The social competition hypothesis of depression.
Depressive personality and depressive illness are examined from an evolutionary adaptationist standpoint. It is postulated that the depressive state evolved in relation to social competition, as an unconscious, involuntary losing strategy, enabling the individual to accept defeat in ritual agonistic encounters and to accommodate to what would otherwise be unacceptably low social rank.
Price
J
J
Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Toronto, Canada.
Sloman
L
L
Gardner
R
R
Gilbert
P
P
Rohde
P
P
D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D003163:Competitive Behavior; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011613:Psychotherapy; D012649:Self Concept; D012919:Social Behavior