Subject: (1) Target article for Commentary: What is Mood for?/Nesse (1991) To: Psyc@pucc.bitnet. Psycoloquy: 2(psyc.91.mood.1.nesse) Psyc.91.mood.1.nesse (psyc.91.mood.1.nesse)

Volume: 2 (next, prev) Issue: psyc.91.mood.1.nesse (next, prev) Article: psyc.91.mood.1.nesse (next prev first) Alternate versions: ASCII Summary
Topic:
Article:
PSYCOLOQUY (ISSN 1055-0143) is sponsored by the American Psychological Association (APA).
Psycoloquy 2(psyc.91.mood.1.nesse): To: Psyc@pucc.bitnet

To: psyc@pucc.bitnet
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: (1) Target article for Commentary: What is Mood for?/Nesse

WHAT IS MOOD FOR?

Randolph M. Nesse
The University of Michigan
Department of Psychiatry
C 440 Med-Inn Bldg.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0840
(313) 764-5348

Abstract

What evolutionary advantages have shaped the human capacity for mood? Answers are suggested if moods are seen as specialized states that increase our ability to cope with certain situations. This target article considers the hypothesis that high mood helps individuals take full advantage of the opportunities in propitious situations, whereas low mood motivates them to seek help, be socially submissive, conserve resources, and consider alternative strategies in situations where investments are not paying off.

Keywords

Mood, evolution, natural selection, fitness, emotion, adaptation, function, depression, psychology, psychiatry. What function, if any, is served by the capacity for high and low moods? The development of new psychotropic drugs makes this question more important, and recent advances in evolutionary approaches to behavior make it more tractable. I shall (1) briefly justify the attempt to understand the evolutionary functions of mood, (2) review major proposals about the functions of mood, and (3) attempt to show how these proposals fit within a broader hypothesis.

Volume: 2 (next, prev) Issue: psyc.91.mood.1.nesse (next, prev) Article: psyc.91.mood.1.nesse (next prev first) Alternate versions: ASCII Summary
Topic:
Article: