Uploaded March 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Matthew Zefferman
Arizona State University
February 26, 2018

"Combat veterans in western industrialized societies can develop a collection of symptoms classified as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The origins of PTSD are a mystery. Some posit that it has deep evolutionary roots as a mechanism for avoiding and responding to harm. Others posit that it is socially constructed and perhaps unique to industrialized societies. I propose, with a gene-culture co-evolutionary theory of combat stress, that both perspectives are partially right and incomplete. This theory explains additional puzzling aspects of combat stress, such as the origins of "moral injury." I support this new theory with evidence from ethnographic research and interviews with Turkana warriors from northern Kenya."

PRIME SPONSORS

The Office of the Dean of Social Sciences
Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
The Human Behavior & Evolution Society

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT

Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Department of Communication