?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Delusions+as+exploitative+deception&rft.creator=Hagen%2C+Dr.+Edward+H&rft.subject=Evolutionary+Psychology&rft.subject=Clinical+Psychology&rft.description=Non-bizarre+delusions+are+hypothesized+to+be+psychological+adaptations+which+evolved+to+mitigate+the+dangerous+consequences+of+social+failure.+When+humans+lived+in+small%2C+kin-based+groups%2C+delusions+would+have+functioned+to+combat+social+failure+by+closely+mimicking+conditions%2C+such+as+possession+of+important+information%2C+external+threats%2C+or+illness%2C+where+fellow+group+members+were+likely+to+cooperate+and+provide+assistance.+If+delusions+are+adaptations+to+social+failure%2C+then+they+should+onset+when+an+individual+faces+a+serious+social+threat%2C+they+should+function+(in+ancestral+type+environments)+to+elicit+social+benefits%E2%80%94at+least+in+the+short+term%E2%80%94and+they+should+cease+when+the+social+threat+ceases%2C+an+hypothesis+which+is+examined+in+the+context+of+numerous+published+studies+of+Delusional+Disorder+(DD).%0A%0AStudies+of+the+relationship+between+DD+and+life+events%2C+immigrant+status%2C+prison+psychoses%2C+and+discrimination+all+indicate+that+social+deficits+play+a+significant+etiological+role.+Cross-cultural+data+collected+in+traditional+societies+show+that+delusions+can+elicit+social+benefits.+Finally%2C+studies+show+that+positive+social+variables+are+the+most+important+predictors+of+remission+of+DD.+A+case+can+therefore+be+made+that+delusions+are+an+effective+adaptation+to+social+failure.&rft.date=2005&rft.type=Preprint&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F4134%2F1%2Fdelusions.pdf&rft.identifier=++Hagen%2C+Dr.+Edward+H++(2005)+Delusions+as+exploitative+deception.++%5BPreprint%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F4134%2F