Table 1.

How Different Motivational Systems Are Triggered by Proximate Cues and Individual Differences Linked to Fundamentally Important Threats and Opportunities

Motivational system	Proximate triggers	Moderating individual differences
Immediate physiological needs
Opportunities: Nutrients, liquids, etc.	External incentives associated with past reductions of physiological needs (e.g., smell of food cooking)	Genetic variations in metabolic processes
Threats: Starvation, dehydration,         overheating, etc.	Internal physiological imbalances	Developmental experiences with different cues for reinforcement (e.g., local cuisine)
Self-protection
Opportunities: Safety provided by others	Presence of familiar, similar others; being in familiar surroundings	High dispositional trust in others; being large or male
Threats: Violence from other people;         contagious diseases	Presence of unfamiliar, dissimilar, angry males; being in unfamiliar surroundings; darkness; unfamiliar smells; presence of others with morphological abnormalities	Past experience of being physically harmed; being of small stature or female; chronic belief in a dangerous world; chronic high disease concern.
Affiliation
Opportunities: Share resources, receive         material support, enhanced         self-protection, access to mates	Familiarity; past acts of reciprocity, trustworthiness; others’ adherence to group norms; facial characteristics signaling trustworthiness	Coalitional identity or investment; gender; “collectivistic” cultural context and proximity to kin networks; dispositional trust in others; need for belongingness and/or social approval
Threats: Exposure to disease,         cheating/free-riding, incompetence,         excessive demands	Subjective “foreignness” of others; unfamiliarity of other; other’s acts of cheating or norm violation	Own inclinations to cheat; personal vulnerability to disease; location (central vs. peripheral) within group network
Esteem/status
Opportunities: Status enhancing alliances,         access to resources and (for males)         mating opportunities	Nonverbal status-conferring displays (e.g., eye- contact, bodily orientation, etc.) by others; shifts in exchange rules; others willingness to invest in oneself	Current status level; presence of potential familial coalitional partners; presence of desirable (female) mates
Threats: Loss of status, social regard,         status-linked resources and mates	Nonverbal dominance displays by others; shifts in exchange rules; lack of apparent respect from others	Current status level; public versus private nature of interactional context; optimism and self-efficacy
Mate acquisition
Opportunities: Availability of desirable,         opposite-sex others	Opposite-sex others’ age, attractiveness, status, bodily symmetry, morphological abnormalities, scent, nonverbal flirting behaviors	Relative mate value and age; restricted or unrestricted sexual strategies; current ovulatory status or testosterone level; histocompatibility
Threats: Presence of desirable,         same-sex others	Same-sex others’ age, status, symmetry, masculinity/ femininity, flirting behaviors	Relative mate value; male–female ratio of available mates; status-linked distribution of resources; unpredictability of resource availability
Mate retention
Opportunities: Long-term parental         alliances	Others’ expressions of love, intimacy, commitment; others’ and own age (i.e., postmenopausal females).	Shared children; own mate value; own resources; availability of desirable alternative mates
Threats: Sexual infidelity, mate poaching	Partner flirtation behaviors; presence of nearby, high mate-value, opposite-sex individuals	Relative mate value; own resources; availability of desirable alternative mates; ovulatory status
Parenting
Opportunities: Enhanced reproductive         fitness	Proximity of one’s own children; nonverbal cues eliciting care (e.g., smiles)	Oxytocin levels; gender; number of other children of one’s own, siblings, or nieces/ nephews; age of child; availability of tangible resources
Threats: Especially high costs imposed by         children, cuckoldry (for males)	Signs of distress in own children; apparent physical (dis)similarity of child	Degree of paternal uncertainty; step-parenthood; age of child; number of other children of one’s own, siblings, or nieces/nephews