Multi-level selection, social signaling, and the evolution of human suffering gestures: The example of pain behaviors

Abstract

Pain suffering has been naturally selected to be experienced and expressed within a wider social system. The communication of pain improves group coordination and decision-making about engaging in resource dependent and potentially risky endeavors. Recent findings warrant the development of a cohesive framework for understanding the reciprocal nature of pain expression and individual and group-level outcomes that can generate novel predictions on the heuristical expression of human suffering in naturalistic and clinical settings.