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)
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Psycoloquy 2(psyc.91.mood.1.nesse): To: Psyc@pucc.bitnet
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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