Human Evolutionary Psychology

by Louise Barrett, Robin I.M. Dunbar, John Lycett

Why do people resort to plastic surgery to look young? Why are stepchildren at greatest risk of fatal abuse? Why do we prefer gossip to algebra? Why must Dogon wives live alone in a dark hut for five days a month? Why are young children good at learning language but not sharing? Over the past decade, psychologists and behavioral ecologists have been finding answers to such seemingly unrelated questions by applying an evolutionary perspective to the study of human behavior and psychology. Human Evolutionary Psychology is a comprehensive, balanced, and readable introduction to this burgeoning field. It combines a sophisticated understanding of the basics of evolutionary theory with a solid grasp of empirical case studies.


Covering not only such traditional subjects as kin selection and mate choice, this text also examines more complex understandings of marriage practices and inheritance rules and the way in which individual action influences the structure of societies and aspects of cultural evolution. It critically assesses the value of evolutionary explanations to humans in both modern Western society and traditional preindustrial societies. And it fairly presents debates within the field, identifying areas of compatibility among sometimes competing approaches.


Combining a broad scope with the more in-depth knowledge and sophisticated understanding needed to approach the primary literature, this text is the ideal introduction to the exciting and rapidly expanding study of human evolutionary psychology.

Genres: Psychology, Evolution, Science, Nonfiction, Anthropology, Textbooks

Hardcover

First published November 26, 2001

Reviews

[Steven Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the better textbooks/accounts of human evolutionary psychology. Here, evolutionary theory is employed to explain human social behavior. The book is solidly done and one of the better introductions to the subject. Sometimes, it is overly theoretical without necessarily convincing empirical support, but the work is provocative and illustrates the evolutionay psychology approach to explaining human behavior.

[Bria · Rating 3 out of 5]

They tried to be as polite as possible, but really there's no hiding the fact that I'm maladapted.

[Aleš Bednařík · Rating 5 out of 5]

Veľmi zaujímavo napísaná učebnica evolučnej psychológie. Tučná a hutná kniha plná príkladov a výskumov.
Témami sú altruizmus, pohlavný výber, reprodukčné rozhodovanie, rodičovské investície, manželstvo a dedičstvo, spoločenský parazitizmus a ďalšie zaujímavé témy.
Cieľom je vysvetliť na základe evolučných princípov prečo sa v týchto oblastiach ľudia správajú tak ako sa správajú.
Napriek hrúbke a obsažnosti knihy - mňa to bavilo až do konca :-)

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

a textbook which looks at ev. psych which has been researched already, and some info on future durections for research.

best to have an understanding of exactly how evolution works, and the limits of ev. psych, before you really get into it.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need to read other's in the field before I decide whether this is a four or a five. Introductory evopsych book. Well written in a way that makes it just as enjoyable/easy to read as a pop-sci book, but with the statistics.

Excellent bibliography. Worth a bonus cookie star.

[Алма Шайзанда · Rating 4 out of 5]

OMG very nice book