Race, Evolution, and Behavior

Psychology
Education
RACE, EVOLUTION,
AND BEHAVIOR
A Life History Perspective
J. Philippe Rushton
With a new afterword
by the author
Testing for racial differences in behavior
has been much neglected over the
past sixty years. And when not subject
to neglect, to strongly negative
imputations among professionals and
politicians alike. According to J.
Philippe Rushton, substantial racial
differences do exist and their pattern
can only be explained adequately from
an evolutionary perspective. In Race,
Evolution, and Behavior he reviews
international data and finds a distinct
pattern. People of East Asian ancestry
and people of African ancestry are
at opposite ends of a continuum, with
people of European ancestry intermediate.
albeit with much variability
within each broad grouping.
Rushton's thesis is that when fully
modern humans migrated out of Africa,
perhaps only 100,000 years ago.
the colder Eurasian climate selected
for larger brains, more forward planning,
greater family stability, and increased
longevity with concomitant
reductions in sex hormone, speed of
maturation, reproductive potency, and
aggressiveness. Rushton's theory emphasizes
a trade-off between parenting
and mating and brings into focus the
concept of a coordinated life history of
characteristics, evolving together, to
replicate genes more effectively. The
selection for large brains and
parenting skills was taken furthest in
east Asia. Rushton's theory explains
differentiation in intelligence and predicts
other, seemingly unrelated race
effects, such as differences in frequency
of twinning. The capacity to
unify disparate phenomena is usually
considered a virtue in theories.
Rushton's gene-based evolutionary
models explain ethnocentrism and racial
group differences, and may provide
a catalyst for understanding
(Continued on back flap)