Jacket