Skip to main content
Log in

The sociobiology of everyday life

A new look at a very old novel

  • Published:
Human Nature Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The 1000-year-old novel The Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shikibu around 1002 CE, shows the operation of general principles of sociobiology. Isolated from western influences and cloaked in Japanese traditions, the common traits associated with reproductive processes are clearly evident. The novel depicts the differential investment of males and females in offspring, male competitive behaviors, and concerns for paternity, kin selection, reciprocal social exchange, species-typical emotional expression, female mate choice, positive assortative mating, and acknowledgment of hereditary transmission of physical and psychological traits. The nature of human behavior in Genji’s time seems little different than now and has all the attributes of species-specific and universal traits. Indeed, it can be argued that the fundamental characteristics of Homo sapiens have never changed, being influenced only in form by culture. The qualitative and quantitative evaluation of ancient texts is a strong methodology for understanding the invariant nature of human behavior.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alexander, R. D. 1979 Darwinism and Human Affairs. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arrowsmith, W. 1959 Petronius: The Satyricon. New York: New American Library.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bargen, D. G. 1997 A Woman’s Weapon: Spirit Possession in the Tale of Genji. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Betzig, L. 1986 Despotism and Differential Reproduction: A Darwinian View of History. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowring, R. 1988 The Tale of Genji. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, D. E. 1991 Human Universals. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buss, D. M. 1989 Conflict between the Sexes: Strategic Interference and the Evocation of Anger and Upset. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 56:735–747.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 1994 The Evolution of Desire. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buss, D. M., and N. M. Malamuth, eds. 1996 Sex Power Conflict: Evolutionary and Feminist Perspectives. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, J. 1995 Evolution and Literary Theory. Columbia: University of Missouri Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chagnon, N., and W. Irons, eds. 1979 Evolutionary Biology and Human Social Behavior. North Scituate, Massachusetts: Duxbury Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daly, M., and M. Wilson 1988a Homicide. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • 1988b Evolutionary Social Psychology and Family Homicide. Science 242:519–524.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Durant, W., and A. Durant 1968 The Lessons of History, vol. 3: Caesar and Christ. New York: Simon and Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Field, N. 1987 The Splendor of Longing in The Tale of Genji. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, W. D. 1964 The Genetical Evolution of Social Behaviour. Journal of Theoretical Biology 7:1–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox, R. 1996 Sexual Conflict in the Epics. Human Nature 6:135–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fromme, D. K., and C. S. O’Brien 1982 A Dimensional Approach to the Circular Ordering of the Emotions. Motivation and Emotion 6:337–363.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lévi-Strauss, C. 1985 The View from Afar. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plutchik, R. 1980 Emotion: A Psychoevolutionary Synthesis. New York: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shikibu, Murasaki 1976 The Tale of Genji, 2 vols., Edward G. Seidensticker, trans. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tooby, J., and L. Cosmides 1990 The Past Explains the Present: Emotional Adaptations and the Structure of Ancestral Environments. Ethology and Sociobiology 11:375–424.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thiessen, D. 1994 Environmental Tracking by Females: Sexual Lability. Human Nature 5:167–202.

    Google Scholar 

  • 1997 Bittersweet Destiny: The Stormy Evolution of Human Behavior. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trivers, R. 1972 Parental Investment and Sexual Selection. In Sexual Selection and the Descent of Man, B. Campbell, ed. Pp. 136–179. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whissell, C. 1996 On the Origins of Narrative: Storyteller Bias as a Fitness-Enhancing Strategy. Human Nature 7:403–447.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, G. C. 1966 Adaptation and Natural Selection: A Critique of Some Current Evolutionary Thought. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, E. O. 1975 Sociobiology: A New Synthesis. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • 1996 In Search of Nature. Washington, D. C.: Island Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, G. 1989 The Great Sex Divide: A Study of Male-Female Differences. London: Peter Owen.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Del Thiessen.

Additional information

Del Thiessen is a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Yoko Umezawa is a student in psychology at the University of Texas at Austin.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Thiessen, D., Umezawa, Y. The sociobiology of everyday life. Hum Nat 9, 293–320 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-998-1007-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-998-1007-0

Key words

Navigation