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The evolution of personality disorders: A review of proposals

Personality disorders (PDs) are currently considered dysfunctions. However, personality differences are older than humanity and are ubiquitous in nature, from insects to higher primates. This suggests that a number of evolutionary mechanisms—other than dysfunctions—may be able to maintain stable beh...

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Autores principales: Gutiérrez, Fernando, Valdesoiro, Francisco
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9922784/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36793943
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1110420
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author Gutiérrez, Fernando
Valdesoiro, Francisco
author_facet Gutiérrez, Fernando
Valdesoiro, Francisco
author_sort Gutiérrez, Fernando
collection PubMed
description Personality disorders (PDs) are currently considered dysfunctions. However, personality differences are older than humanity and are ubiquitous in nature, from insects to higher primates. This suggests that a number of evolutionary mechanisms—other than dysfunctions—may be able to maintain stable behavioral variation in the gene pool. First of all, apparently maladaptive traits may actually improve fitness by enabling better survival or successful mating or reproduction, as exemplified by neuroticism, psychopathy, and narcissism. Furthermore, some PDs may harm important biological goals while facilitating others, or may be globally beneficial or detrimental depending on environmental circumstances or body condition. Alternatively, certain traits may form part of life history strategies: Coordinated suites of morphological, physiological and behavioral characters that optimize fitness through alternative routes and respond to selection as a whole. Still others may be vestigial adaptations that are no longer beneficial in present times. Finally, variation may be adaptative in and by itself, as it reduces competition for finite resources. These and other evolutionary mechanisms are reviewed and illustrated through human and non-human examples. Evolutionary theory is the best-substantiated explanatory framework across the life sciences, and may shed light on the question of why harmful personalities exist at all.
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spelling pubmed-99227842023-02-14 The evolution of personality disorders: A review of proposals Gutiérrez, Fernando Valdesoiro, Francisco Front Psychiatry Psychiatry Personality disorders (PDs) are currently considered dysfunctions. However, personality differences are older than humanity and are ubiquitous in nature, from insects to higher primates. This suggests that a number of evolutionary mechanisms—other than dysfunctions—may be able to maintain stable behavioral variation in the gene pool. First of all, apparently maladaptive traits may actually improve fitness by enabling better survival or successful mating or reproduction, as exemplified by neuroticism, psychopathy, and narcissism. Furthermore, some PDs may harm important biological goals while facilitating others, or may be globally beneficial or detrimental depending on environmental circumstances or body condition. Alternatively, certain traits may form part of life history strategies: Coordinated suites of morphological, physiological and behavioral characters that optimize fitness through alternative routes and respond to selection as a whole. Still others may be vestigial adaptations that are no longer beneficial in present times. Finally, variation may be adaptative in and by itself, as it reduces competition for finite resources. These and other evolutionary mechanisms are reviewed and illustrated through human and non-human examples. Evolutionary theory is the best-substantiated explanatory framework across the life sciences, and may shed light on the question of why harmful personalities exist at all. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-01-30 /pmc/articles/PMC9922784/ /pubmed/36793943 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1110420 Text en Copyright © 2023 Gutiérrez and Valdesoiro. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychiatry
Gutiérrez, Fernando
Valdesoiro, Francisco
The evolution of personality disorders: A review of proposals
title The evolution of personality disorders: A review of proposals
title_full The evolution of personality disorders: A review of proposals
title_fullStr The evolution of personality disorders: A review of proposals
title_full_unstemmed The evolution of personality disorders: A review of proposals
title_short The evolution of personality disorders: A review of proposals
title_sort evolution of personality disorders: a review of proposals
topic Psychiatry
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9922784/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36793943
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1110420
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