Evolutionary Psychology: A Critical Introduction

The last decade has witnessed a dramatic change in our understanding of the way in which the mind operates and the reasons behind a myriad of human behaviours. The traditional idea that nurture trumps nature in explanations of human behaviour has been supplanted by evolutionary psychological explanations, which posit that human beings share evolved mental architectures that govern their behaviour. Evolutionary Psychology brings together seminal work from key scholars in the field and explores the ways in which evolutionary psychological research can illuminate our understanding of human behaviours and nature.

Evolutionary Psychology provides a thorough introduction to evolutionary approaches to psychology, covering topics on:

• Applications of evolutionary theory to psychology
• The evolution of cognition and how it interacts with culture
• Cooperation
• Physical attraction, mate choice and sexual selection
• Life history theory
• Parenting and families
• Personality and individual differences
• Social cognition and psychoses
• The future of evolutionary psychology

Written to support undergraduates and masters students studying Evolutionary Psychology and Biological Psychology, this book critically evaluates the extant literature while maintaining the need for evolutionary psychologies.

Viren Swami trained as an evolutionary psychologist, and for his doctorate examined the roles that body shape and weight play in judgements of physical attractiveness across cultures. Viren’s current research in the area focuses on the influence of evolution, culture, and individual psychology on perceptions of human beauty, and his work has been widely discussed in national and international media. Viren is also currently conducting research in other fields of interpersonal attraction, including identifying predictors of positive body image, the effect of romantic love on partner perceptions, weight-based discrimination, and the history of beauty in art and sculpture. Other current projects include research on sociocultural adjustment among sojourners, and cross-cultural differences in lay beliefs about various topics, including intelligence, conspiracy theories, mental illness, and extraterrestrial life.