The Tending Instinct: How Nurturing Is Essential to Who We Are and How We Live Book

In times of crisis and upheaval, our responses to stress become especially important. We have long heard about the fight or flight response, but renowned psychologist Shelley E. Taylor points out that fight or flight may be distinctly male, and that femalesboth humans and those of other speciesare hardwired to respond to stress differently. Their tend and befriend response is not only demonstrable but, as Taylor deftly explains in this eye-opening work, a key ingredient in human social life.Accessibly and engagingly, Taylor draws on biology, evolutionary psychology, physiology, and neuroscience to show how this tending process begins virtually at the moment of conception and literally crafts the biology of offspring through genes that rely on caregiving. Taylor also examines what drives women to seek each others company, and to tend to the young and the infirmacts that greatly benefit the group but often at great cost to the individual. In the tradition of works such as Daniel Golemans Emotional Intelligence and Steven Pinkers The Language Instinct, Taylors book will forever change the way we view ourselves, and will revolutionize our understanding of the role of women and nurturing in maintaining a stable society.Read More