Yes, there is meaningful empirical and theoretical support for the idea that humans evolved in social environments that provided more continuous co-regulation than many people experience in modern industrial societies. However, the evidence is indirect rather than a simple head-to-head experiment comparing "tribal life" with contemporary life.

What Is Co-Regulation?

Co-regulation refers to the way our nervous systems stabilize each other through:

• Physical proximity
• Touch
• Shared attention
• Synchronous movement
• Emotional attunement
• Reliable mutual support

Examples include a parent calming a child, partners soothing each other, or a trusted group reducing vigilance.

Modern neuroscience frameworks such as Social Baseline Theory and Social Allostasis argue that the human brain expects social support as part of normal regulation rather than treating it as an optional extra.

Social Baseline Theory

Developed by researchers including James A. Coan, Social Baseline Theory proposes that:

• The brain assumes access to supportive relationships.
• Social proximity reduces perceived threat.
• Shared regulation lowers metabolic and cognitive costs.

One famous study found that people anticipating electric shock showed reduced threat-related brain activation when holding the hand of a trusted partner.

This suggests that human physiology is designed to outsource part of emotion regulation to others.

Why Hunter-Gatherer Contexts May Have Provided More Co-Regulation

Many ethnographic hunter-gatherer societies featured:

• Near-constant contact with kin and familiar others.
• Frequent touch and shared sleeping.
• Cooperative childcare (alloparenting).
• High levels of face-to-face interaction.
• Collective rituals involving music and dance.
• Egalitarian norms that constrained dominance.

Examples include the Hadza, Ju/'hoansi, and Ache.

These conditions are well suited to frequent nervous system synchronization.

Evidence From Hunter-Gatherer Childcare

Anthropologists such as Sarah Blaffer Hrdy argue in Mothers and Others that humans evolved as cooperative breeders.

Human infants historically:

• Were held for much of the day.
• Received care from multiple adults.
• Had frequent skin-to-skin contact.
• Experienced rapid responses to distress.

This pattern likely promoted secure attachment and robust physiological regulation.

Physiological Effects of Social Support

Across many studies, strong social support is associated with:

• Lower cortisol.
• Higher vagal tone.
• Better immune function.
• Faster stress recovery.
• Lower allostatic load.

Chronic social isolation and socioeconomic adversity are associated with higher cumulative physiological burden.

Modern Environments Often Reduce Regulatory Inputs

Compared with small-scale societies, many people in industrial settings experience:

• Nuclear rather than extended family living.
• Less physical touch.
• More time alone.
• Greater residential mobility.
• Work and economic insecurity.
• Digital rather than embodied interaction.

These conditions can increase the amount of self-regulation individuals must perform alone.

Evidence From Mental Health and Loneliness Research

Loneliness predicts:

• Increased mortality risk.
• Greater inflammation.
• Higher stress hormone levels.
• Poorer sleep.

Researchers such as Julianne Holt-Lunstad have shown that social connection is a major determinant of health.

Cross-Cultural Caveats

Hunter-gatherer societies were not universally tranquil:

• Conflict and social tensions existed.
• Resources could be scarce.
• Some groups were highly mobile and uncertain.

Also, contemporary hunter-gatherers live under pressures from states, markets, and displacement, so they are not pristine windows into the past.

Strongest Conclusion Supported by Evidence

The best-supported statement is:

Human neurobiology evolved expecting dense, reliable, embodied social relationships that distribute the burden of stress regulation. Many modern social arrangements provide less of this support, which likely contributes to greater physiological and psychological strain.

That does not mean every hunter-gatherer group was calmer than modern life, but it does suggest that chronic social isolation and excessive individualism are somewhat mismatched with evolved human expectations.

Related Concepts

• Attachment Theory
• Polyvagal Theory
• Social Baseline Theory
• Cooperative Breeding
• Allostatic Load
• Collective Effervescence

Short Answer

Yes. There is substantial indirect evidence that humans evolved in highly socially embedded environments that offered continuous co-regulation through touch, shared childcare, close kin networks, and communal rituals. Modern industrial societies often reduce these regulatory supports, and research links weaker social connection to higher stress and worse health outcomes. The hypothesis is well supported conceptually and by converging evidence, though it cannot be tested directly with simple historical comparisons.