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From shyness to attachment: social behaviors as adaptive responses to environmental stress

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2025

Bin-Bin Chen Open the ORCID record for Bin-Bin Chen [Opens in a new window]
Bin-Bin Chen*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Fudan University, Shanghai, China hurrarbinbin@gmail.com
*
*Corresponding author.
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Abstract

This commentary expands Ellis et al.’s 2-tiered life history (LH) model by integrating shyness and insecure attachment as mediators of environmental adaptation. Shyness balances survival-reproduction trade-offs with mixed LH outcomes. Avoidant attachment accelerates LH strategies under harsh conditions; anxious attachment delays reproduction under unpredictable conditions. Incorporating social behaviors, which are related to survival and safety, enhances the model’s applicability across behavioral domains.

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Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 48 , 2025 , e103
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

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