Early psychoanalytic theories of human behaviour were set forth most notably by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Freud’s ideas were influenced by Charles Darwin ’s theory of evolution and by the …

Research has shown, for example, that children whose parents used marijuana have a significantly increased likelihood of abusing alcohol and other substances as teens or young adults.

Display behaviour, ritualized behaviour by which an animal provides specific information to others, usually members of its own species. Virtually all higher animals use displays to some extent.

Collective behavior, the kinds of activities engaged in by sizable but loosely organized groups of people. Episodes of collective behavior tend to be quite spontaneous, resulting from an experience shared …

Feeding behaviour, any action of an animal that is directed toward the procurement of nutrients. The variety of means of procuring food reflects the diversity of foods used and the myriad of animal types.

Dissonance-reducing buying behaviour occurs when the consumer is highly involved but sees little difference between brands. This is likely to be the case with the purchase of a lawn mower or a …

Some deviance is expressed by individuals within a group (for example, a student who wears unusual clothes), and other deviance can be expressed by a group within society (for example, a gang or a cult).

Nov 14, 2025 · In general, fewer females masturbate, compared with males; a study in Norway from 2022, for example, found that about 66 percent of women and 84 percent of men had masturbated in …

Social behavior encompasses a wide variety of interactions, from temporary feeding aggregations or mating swarms to multigenerational family groups with cooperative brood care. Over the years, there …

Courtship, in animals, behaviour that results in mating and eventual reproduction. Courtship may be rather simple, involving a small number of chemical, visual, or auditory stimuli; or it may be a highly …