Behavioral and Brain Sciences

Table of Contents - February 2011 - Volume 34, Issue 01  

Open Peer Commentary

Understanding self-deception demands a co-evolutionary framework

Steven W. Gangestada1

a1 Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131. sgangest@unm.edu http://www.unm.edu/~psych/faculty/sm_gangestad.html

Abstract

The foundational theme of the target article is that processes of self-deception occur in a functional context: a social one through which self-deceptive processes enhance fitness by affecting an actor's performances. One essential component of this context not addressed explicitly is that audiences should have been selected to resist, where possible, enhancements falsely bolstered by self-deception. Theoretical implications follow.

(Online publication February 03 2011)

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