Sociobiology

Lore & Background

E. O. Wilson came in contact with this emerging sociobiology through his PhD student Stuart A. Wilson's sociobiology differed from Scott's or Altmann's by drawing on mathematical models of social behavior centered on the maximization of genetic fitness by W. D. Hamilton, Robert Trivers, John Maynard Smith, and George R. Price. The three sociobiologies by Scott, Altmann, and Wilson have in common placing naturalist studies at the core of research on animal social behavior and drawing alliances with emerging research methodologies, at a time when 'biology in the field' was threatened to be made old-fashioned by modern practices of science. Once a specialist term, 'sociobiology' became widely known in 1975 when Wilson published his book Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, sparking intense controversy. Since then, 'sociobiology' has largely been equated with Wilson's vision. The field quickly became the subject of scientific controversy. Critics, led by Richard Lewontin and Stephen Jay Gould, argued that genes played a role in human behavior, but that traits such as aggressiveness could be explained by social environment rather than by biology. Sociobiologists responded by pointing to the complex relationship between nature and nurture. Among sociobiologists, the controversy between laying weight to different levels of selection was settled between D.S. Wilson and E.O.

Reader's Guide

Sociobiology represents a significant shift in the study of behavior, applying evolutionary theory and population biology to social organization. Its core premise—that some behaviors are at least partly inherited and can be affected by natural selection—has become foundational in biology, despite ongoing controversy regarding human applications. The field's influence is evident in its integration into core research and curriculum of virtually all biology departments, and it serves as a foundation for the work of almost all field biologists. Sociobiological research on nonhuman organisms has increased dramatically and continuously in top scientific journals such as Nature and Science. The more general term 'behavioral ecology' is commonly substituted to avoid public controversy. The discipline's legacy includes the development of mathematical models of social behavior, the study of altruism, aggression, and nurturance, and the ongoing debate about the relative roles of genes and environment in shaping human behavior. Edward H. Hagen writes in The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology that sociobiology is, despite the public controversy on its application to humans, 'one of the scientific triumphs of the twentieth century.'

Did You Know?

• E. O. Wilson defined sociobiology as 'the extension of population biology and evolutionary theory to social organization'.
• Sociobiology is based on the premise that some behaviors are at least partly inherited and can be affected by natural selection.