 26. Naturalizing the Self 579
with whom he could have produced off -
spring (a particularly consequential outcome 
from an evolutionary perspective). Narcissis -
tic pride, in the form of inflated beliefs about 
the self, has short-term adaptive benefits but 
long-term negative consequences (Robins 
& Beer, 2001). Thus, narcissistic pride may 
have evolved as a “cheater” mechanism to 
convince others of one’s success in the ab -
sence of real accomplishments, granting 
social status that is immediate but fleeting 
(Tracy & Robins, 2007b).5
Identity  Processes
Human social life can be viewed as a series 
of games in which the rules reflect cultural 
norms and social roles shape the parts that 
individuals play. Winning this game requires 
that humans form dyadic and group coali -
tions, and navigate within a social structure 
that has, more than for any other species, 
complex layers of multiple, overlapping, and 
sometimes nontransitive social hierarchies 
(e.g., the highest-  status hunters were not al -
ways the highest-  status warriors). Imagine 
living in such a complex environment with -
out a self—that is, without any stable aware -
ness of your position in the social structure 
and the roles you play in different contexts 
and with different people. The fact that our 
identities comprise self-  representations at 
multiple levels—  personal, relational, social, 
and collective—  further enhances our ability 
to juggle our often competing social goals 
and needs. These multilayered identities 
allow us to differentiate ourselves from oth -
ers, provide a sense of continuity over time, 
and help us adapt to and navigate complex 
social environments.
Social identities also facilitate identifica -
tion with the social group to which a per -
son belongs. In any social group, the young, 
low- status members are tempted to defect 
to other groups. A sense of identity—  and 
associated ingroup biases and outgroup 
derogation—  may help prevent individuals 
from leaving their social group and disrupt -
ing their kinship network. Stable identi -
ties are also efficient. It is more adaptive to 
have social interactions that are predictable, 
structured, and even ritualized, and to have 
identities that internalize the rules of each 
social context, so that individuals do not have to relearn their social roles each day. 
In some ways, the self provides a bridge be -
tween the individual (and his or her person -
ality characteristics) and the collective (and 
its associated social roles). For example, by 
eliciting collective feelings of pride when 
the group with which one identifies has an 
achievement (e.g., in the Olympic Games, or 
a high school soccer team), the self promotes 
solidarity among group members and helps 
reinforce the social inclusion of each proud 
group member.
In summary, I am proposing that self- 
awareness and self-  representations, the two 
core aspects of the self, are evolved mecha -
nisms that serve four adaptive functions: 
self- regulation, information processing fil -
ter, understanding others, and identity for -
mation. It seems plausible that these four 
functions helped our evolutionary ancestors 
survive, reproduce, and attain social sta -
tus and acceptance in a complex social en -
vironment. Yet one may question what an 
evolutionary perspective, with its emphasis 
on ultimate function, can contribute beyond 
more proximate functional accounts. Thus, 
one challenge facing researchers working 
toward a naturalist account of the self is to 
provide more precise empirical demonstra -
tions of how the specific functions of the self 
enhance aspects of fitness such as reproduc -
tive success.
Toward A Naturalist Approach 
to Understanding the  Self
In this chapter, I have reviewed the current 
state of the field with regard to several fun -
damental questions about the nature, struc -
ture, development, and functions of the self. 
My review was guided by a particular theo -
retical vantage point. Inspired by James’s 
naturalist perspective, I have proposed that 
research on the self should be central to any 
theory of personality; informed by an evo -
lutionary perspective and organized around 
functionalist explanations; informed by 
comparative, cross-  species research; and 
linked to basic psychological processes such 
as attention, memory, and emotion, and 
their associated neural mechanisms.
Although the self continues to be a “puz -
zling puzzle,” much progress has been made. 