Evolutionary Psychology Archives

Ancient Warriors and Modern Footballers: An Evolutionary Explanation for Homophobia

Although pernicious in any form, prejudice against gay people is not evenly distributed. Men hold more anti-gay attitudes than women, and these attitudes are particularly directed toward gay men rather…

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5 min

Oversharing Celebrities and the Search for Meaning

Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear almost any “how.”—Viktor Frankl The findings of evolutionary psychology suggest that most people derive meaning from their loyalties to family, tribe…

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11 min

The Lessons of Evolution: A Review of “A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century” by Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein

I was worried that Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein’s new book, A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century: Evolution and the Challenges of Modern Life, would be a shallow self-help…

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4 min

Good News Is No News

How many upbeat articles have you come across since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged? Not many, probably. While the pandemic hasn’t exactly been a cheerful time, consider what should have been…

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11 min

When Men Behave Badly: The Hidden Roots of Sexual Deception, Harassment and Assault

The topic of David Buss’s new book, When Men Behave Badly: The Hidden Roots of Sexual Deception, Harassment and Assault, has scarcely ever been more relevant. It seems that, every…

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4 min

Psychology

Pretty Privilege

What is it like to be pretty? When we think of someone beautiful, we tend to assume that his or her looks privilege has to be accompanied by some negative…

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3 min

Why Do Women Orgasm?

Researchers have long been fascinated by the female orgasm. It isn’t necessary for a woman to orgasm during sexual intercourse in order to become pregnant. By contrast, in men, orgasm…

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11 min

Science & Tech

The Uniqueness of Mammals

In 2017, I presented a paper at the Florida Academy of Sciences entitled “The Importance of Being a Mammal.” Its thesis was threefold. First, a number of behaviours appear to…

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14 min

Evolutionary Psychology: Predictively Powerful or Riddled with Just-So Stories?

This essay is part of a series on the value of evolutionary approaches to psychology. Part 1 clears away seven key misconceptions. Part 2 shows why evolution is necessary for…

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11 min

The Why is Not the Same as the How: Levels of Analysis and Scientific Progress in Psychology

The emerald-colored jewel wasp (Ampulex compressa) parasitizes the common cockroach with a sophistication that beggars the imagination. Here’s how the morbid scene unfolds. The wasp begins by injecting a venomous…

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11 min

The Uses and Abuses of the Human Sciences

We are awash in the language of the human sciences. Each new day brings a slew of hyperbolic headlines, each brandishing the results of some recently published study that claims,…

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16 min

Seven Key Misconceptions about Evolutionary Psychology

Evolutionary approaches to psychology hold the promise of revolutionizing the field and unifying it with the biological sciences. But among both academics and the general public, a few key misconceptions…

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12 min

Of Rats, Voles and Online Porn

Rats in a Skinner Box Rats wired up to electrodes, housed in an experimental Skinner box, continually press a button to give themselves powerful, pleasurable sensations. The rats go into…

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11 min

Science & Tech

The Ape That Understood the Universe: Book Review

We humans take so much of reality for granted that it is often difficult to recognize which phenomena even require explanation. This is especially true of human behavior, as Steve…

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10 min

Psychology

Who or What Are We Human Mammalia, Really?

Warning Assimilation of the concepts herein may lead to mental anxiety if the external world is believed to be reality. Who or What Are We? We have an unbroken lineal…

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11 min

Psychology

Aping Around: The Importance of Our Animal Nature

Charles Darwin published the Origin of Species more than 150 years ago, in 1859, to share the discovery that the slow processes of evolution have shaped us, along with all…

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13 min

Will Declining Monogamy Lead to an Increase in Violence?

The Invention of Gender Inequality Ever since sex was first “invented” a little more than a billion years ago, it’s been the source of endless problems. For sure, it has…

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Evolutionary Psychology

Ancient Warriors and Modern Footballers: An Evolutionary Explanation for Homophobia

Oversharing Celebrities and the Search for Meaning

The Lessons of Evolution: A Review of “A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century” by Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein

Good News Is No News

When Men Behave Badly: The Hidden Roots of Sexual Deception, Harassment and Assault

Pretty Privilege

Why Do Women Orgasm?

The Uniqueness of Mammals

Evolutionary Psychology: Predictively Powerful or Riddled with Just-So Stories?

The Why is Not the Same as the How: Levels of Analysis and Scientific Progress in Psychology

The Uses and Abuses of the Human Sciences

Seven Key Misconceptions about Evolutionary Psychology

Of Rats, Voles and Online Porn

The Ape That Understood the Universe: Book Review

Who or What Are We Human Mammalia, Really?

Aping Around: The Importance of Our Animal Nature

Will Declining Monogamy Lead to an Increase in Violence?

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