Hostname: page-component-857557d7f7-nbs69 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-11-21T08:30:57.194Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Social context links energetic and developmental accounts of life history

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2025

Marlen Z. Gonzalez Open the ORCID record for Marlen Z. Gonzalez [Opens in a new window]  and
Minwoo Lee
Marlen Z. Gonzalez*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Cornell University, College of Human Ecology Ithaca, NY, USA mzg5@cornell.edu dl858@cornell.edu https://blogs.cornell.edu/lifehistorylab/
Minwoo Lee
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Cornell University, College of Human Ecology Ithaca, NY, USA mzg5@cornell.edu dl858@cornell.edu https://blogs.cornell.edu/lifehistorylab/
*
*Corresponding author.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The two-tiered model of developmental plasticity is elegant and presented with impressive interdisciplinary synthesis. We suggest that yet more – social context and nutrition behavior – will need to be incorporated into empirical research. Drawing from anthropology, nutrition, and neuroscience, we highlight connections that may help generate new approaches for studying the developmental calibration of life history in humans.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 48 , 2025 , e109
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Andersen, S. L. (2003). Trajectories of brain development: point of vulnerability or window of opportunity? Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 27(1), 3–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0149-7634(03)00005-8 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beckes, L. A., & Coan, J. A. (2011). Social Baseline Theory: the Role of Social Proximity in Emotion and Economy of Action. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 5(12), 976–988. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2011.00400.x CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beckes, L. A., Medina-DeVilliers, S. E., & Coan, J. A. (2021). The social regulation of emotion: Inconsistencies suggest no mediation through ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Social Neuroscience, 16(1), 6–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470919.2020.1767686 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beckes, L. A., & Sbarra, D. A. (2022). Social baseline theory: state of the science and new directions. Current Opinion in Psychology, 43, 36–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.06.004 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Campbell-Yeo, M. L., Disher, T. C, Benoit, B. L, & Johnston, C. C. (2015). Understanding kangaroo care and its benefits to preterm infants. Pediatric Health, Medicine and Therapeutics, 6, 15–32. https://doi.org/10.2147/PHMT.S51869 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ein-Dor, T., Coan, J. A., Reizer, A., Gross, E. B., Dahan, D., Wegener, M. A., Carel, R., Cloninger, C. R., & Zohar, A. H. (2015). Sugarcoated isolation: evidence that social avoidance is linked to higher basal glucose levels and higher consumption of glucose. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 492. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00492 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Isler, K., & Schaik, C. P. V. (2014). How humans evolved large brains: comparative evidence. Evolutionary Anthropology, 23, 65–75. https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.21403 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jaremka, L. M., Fagundes, C. P., Peng, J., Belury, M. A., Andridge, R. R., Malarkey, W. B., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (2015). Loneliness predicts postprandial ghrelin and hunger in women. Hormones and Behavior, 70, 57–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2015.01.011 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kramer, K. L. (2018). The cooperative economy of food: Implications for human life history and physiology. Physiology & Behavior, 193, 196–204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.03.029 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kramer, K. L., & Ellison, P. T. (2010). Pooled energy budgets: resituating human energy -allocation trade-offs. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, 19(4), 136–147. https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.20265 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, J., MacCormack, J. K., Boker, S. M., Coan, J. A., & Stanton, S. C. E. (2024). The role of perceived negative partner behavior in daily snacking behavior: a dynamical systems approach. Appetite, 199, 107393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2024.107393 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lin, J., Namaky, N., Costello, M., Uchino, B. N., Allen, J. P., & Coan, J. A. (2023). Social regulation of the neural threat response predicts subsequent markers of physical health. Psychosomatic Medicine, 85(9), 763–771. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000001238 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sturge-Apple, M. L., Suor, J. H., Davies, P. T., Cicchetti, D., Skibo, M. A., & Rogosch, F. A. (2016). Vagal tone and children’s delay of gratification. Psychological Science, 27(6), 885–893. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797616640269 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Villamor, E., & Jansen, E. C. (2016). Nutritional determinants of the timing of puberty. Annual Review of Public Health, 37(1), 33–46. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031914-122606 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed