Evolutionary psychology
branch of psychology From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Evolutionary psychology is a branch of psychology that investigates behavior which has evolved. It is similar in this respect to ethology, which has always used ideas from evolutionary biology.
Abstract
This field seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved adaptations, that is, functional products of natural selection or sexual selection. Evolutionary psychology usually focuses on behavior most people share. Sex and social behavior are some of the more common areas that evolutionary psychology focuses on.[1][2][3] Events like violent behavior need explanation in evolutionary terms.[4][5][6]
Evolutionary psychology is related to other fields of science like sociobiology, social psychology, and sociocultural anthropology. Evolutionary psychologists argue that much of human behavior is the result of adaptations that evolved to solve recurrent problems in human ancestral environments.[7][8][9][10][11]
The adaptationist approach is steadily increasing as an influence in the general field of psychology.[12][13] Evolutionary psychologists hold that behaviors or traits that occur universally in all cultures are good candidates for evolutionary adaptations.[13] This includes our ability to infer others' emotions, discern kin from non-kin, identify and prefer healthier mates, and cooperate with others. They report successful tests of theoretical predictions related to such topics as infanticide, intelligence, marriage patterns, promiscuity, perception of beauty, bride price and parental investment.[14]
- "The recognition that psychological mechanisms are evolved adaptations connects evolutionary biology to psychology in the strongest possible fashion, allowing everything we know about the study of adaptations to be applied to the study of psychological mechanisms".[11]
Books
- Barkow, Jerome H; Cosmides, Lena & Tooby, John (eds) 1992. The adapted mind: evolutionary psychology and the generation of culture. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195101072
- Buss, David 2011. Evolutionary psychology: the new science of the mind. 4th ed, Pearson. ISBN 0-205-01562-X
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References
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