The evolutionary significance of depressive symptoms

Different adverse situations lead to different depressive symptom patterns

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6201895
AutoresMatthew C Keller (0000-0002-6075-9882, Virginia Commonwealth University), Randolph M Nesse (0000-0003-1768-0949, University of Michigan)
Año2006
Volumen91
Número2
Páginas316-330
Fecha de publicación2006-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Personality and Social Psychology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0022-3514 • E-ISSN: 1939-1315
EditorialAmerican Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1037/0022-3514.91.2.316
PMID16881767
OpenAlexW2135453215
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas34
Referencias citadas58

Although much depression may be dysfunctional, the capacity to experience normal depressive symptoms in response to certain adverse situations appears to have been shaped by natural selection. If this is true, then different kinds of situations may evoke different patterns of depressive symptoms that are well suited to solving the adaptive challenges specific to each situation. The authors called this the situation-symptom congruence hypothesis. They tested this hypothesis by asking 445 participants to identify depressive symptoms that followed a recent adverse situation. Guilt, rumination, fatigue, and pessimism were prominent following failed efforts; crying, sadness, and desire for social support were prominent following social losses. These significant differences were replicated in an experiment in which 113 students were randomly assigned to visualize a major failure or the death of a loved one

Anger · Anxiety · Cognition · Crying · Depression (economics) · Depressive symptoms · Developmental psychology · Dysfunctional family · Pessimism · Psychiatry · Rumination · Sadness · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Clinical Psychology · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Mental Health Research Topics · Psychology · Social Psychology