Behavioral and Brain Sciences

Table of Contents - 2009 - Volume 32, Issue 05  

Author's Response

The socio-relational framework of expressive behaviors as an integrative psychological paradigm

Jacob Miguel Vigila1

a1 Department of Psychology, Center for Applied Research in Child and Adolescent Development, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL 32224-2673. j.vigil@unf.edu http://www.unf.edu/~j.vigil/

Abstract

This response shows how the socio-relational framework of expressive behaviors may be used to understand and predict social psychological processes, beyond sex differences in the expression of emotion. I use this opportunity to elaborate on several key concepts on the epigenesis of evolved social behaviors that were not fully addressed in the target article. These are: evidence of a natural history of masculine and feminine specialization (sect. R1); phenotypic plasticity and range of reactivity of social behaviors (sect. R2); exploitive and protective functions of social behaviors (sect. R3); and the role of cognition in some affective responses (sect. R4). I conclude by highlighting (in sect. R5) future directions for psychological research from a socio-relational basis.

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