Aurelio José Figueredo
University of Arizona, Psychology, Faculty Member
A considerable number of publications have examined the effect of various geographical, life history, social, economic and political factors on homicide. However, few studies were interested in examining the effect of these forces in an... more
A considerable number of publications have examined the effect of various geographical, life history, social, economic and political factors on homicide. However, few studies were interested in examining the effect of these forces in an integrated social biogeography of homicide. This study collected data for 172 nation-states from various publications and databases. Standardized Studentized residuals were extracted from a multilevel model examining the effects of geographical adjacency upon homicide rates. A general linear model was used, with the residuals, to observe the effects of physical, community, social, cultural, and cognitive ecology upon homicide. Two sequential canonical analyses (SEQCA) were conducted to determine the mediating effects among the ecological indicators with respect to homicide. In the SEQCA, we hypothesized physical ecology would lead to communal ecology, in turn leading to social ecology, subsequently leading to cognitive ecology, and ultimately to homicide. A parsimony test concluded that economic growth and inequality fully mediated the relationship between cognitive ecology and homicide residuals. Similarly, the effects of life history upon homicide were fully mediated by social ecology. This study suggests several social ecology factors appear to directly affect homicide; however, other aspects of ecology indirectly affected homicide through influences on social ecology. The effect of indicators of social ecology such as income inequality and the operational sex ratio indicate competition for resources is a significant force generating differences in homicide rates across populations. In conclusion, a suite of evolutionary pressures seems to influence homicide rates, but mainly in a sequential nature rather than simultaneously.
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Previous studies have examined what some of the economic correlates of life history strategies are at the population level, however economic diversity is an unexplored phenomenon in this literature. It is unknown whether diversity in... more
Previous studies have examined what some of the economic correlates of life history strategies are at the population level, however economic diversity is an unexplored phenomenon in this literature. It is unknown whether diversity in production and economic output is directly fostered by life history speed, or only indirectly through the effect of phenotypic diversification of slow life history populations. Here we provide the conceptual and mathematical definitions for strategic and cognitive differentiation effects as forms of phenotypic diversity in life history and intelligence, as well as the estimation of macroeconomic indices (Krugman Dissimilarity Index, GDP Dissimilarity Index, and Shannon-Weaver Diversity Index) to track population-level macroeconomic diversity in subnational populations of Italy, Spain and Mexico. We examine the structural relations among phenotypic diversity and these three macroeconomic indices, and investigate if there exist residual direct effects of climate, parasite burden, population density, life history strategy, social stratification, and sexual differentiation upon phenotypic and economic diversity measures. Results suggest that economic diversity can be largely explained by phenotypic diversity, which in turn is influenced by both egalitarianism and slow life history speed, giving support to the notion that these are complementary rather than exclusive drivers of diversity.
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Previous studies have examined what some of the economic correlates of life history strategies are at the population level, however economic diversity is an unexplored phenomenon in this literature. It is unknown whether diversity in... more
Previous studies have examined what some of the economic correlates of life history strategies are at the population level, however economic diversity is an unexplored phenomenon in this literature. It is unknown whether diversity in production and economic output is directly fostered by life history speed, or only indirectly through the effect of phenotypic diversification of slow life history populations. Here we provide the conceptual and mathematical definitions for strategic and cognitive differentiation effects as forms of phenotypic diversity in life history and intelligence, as well as the estimation of macroeconomic indices (Krugman Dissimilarity Index, GDP Dissimilarity Index, and Shannon-Weaver Diversity Index) to track population-level macroeconomic diversity in subnational populations of Italy, Spain and Mexico. We examine the structural relations among phenotypic diversity and these three macroeconomic indices, and investigate if there exist residual direct effects of climate, parasite burden, population density, life history strategy, social stratification, and sexual differentiation upon phenotypic and economic diversity measures. Results suggest that economic diversity can be largely explained by phenotypic diversity, which in turn is influenced by both egalitarianism and slow life history speed, giving support to the notion that these are complementary rather than exclusive drivers of diversity.
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Knowledge of evolutionary influences on patterns of human mating, social interactions, and differential health is increasing, yet these insights have rarely been applied to historical analyses of human population dynamics. The genetic and... more
Knowledge of evolutionary influences on patterns of human mating, social interactions, and differential health is increasing, yet these insights have rarely been applied to historical analyses of human population dynamics. The genetic and evolutionary forces behind biases in interethnic mating and in the health of individuals of different ethnic groups in Latin America and the Caribbean since the European colonization of America are still largely ignored. We discuss how historical and contemporary sociocultural interactions and practices are strongly influenced by population-level evolutionary forces. Specifically, we discuss the historical implications of functional (de facto) polygyny, sex-biased admixture, and assortative mating in Latin America. We propose that these three evolutionary mechanisms influenced mating patterns, shaping the genetic and cultural landscape across Latin America and the Caribbean. Further, we discuss how genetic differences between the original populatio...
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Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are situated as the foundation of a six-tier pyramid, above which rests: (1) disrupted neurodevelopment; (2) social, emotional, and cognitive impairment; (3) adoption of health-risk behaviors; (4)... more
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are situated as the foundation of a six-tier pyramid, above which rests: (1) disrupted neurodevelopment; (2) social, emotional, and cognitive impairment; (3) adoption of health-risk behaviors; (4) disease, disability, and social problems; and (5) early death. ACEs purportedly initiate a causal sequence of negative developmental, behavioral, social, and cognitive outcomes, culminating in heightened mortality risk. Militating against this causal explanation, life history evolution is herein hypothesized to be the true foundation of any such pyramid. Subsuming ACEs within a life history framework has two broad implications: First, to some extent, ACEs are effectively changed from cause to correlate; second ACEs are seen as markers of strategic life history variation, not markers of dysfunction.
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The psychometric trait approach to human life history, based on common factor modeling, has recently come under some criticism for neglecting to inquire into the developmental progression that orients and executes human life history... more
The psychometric trait approach to human life history, based on common factor modeling, has recently come under some criticism for neglecting to inquire into the developmental progression that orients and executes human life history trajectories (Copping, Campbell, & Muncer, 2014). It was asserted that the psychometric approach wholly focuses on creating a higher-order latent factor of life history by subsuming individual differences with developmental and social experiences, ignoring ontogenetic progression. Implicit in the critique is the assumption that developmental perspectives and latent approaches are mutually exclusive and incompatible with each other. The response to this critique by Figueredo and colleagues (2015) proposed instead that developmental perspectives and latent trait approaches are both compatible and necessary to further research on human life history strategies. The current paper uses three independent cross-sectional samples to examine whether models of hum...
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The purpose of the present article is to propose an alternative short form for the 199-item Arizona Life History Battery (ALHB), which we are calling the K-SF-42, as it contains 42 items as compared with the 20 items of the Mini-K, the... more
The purpose of the present article is to propose an alternative short form for the 199-item Arizona Life History Battery (ALHB), which we are calling the K-SF-42, as it contains 42 items as compared with the 20 items of the Mini-K, the short form that has been in greatest use for the past decade. These 42 items were selected from the ALHB, unlike those of the Mini-K, making direct comparisons of the relative psychometric performance of the two alternative short forms a valid and instructive exercise. A series of secondary data analyses were performed upon a recently completed five-nation cross-cultural survey, which was originally designed to assess the role of life history strategy in the etiology of interpersonal aggression. Only data from the ALHB that were collected in all five cross-cultural replications were used for the present analyses. The single immediate objective of this secondary data analysis was producing the K-SF-42 such that it would perform optimally across all fiv...
Research Interests: Psychology, Evolutionary Psychology, Psychometrics, Australia, Singapore, and 15 moreLife History Theory, Medicine, Mexico, Italy, Biological Sciences, Humans, United States, Female, Male, Young Adult, Cross Cultural Research, Adult, MEXICO, Surveys and Questionnaires, and Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
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Reliability and validity of the Exercise Self-Regulatory Efficacy Scale ⁎ ⁎ To request a copy of the Ex-SRES instrument, a one-page summary of its psychometrics and scoring syntax, please send a self-addressed envelope with return postage to the corresponding author. for individuals with chronic ...more
Exercise has important benefits for individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, to sustain long-term benefits of exercise, adherence is needed. Adherence requires self-regulation. No scale is available to... more
Exercise has important benefits for individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, to sustain long-term benefits of exercise, adherence is needed. Adherence requires self-regulation. No scale is available to measure exercise self-regulation in individuals with COPD.We developed and tested the reliability and validity of an “Exercise Self-Regulatory Efficacy Scale (Ex-SRES)” for individuals with COPD.A convenience sample of 109 subjects with COPD was recruited. Cronbach’s alpha was used to assess the internal consistency reliability of the Ex-SRES. Subjects’ exercise behaviors and health status were used to assess the validity of the Ex-SRES.The Ex-SRES demonstrated evidence of reliability (Cronbach’s alpha .917) and validity (correlation with minutes of exercise per week [r = .41; P < .0001] and health status [r = .37; P < .0001]).The Ex-SRES is a short (16-items) and easy to use questionnaire that may be valuable for assessing patients in clinical settings, as well as for future research studies in behaviors related to exercise.
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Research Interests: Research Design, Design Research, Breast Cancer, Treatment, Stress, and 14 moreStress Management, Behavioral Medicine, Humans, Disclosure, Clinical research, Coping, Female, Regression Analysis, Statistical Significance, Mindfulness Meditation, Model development, Regression Model, Randomized Clinical Trial, and attitude to health
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Research Interests: Psychology, Treatment Outcome, Motivation, Drug Use, Higher Order Thinking, and 18 moreHumans, Arizona, Alcoholism, Female, Cocaine, Male, Follow-up studies, Structural Equation Model, Crack Cocaine, Adult, Patient Care Team, Public health systems and services research, Causal Analysis, Alcohol Use, Homeless Persons, Substance-Related Disorders, Drug treatment, and Structural model
... Lynn Lackner, Jaime Platas, Amy Powell, Van Santiago, Natasha Smith, Cleo Strazdas, Despina &amp;quot;Michelle&amp;quot; Walter, and Arden Weitzman were exceptionally helpful with the data collection and entry, colony... more
... Lynn Lackner, Jaime Platas, Amy Powell, Van Santiago, Natasha Smith, Cleo Strazdas, Despina &amp;quot;Michelle&amp;quot; Walter, and Arden Weitzman were exceptionally helpful with the data collection and entry, colony monitoring and maintenance. Thanks also to my wife, Maureen, and to ...
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Research Interests: Attention, Persian Gulf, Linear models, Divided Attention, Dopamine, and 13 moreHumans, Female, Male, Veterans, Reaction Time, Medical Physiology, HYDROCARBONS, Adult, Public health systems and services research, Analysis of Variance, Time Factors, Chi Square Distribution, and Environmental Exposure
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Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Sex, Juvenile Delinquency, Structural Equation Modeling, and 8 moreIndividual Differences, Sensation Seeking, Personality and Individual Differences, Mental Disorder, Structural Equation Model, Evolution Intrasexual Competition, Individual Difference, and Mating Effort
... Infants&amp;amp;amp;amp;#x27; Behavior (APIB): Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Behavioral Constructs ELSA J. SELL AND AURELIO JOSE FIGUEREDO ... with the confirmatory factoranalytic multitraitmultimethod approach to construct... more
... Infants&amp;amp;amp;amp;#x27; Behavior (APIB): Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Behavioral Constructs ELSA J. SELL AND AURELIO JOSE FIGUEREDO ... with the confirmatory factoranalytic multitraitmultimethod approach to construct validity described by Ferketich, Figueredo, and Knapp (1991) and ...
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While most books on missing data focus on applying sophisticated statistical techniques to deal with the problem after it has occurred, this volume provides a methodology for the control and prevention of missing data. In clear,... more
While most books on missing data focus on applying sophisticated statistical techniques to deal with the problem after it has occurred, this volume provides a methodology for the control and prevention of missing data. In clear, nontechnical language, the authors help the reader understand the different types of missing data and their implications for the reliability, validity, and generalizability of a study&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#x27;s conclusions. They provide practical recommendations for designing studies that decrease the likelihood of missing data, and ...
Research Interests: Psychometrics, Personality, Sociobiology, Altruism, Multidisciplinary, and 17 moreSocial behavior, Humans, United States, Female, Male, Data Collection, Social Environment, Family Relations, Aged, Middle Aged, Adult, Reproductive behavior, Genetic variation, Social Behavior, Social biology, Life Change Events, and Inheritance Patterns
... DOI: 10.1080/15295192.2012.680396 Tomás Cabeza De Baca a * , Aurelio José Figueredo b ... Daly, M. and Wilson, M. 1988. ... of depression, no experimental enhancement of parenting skills) showed the opposite pattern (Beaulieu... more
... DOI: 10.1080/15295192.2012.680396 Tomás Cabeza De Baca a * , Aurelio José Figueredo b ... Daly, M. and Wilson, M. 1988. ... of depression, no experimental enhancement of parenting skills) showed the opposite pattern (Beaulieu &amp; Bugental, 20083. Beaulieu, DA and Bugental ...