Causal models predict different human inferences than taxonomic models do (Shafto et al. Reference Shafto, Kemp, Bonawitz, Coley and Tenenbaum2008); biofeedback perspectives, therefore, may correct the discrepancy between these cognitive capacities. Studies with humans on neuropeptides such as vasopressin and oxytocine suggest that variation in the genes encoding their receptors may contribute to variation in human social behavior by altering brain function (Donaldson & Young Reference Donaldson and Young2008). Likewise, the shapeable human social cognitions and the contingent social structures may imply a complex regulatory system of power; for example, submissive female sexuality can lead to dominance in gene reproductivity. Regulatory theories (Als Reference Als and Goldson1999; Hofer Reference Hofer1994; Mareschal et al. Reference Mareschal, Sirois, Westermann and Johnson2007) in turn may suggest the need to measure the level of power within a given relationship in order to judge dominance and submissiveness and the complex interrelations between the two constructs.
Vigil claims that submissive behaviors express trustworthiness. This creates a one-way hierarchy of trust, in which the dominant can trust the submissive. As challenge and competition are considered part of give-and-take relationship, submissiveness may end in raising power challenges in the other and result in difficulties for trusting the submissive. Regulatory theories consider the concept of mutual trust and individual preferences.
Vigil refers to submissiveness in the adversity of the social framework through submissiveness as trustworthiness. The vulnerable may not receive social support in all human cultures or in other species. The assumption of welfare and charity found in Western society is problematic and may be replaced by the question whether the expression of vulnerability as well as the benefits of vulnerability, are instinctual. The examination of natural expressions of vulnerability compared with the cultural expression of it may suggest a complex of species-attributed behaviors interacting with socially and/or culturally attributed effects.
Sometimes individuals choose losing strategies or perpetuate their own victim state. Following this rationale, we would have to interpret (1) the attraction to abusive relationships as rewarding at some other levels; (2) the ability to discriminate what behavior is rewarding; and (3) what is the level of the observed reward. Alternatively, we can claim that attachment is a reward and that love has complex facets of frustration and reward. The examination of biofeedback mechanisms of alleles, genes, individuals, societies, or ecosystems, as suggested by theories of co-regulation, may show the complex of gender differences and that men with the similar biofeedback mechanisms may have feminine attributes, and vice versa. We ought to be cautious when we refer to individuals as entities that cannot be divided or summed, without considering biofeedback mechanisms of the vital human brain (Ferber Reference Ferber2008; Reference Ferber2009; Ferber & Makhoul Reference Ferber and Makhoul2004; Reference Ferber and Makhoul2008). Critical ages (Duffy et al. Reference Duffy, Als and McAnulty2003) during early development and through the entire life span provide the window of opportunities and the possibility for determining which developmental paths may be considered along the course of life until a critical age for a certain capacity ends.
Vigil assumes a coherent and discrete self versus other, which are often hard to delineate – for example, in the case of pregnancy. There are also other states in early infancy without distinct discrimination between the self and other, along with the complex emergence of relationships and interactive behaviors between the infant and his/her family members (Ferber et al. Reference Ferber, Feldman and Mahoul2007). Vigil assumes that there are only two vectors when facing the other – toward and away – and neglects the possibility of exploratory and curious observation and learning even in relation to a threat, or the cycle of retreating, reinforcing, and returning to marked experiences (Als Reference Als and Goldson1999). The adoption of abusive behaviors that prove unprofitable even to the abuser, such as abusive parenting, is a situation where desire and abjection are more than normative regulations, and become a personality.
Vigil mentions that there are neural-endocrinal correlates to trust. Oxytocin is the prime inducer of bonding between mother and infant; this means that we can understand such hormones and trusting behavior as organically linked, that is, as being the cause and effect of each other. Thus, it cannot be said that trustworthiness is merely an observed feature. It is an acquired relationship. The more trustworthy we are, the more trusting the other becomes toward us. Oxytocin causes mothers to bond with their child and not other people's children, and also explains the preference of monogamous species for one mating partner over multiple mating partners. This suggests that oxytocin-enhanced individuals will not only be more prone to bonding, but also more prone to reject those who are not bonded with. A mother's bond with her child means she will defend him or her against any threat or aggressor, making trusting and bonding behaviors trusted and bonded, but threatening and defensive against all others. Therefore, the coregulation between vasopressin and oxytocin seems more adequate for explaining trustworthiness.
Vigil describes the current state of affairs in a patriarchal society and grounds it as historically consistent. Still, Vigil provides us with the possibility of an alternative: “In foraging societies with bride service, the prospective husband is expected to reside with his bride's family to provide service to them before the marriage and often for some time afterwards” (sect. 3.1, para. 2, emphasis in target article). In this idea, Vigil pays attention to the contingent structure of society as a primary regulator of personality creation.
Vigil describes the correlation of hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis activation and the theory of sexually dimorphic competition domains. It could be argued that the activation of the HPA axis is not proof enough of a natural tendency of the two sexes to compete within or between groups, and that social construction leads to cognitive schemes that define stressful contexts and these activate the HPA axis accordingly.
The neural-endocrinal correlates are not proof of universality or biological origin, since they may be mediated by modular, shapeable cognitions as stated above. Therefore, contingency between shapeable cognitive structures and contingent social complex structures may need to be considered as interacting with genetic, environmental, and reciprocal complexes. The concept of female submissiveness versus male aggressiveness opens a window of opportunities for understanding developmental trajectories which one of them is the development of mutual trust.
