Behavioral and Brain Sciences

Table of Contents - 2009 - Volume 32, Issue 05  

Open Peer Commentary

Cry baby cry, make your mother buy? Evolution of tears, smiles, and reciprocity potential

Minna Lyonsa1

a1 Liverpool Hope University and British Academy Centenary Research Project, Liverpool L16 9JD, United Kingdom. Lyonsm2@hope.ac.uk http://hopelive.hope.ac.uk/psychology/evolutiongroup

Abstract

In this commentary, the idea of reciprocity potential indicators is tied in with ultimate accounts on sex differences in social sensitivity. It is proposed that, rather than crying, smiling is a more likely cooperative signal. The possibility of coevolution and polymorphism in perceptual and signalling systems are also discussed briefly, with a reference to Theory of Mind and Machiavellianism.

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