evolutionary psychology
Darwinian behavior study
Evolutionary psychology is a field that explains human behavior and mental traits as adaptations shaped by natural selection.
It asks why certain psychological tendencies—mate preferences, fear responses, social instincts—might have helped ancestral humans survive and reproduce.
Critics argue the field too easily generates untestable "just-so stories" to explain modern behavior.
Differential reproductive success
- fitnessGood physical shape
- survivalRemaining alive against odds
- reproductionCopying or procreation
- sexual selectionTrait-driven reproductive advantage
mate selection · environmental pressures · reproductive success · life history · trade-offs · domain-specific · modularity · spandrels
Methods for finding partners
- pair bondingEnduring mate attachment
- parental careOffspring protection and nurturing
- jealousyResentful desire for another's advantages
- mate guardingProtecting a pair bond
aggression · cooperation · altruism · dominance hierarchy · reciprocity · coalition · food sharing · risk-taking
Pre-farming subsistence lifestyle
- foragingSeeking wild food sources
- PleistoceneAncient glacial geological period
- savannaTropical grassland, sparse trees
- tribalOf a clan
kinship · nomadic · paleolithic · prehistoric · subsistence · scavenging · migration patterns · tool use
Natural selection theory
- sociobiologyStudy of inherited social behaviors
- ethologyStudy of animal conduct
- primatologyScientific study of apes
- anthropologyStudy of human cultures
genetics · heritability · twin studies · universals · phylogeny · homology · analogy · empirical
Existing since birth
- hardwiredPermanently connected by wires
- universalAffecting all equally
- fear responseReaction to perceived danger
- disgustIntense physical aversion
attachment · fight-or-flight · startle reflex · phobias · face recognition · language acquisition · theory of mind · imprinting
Practical problem-solving shortcuts
- cognitive biasesSystematic errors in judgment
- mind readingPerceiving others' thoughts directly
- intentionalityPurposeful action quality
- reasoningDrawing logical conclusions
decision-making · problem solving · pattern recognition · categorization · inference · schema · attribution · perspective-taking
natural selection
Differential reproductive success
- fitnessGood physical shape
- survivalRemaining alive against odds
- reproductionCopying or procreation
sexual selection · mate selection · environmental pressures · reproductive success · life history · trade-offs · domain-specific · modularity · spandrels · by-product
mating strategies
Methods for finding partners
- pair bondingEnduring mate attachment
- parental careOffspring protection and nurturing
- jealousyResentful desire for another's advantages
mate guarding · aggression · cooperation · altruism · dominance hierarchy · reciprocity · coalition · food sharing · risk-taking · courtship
hunter-gatherer
Pre-farming subsistence lifestyle
- foragingSeeking wild food sources
- PleistoceneAncient glacial geological period
- savannaTropical grassland, sparse trees
tribal · kinship · nomadic · paleolithic · prehistoric · subsistence · scavenging · migration patterns · tool use · seasonal cycles
Darwinism
Natural selection theory
- sociobiologyStudy of inherited social behaviors
- ethologyStudy of animal conduct
- primatologyScientific study of apes
anthropology · genetics · heritability · twin studies · universals · phylogeny · homology · analogy · empirical · hypothesis testing
innate
Existing since birth
- hardwiredPermanently connected by wires
- universalAffecting all equally
- fear responseReaction to perceived danger
disgust · attachment · fight-or-flight · startle reflex · phobias · face recognition · language acquisition · theory of mind · imprinting · separation anxiety
heuristics
Practical problem-solving shortcuts
- cognitive biasesSystematic errors in judgment
- mind readingPerceiving others' thoughts directly
- intentionalityPurposeful action quality
reasoning · decision-making · problem solving · pattern recognition · categorization · inference · schema · attribution · perspective-taking · metacognition
- academic fieldsmathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, history
- Psychology HistoryFreud, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Jung, William James
- evolutionnatural selection, mutation, adaptation, speciation, fitness
- psychologytherapist, psychiatrist, neuropsychology, psychotherapy, psychoanalysis
- instinctsinstinct, survival instinct, survival instincts, maternal instinct, gut instinct
- behavioral sciencesbehaviorism, behavioral economics, behavioral genetics, consumer behavior, ethology
evolutionary psychologycultural anthropology
Study of human societies
evolution, psychology, psychologist, psychological, evolutionist, evolutionary, psychologically, psychologize, evolutionism