Author: Jeffry A. Simpson Publisher: Psychology Press ISBN: 1317779479 Category : Psychology Languages : en Pages : 495
Book Description
What a pity it would have been if biologists had refused to accept Darwin's theory of natural selection, which has been essential in helping biologists understand a wide range of phenomena in many animal species. These days, to study any animal species while refusing to consider the evolved adaptive significance of their behavior would be considered pure folly--unless, of course, the species is homo sapiens. Graduate students training to study this particular primate species may never take a single course in evolutionary theory, although they may take two undergraduate and up to four graduate courses in statistics. These methodologically sophisticated students then embark on a career studying human aggression, cooperation, mating behavior, family relationships, or altruism with little or no understanding of the general evolutionary forces and principles that shaped the behaviors they are investigating. This book hopes to redress that wrong. It is one of the first to apply evolutionary theories to mainstream problems in personality and social psychology that are relevant to a wide range of important social phenomena, many of which have been shaped and molded by natural selection during the course of human evolution. These phenomena include selective biases that people have concerning how and why a variety of activities occur. For example: * information exchanged during social encounters is initially perceived and interpreted; * people are romantically attracted to some potential mates but not others; * people often guard, protect, and work hard at maintaining their closest relationships; * people form shifting and highly complicated coalitions with kin and close friends; and * people terminate close, long-standing relationships. Evolutionary Social Psychology begins to disentangle the complex, interwoven patterns of interaction that define our social lives and relationships.
Author: Virgil Zeigler-Hill Publisher: Springer ISBN: 3319126970 Category : Psychology Languages : en Pages : 488
Book Description
This wide-ranging collection demonstrates the continuing impact of evolutionary thinking on social psychology research. This perspective is explored in the larger context of social psychology, which is divisible into several major areas including social cognition, the self, attitudes and attitude change, interpersonal processes, mating and relationships, violence and aggression, health and psychological adjustment, and individual differences. Within these domains, chapters offer evolutionary insights into salient topics such as social identity, prosocial behavior, conformity, feminism, cyberpsychology, and war. Together, these authors make a rigorous argument for the further integration of the two diverse and sometimes conflicting disciplines. Among the topics covered: How social psychology can be more cognitive without being less social. How the self-esteem system functions to resolve important interpersonal dilemmas. Shared interests of social psychology and cultural evolution. The evolution of stereotypes. An adaptive socio-ecological perspective on social competition and bullying. Evolutionary game theory and personality. Evolutionary Perspectives on Social Psychology has much to offer students and faculty in both fields as well as evolutionary scientists outside of psychology. This volume can be used as a primary text in graduate courses and as a supplementary text in various upper-level undergraduate courses.
Author: Joseph P. Forgas Publisher: Psychology Press ISBN: 1136872981 Category : Family & Relationships Languages : en Pages : 330
Book Description
This book seeks to combine the study of human social cognition - the way we think, decide, plan and analyze social situations - with an evolutionary framework that considers these activities in light of evolutionary adaptations for solving problems of survival faced by our ancestors over thousands of generations. The chapters report recent research and theories illustrating how evolutionary principles can shed new light on the subtle and often subconscious ways that cognitive mechanisms guide peoples’ thoughts, memories, judgments, attitudes and behaviors in social life. The contributors to this volume, who are leading researchers in their fields, seek answers to such intriguing questions as: how can evolutionary principles help to explain human beliefs, attitudes, judgments, prejudice, and group preferences? Are there benefits to behaving unpredictably? Why are prototypical faces more attractive than atypical ones? How do men and women think about, and select potential mates? What are the adaptive functions of negative affect? What are the evolutionary influences on the way people think about and respond to social exclusion and ostracism? Evolution and the Social Mind offers a highly integrated and representative coverage of this emerging field, and is suitable as a textbook in advanced courses dealing with social cognition and evolutionary psychology.
Author: Charles Crawford Publisher: Psychology Press ISBN: 113562917X Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 503
Book Description
During the last 15 years, human sociobiology has metamorphosed into evolutionary psychology. It is concerned with the social problems and stresses hominid and primate ancestors encountered, the psychological mechanisms natural selection shaped to deal with these stresses, and the way those ancient mechanisms work now. Evolutionary psychologists are making great progress in expanding the understanding of human nature, however, this knowledge has had little impact on policymakers and legislators. Supreme Court justices and managers seldom consult evolutionary psychologists to help with their deliberations. When faced with private decisions few individuals ask themselves how a Darwinian perspective might help them. This volume's aim is to start the process of using theory and findings of evolutionary psychology to help make the world a better place to live. This book takes evolutionary psychology explicitly into applied areas in a way no other book has. It includes a reasonable scope of applications from pornography to psychopaths and from morality to sex differences in the workplace. An applications section provides concrete ideas for dealing with social and policy issues, including chapters on women in the workplace, rape, and child support. Providing good coverage of basic issues and theory of the field, this book gives lay people and law/policymakers appropriate background to fully understand the applications chapters. Part II provides information on basic psychological mechanisms for group living--including chapters on emotions, reciprocity and legal reasoning, and self deception--that impact on how well public policy and law function. The material in the first two sections provide an intellectual basis for the chapters in the third part of the book which deals with the application of evolutionary psychology to a variety of substantive areas related to public policy and personal decisions. A political scientist concludes the book with a commentary on evolutionary psychology and public policy. The book is designed to serve as a stand-alone text in evolutionary psychology and public policy that can be used in a variety of disciplines, such as psychology, social work, law and psychology, and public policy.
Author: David Buss Publisher: Psychology Press ISBN: 1317345746 Category : Psychology Languages : en Pages : 497
Book Description
This book examines human psychology and behavior through the lens of modern evolutionary psychology. Evolutionary Psychology: The Ne w Science of the Mind, 5/e provides students with the conceptual tools of evolutionary psychology, and applies them to empirical research on the human mind. Content topics are logically arrayed, starting with challenges of survival, mating, parenting, and kinship; and then progressing to challenges of group living, including cooperation, aggression, sexual conflict, and status, prestige, and social hierarchies. Students gain a deep understanding of applying evolutionary psychology to their own lives and all the people they interact with.
Author: Bruce J. Ellis Publisher: Guilford Press ISBN: 9781593851033 Category : Psychology Languages : en Pages : 572
Book Description
Applying an evolutionary framework to advance the understanding of child development, this volume brings together leading figures to contribute chapters in their areas of expertise. Researcher- and student-friendly chapters adhere to a common format.
Author: Glenn Geher, PhD Publisher: Springer Publishing Company ISBN: 0826107192 Category : Psychology Languages : en Pages : 234
Book Description
ìAt long last, a readable, accessible, user friendly introduction to evolutionary psychology written by a rising star in the field. This book, filled with a broad array of fascinating topics, is bound to further whet the appetite of a growing number of students who have been inspired by this provocative, yet eminently testable approach to human behavior.î Gordon G. Gallup Jr., PhD University at Albany "A frolicking, down-to-earth, and informative introduction to the ever evolving and controversial field of evolutionary psychology." Scott Barry Kaufman, PhD Author, Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined ìGlenn Geher has created a text that is both comprehensive in coverage and scope and very accessible. It should be a welcome addition to the field that serves to further individuals' understanding of Evolutionary Psychology.î T. Joel Wade, PhD Professor and Chair of Psychology, Bucknell University This is a concise and student-friendly survey of the burgeoning field of evolutionary psychology (EP) and the controversies that surround it. Evolutionary psychology is an approach to studying human behavior that is rooted in modern evolutionary theory. Firmly grounded in the theoretical and research literature of EP, the book addresses the core theories, approaches, applications, and current findings that comprise this discipline. It is unique in its interdisciplinary focus, which encompasses EPís impact on both psychological and non-psychological disciplines. Written by an eminent evolutionary psychologist who is President of the Northeastern Evolutionary Psychology Society, the text examines psychological processes that lead to human survival and those that may lead to reproductive benefitsósometimes even at a cost to survival. It cites a rich body of literature that provides insights into the role of sexual selection in shaping the human mind. The text presents current research on such important domains of EP as childhood, courtship, intrasexual competition, sex, pair-bonding, parenting, familial relations, non-familial relations, aggression, and altruism. Considering the potential of EP to mitigate some of our greatest social problems, the text examines the ways in which EP can be applied to society and religion. It also offers a thoughtful, balanced approach to such controversies in EP as the issues of genetic determinism, racism, and sexism. Key Features: Provides a broad survey one of the most recent, widely researched, and controversial fields to emerge in psychology over the past 20 years Written by an eminent evolutionary psychologist who is President of the Northeastern Evolutionary Psychology Society Presents EP concepts in an accessible, student-friendly way Offers a unique interdisciplinary focus that addresses the impact of EP on both psychological and non-psychological disciplines Emphasizes controversies within the field of evolutionary psychology and includes critiques of EP from people outside this discipline
Author: Glenn Geher Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0190647132 Category : Psychology Languages : en Pages : 169
Book Description
Positive psychologists focus on ways that we can advance the lives of individuals and communities by studying the factors that increase positive outcomes such as life satisfaction and happiness. Evolutionary psychologists use the principles of evolution, based on Darwin's understanding of life, to help shed light on any and all kinds of psychological phenomena. This book brings together both fields to explore positive evolutionary psychology: the use of evolutionary psychology principles to help people and communities experience more positive and fulfilling lives. Across eleven chapters, this book describes the basic ideas of both evolutionary and positive psychology, elaborates on the integration of these two fields as a way to help advance the human condition, discusses several domains of human functioning from the perspective of positive evolutionary psychology, and finally, looks with an eye toward the future of work in this emerging and dynamic field. Over the past few decades, evolutionary psychologists have begun to crack the code on such phenomena as happiness, gratitude, resilience, community, and love. This book describes these facets of the human experience in terms of their evolutionary origins and proposes how we might guide people to optimally experience such positive phenomena in their everyday lives.
Author: William von Hippel Publisher: HarperCollins ISBN: 0062740415 Category : Psychology Languages : en Pages : 387
Book Description
A study of how evolution has forged our modern lives—from work and relationships to leadership and innovation, as well as our quest for happiness. Human psychology is rife with contradictions: We work hard to achieve our goals, but happiness at our success is fleeting. We hope our friends will do well in life but can’t help feeling jealous if they do too well. We’re aghast at the thought of people we know being murdered but are unconcerned when our armed forces kill enemies we’ve never met. We complain about difficult bosses but are often just as bad when we’re in charge. These inconsistencies may seem irrational, but each of them has evolved to serve a vital function in our lives. Indeed, the most fundamental aspects of our psychology were permanently shaped by the “social leap” our ancestors made from the rainforest to the savannah. In their struggle to survive on the open grasslands, our ancestors prioritized teamwork and sociality over physical prowess, creating an entirely new kind of intelligence that would forever alter our place on this planet. A blend of anthropology, biology, history, and psychology with evolutionary science, The Social Leap traces our evolutionary history to show how events in our distant past continue to shape our lives today. From why we exaggerate to why we believe our own lies, the implications are far-reaching and extraordinary. Praise for The Social Leap Winner of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Book Prize “A rollicking tour through humanity’s evolutionary past. . . . Von Hippel shows how our past explains the present and why our well-being rests on an understanding of how our minds evolved.” —Adam Alter, New York Times–bestselling author of Irresistible “Full of insight into human character, von Hippel’s book provides a stimulating program for measuring success without material yardsticks.” —Kirkus Reviews
Author: Jeffry A. Simpson
Author: Virgil Zeigler-Hill
Author: Joseph P. Forgas
Author: Charles Crawford
Author: David Buss
Author: Lance Workman
Author: Bruce J. Ellis
Author: Glenn Geher, PhD
Author: Glenn Geher
Author: William von Hippel