Rethinking the fast-slow continuum of individual differences

• Published in: Evolution and human behavior Vol. 41; no. 6; pp. 536 - 549
• Main Author: Del Giudice, Marco
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.11.2020
• Subjects: Balancing selection; Developmental plasticity; Ecological gambit; Fast-slow continuum; Genetics; Individual differences; Life history theory; Pace-of-life syndromes; Personality; Physiology; Developmental plasticity; Ecological gambit; Individual differences; Balancing selection; Genetics; Personality; Physiology; Pace-of-life syndromes; Life history theory; Fast-slow continuum
• ISSN: 1090-5138; 1879-0607
• DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2020.05.004

The idea that individual differences in behavior and physiology can be partly understood by linking them to a fast-slow continuum of life history strategies has become popular in the evolutionary behavioral sciences. I refer to this approach as the “fast-slow paradigm” of individual differences. The paradigm has generated a substantial amount of research, but has also come increasingly under scrutiny for theoretical, empirical, and methodological reasons. I start by reviewing the basic empirical facts about the fast-slow continuum across species and the main theoretical accounts of its existence. I then discuss the move from the level of species and populations to that of individuals, and the theoretical and empirical complications that follow. I argue that the fast-slow continuum can be a productive heuristic for individual differences; however, the field needs to update its theoretical assumptions, rethink some methodological practices, and explore new approaches and ideas in light of the specific features of the human ecology.