Bargaining Theory
Depression is not only costly to the sufferer, it also imposes a significant burden on family, friends, and society at large—yet another reason it is thought to be pathological. Yet if sufferers of depression have real but unmet needs, they might have to provide an incentive to others to address those needs.
The bargaining theory of depression is similar to the honest signaling, niche change, and social navigation theories of depression described above. It draws on theories of labor strikes developed by economists to basically add one additional element to honest signaling theory: The fitness of social partners is generally correlated. When a wife suffers depression and reduces her investment in offspring, for example, the husband's fitness is also put at risk. Thus, not only do the symptoms of major depression serve as costly and therefore honest signals of need, they also compel reluctant social partners to respond to that need in order to prevent their own fitness from being reduced.
Read more about this topic: Evolutionary Approaches To Depression
Famous quotes containing the word theory:
“The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any- price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life.”
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919)