Buss is the author of a number of publications and books, including the evolution of desire, the dangerous passion, and the murderer next door, which introduces a new theory of homicide from an evolutionary perspective. Testing the matechoice hypothesis of the female orgasm. Ledlow department of psychology, arizona state university, tempe, arizona 85287 handbook of social psychology, edited by john delamater. Geoffrey millers the mating mind is one of the best books on human psychology ever writtenon my list, he comes just after dawkins the selfish gene and pinkers how the mind works. Pdf the evolutionary psychology of human mate choice. That is why organisms do things other than having sex. Mate choi ce is one of two components of sexual selection, the other being intrasexual selection. Human evolutionary psychology is a comprehensive, balanced, and readable introduction to this burgeoning field. He wrote the mating mind and spent, and coedited the book mating intelligence. How we mate, why we stray, and what it means for modern relationships.
Literature in evolutionary psychology suggests that mate choice has been the primary mechanism of sexual selection in humans, but this conclusion conforms neither. That is, there isnt one rule that works all the time. In 1983, when the first edited book about the topic was brought forth. Fully updated with the latest research and new learning features, it provides a thoughtprovoking overview of evolution and illuminates the evolutionary foundation of many of the. Fully updated with the latest research and new learning features, it provides a. Online shopping for evolutionary psychology from a great selection at books store. As such, it provides a brief overview of the theoretical and methodological commitments of. Evolutionary psychology, in short, does not predict rigid roboticlike instincts. It became more and more extreme in a runaway process guided by female mate selection.
Geoffrey miller is an evolutionary psychologist best known for his books the mating mind 2001, mating intelligence 2008, spent 2009, and mate 2015. As likely as not, it should be neither too closely related nor too distantly related, and it should be maximally attractive. Sage business cases real world cases at your fingertips. Cq press your definitive resource for politics, policy and people. Animals may be careful in their choice of mates for a variety of reasons. The class period before you introduce evolutionary psychology, have each student write down the five or six most important attributes they look for in a potential mate. Ideas on sexual selection were first introduced in 1871, by charles darwin, then expanded on by ronald fisher in 1915. At present, there are five sub mechanisms that explain how mate ch oice has evolved over time.
Most research on mate choice in modern societies is based on data that may or may not reflect actual mating behavior e. In this work, darwin fleshed out the mechanism of sexual selection, a hypothesis that he had proposed in the origin of. Evolutionary psychology and conceptual integration. Designed to set the standard for handbooks in the field, the handbook of evolutionary psychology is an indispensable reference tool for every evolutionary psychologist and student. Cronin 1992 covers the long history of the field since darwin first coined the term sexual selection. Next, we examine womens and mens mating preferences, focusing on the adaptive significance of material, genetic and fertility benefits, and their relationship to environmental characteristics. How sexual choice shaped the evolution of human nature by geoffrey miller what role did sexual selection play in shaping. We analyzed preferences provided by people in 37 cultures for 18 characteristics. Providing the first synthesis of the topic in more than three decades, and drawing from a wide range of fields, including animal behavior, evolutionary biology, social psychology, neuroscience, and economics, rosenthal argues that good genes play a relatively minor role in shaping mate choice decisions and demonstrates how mate choice is. This paper assesses three cases of work on mate choice and sexual selection in evolutionary psychology. Welcome to evolutionary psychology, a discipline curiously situated at the interface between evolutionary science and pop psychology, where both wild and reasonable claims seem to clash against the wall of an incredible scarcity of pertinent data. Darwin believed that sexual selection played a major role in the evolution of. Sage books the ultimate social sciences digital library. All these aspects of a member of the opposite sex may influence how many descendants the pair could.
An indispensable resource for students of animal behavior and evolution, this comprehensive and thoughtful book. Selection shapes brains that maximize the number of offspring who survive to reproduce themselves. This is more than just a book about the psychology of sex. Evolutionary psychology and the generation of culture pp. The latter was, if not exactly forgotten, then at least sidelined. Written with students in mind, human evolutionary psychology is a highly readable and balanced account of eps central concepts and conflicts, from altruism and mate choice to cultural evolution and the origins of language. Evolution of human mate choice college of arts and science.
Miller, phd the recent incorporation of sexual selection theories into the rubric of. In this work, darwin fleshed out the mechanism of sexual selection, a hypothesis that he had proposed in the origin of species. He is a well known and respected voice in evolutionary psychology, authored and performed an incredible amount of field research, and has written several books, including the evolution of desire. Conditiondependent traits were not universally, uniformly preferred. In the case of the science of mate choice, the waiting period was a long century after its inception in darwins 1871 work, the descent of man. Evolutionary psychology and the emerging science of human courtship. David buss is an evolutionary psychologist and researcher, currently teaching at the university of texas. 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. Evolutionary psychology tries to offer a coherent framework for unifying the diverse areas of contemporary psychology research.
Indeed, the bulk of the book concerns sexual selection, but many of darwins. Sidari, psychology student, 1 emily ann harris, phd candidate, 1 fiona kate barlow, phd, 2 and brendan p. What we know, and dont know, about the process of mate selection. The handbook of evolutionary psychology wiley online books. How ecology, genes, fertility, and fashion influence mating behavior article pdf available november 2006 with 4,317 reads how we measure reads. In 1983, when the first edited book about the topic was brought forth 1, it contained only a few. Sexual selection and mate choice in evolutionary psychology. How ecology, genes, fertility, and fashion influence mating behavior jon a. Written for undergraduate psychology students, and assuming little knowledge of evolutionary science, the third edition of this classic textbook provides an essential introduction to evolutionary psychology. Massimo seems to dismiss mate choice as something that isnt really what evolutionary. Here we looked at a large communitybased sample of twins and their partners and parents individuals to test for genetic and family environmental influences on mate choice, while controlling for and not controlling for the. Sage reference the complete guide for your research journey.
This is very different from maximizing health or longevity. The evolution of sexual decision making from microbes to humans ebook written by gil g. Providing the first synthesis of the topic in more than three decades, and drawing from a wide range of fields, including animal behavior, evolutionary biology, social psychology, neuroscience, and economics, rosenthal argues that good genes play a relatively minor role in shaping mate choice. Academic journal article mankind quarterly oedipus complex, mate choice, imprinting. Mate choice evolutionary biology oxford bibliographies. Highlights conditiondependent traits may be universally, uniformly preferred in a mate. Charles darwin laid the foundation for all modern work on sexual selection in his seminal book the descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. A sensible starting point is a handful of books that cover mate choice and allied topics. Sage video bringing teaching, learning and research to life. How sexual choice shaped the evolution of human nature human creativity is like a peacocks tail. Abstracthuman mate choice is central to individuals lives and to the evolution of the species, but the basis of variation in mate choice is not well understood. These data were used to test an evolutionary model in which mate choice is hypothesized to depend on.
Drawing on information from the fields of animal behavior, ecology, evolutionary genetics, and sensory physiology, it will be a source of information and inspiration for everyone interested in this fascinatingly complex topic. Having students reflect on their own mate preferences can provide a meaningful introduction to the evolutionary perspective on mate selection. Is variability in mate choice similar for intelligence and. A boom in mate choice research prompts a comprehensive. The book argues that our most distinctive psychological adaptations evolved. The popular consensus on mate choice has long been that females select mates likely to pass good genes to offspring. The mating mind and millions of other books are available for amazon kindle. Great ideas can sometimes lie underrecognized for years.
The importance of mate choice and sexual selection has been emphasized by the majority of evolutionary psychologists. In the present study, reallife matings were reported by a large representative sample of men and women n 1,3. In classical literature and in romance novels, the male pro tagonist is. Providing the first synthesis of the topic in more than three decades, and drawing from a wide range of fields, including animal behavior, evolutionary biology, social psychology, neuroscience, and. A boom in mate choice research prompts a comprehensive look at. The ideal mate may have to hold valuable resources as well as being highly fertile or fecund.
Human evolutionary psychology 02 edition 9780691096223. In mate choice, gil rosenthal overturns much of this conventional wisdom. This book is a marvelously insightful, thoughtprovoking, and stimulating synthesis of mate choice. An afterword by richard dawkins provides some final thoughts from the renowned writer and exponent of evolutionary theory. The evolution of sexual decision making from microbes to humans. David buss on crosscultural human mate preferences, randy thornhill and steve gangestad on the link between mate preferences and fluctuating asymmetry, and. Evolutionary psychology also tries to connect with other disciplines in two directions.
This is a welcome change from a lot of evolutionary psychology. Rather, evolutionary psychology studies flexible, environmentallyconnected and culturallyinfluenced adaptations that vary according to the situation. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read mate choice. It connects with the biological sciences through evolutionary biology, behavior genetics, and neuroscience. Evolutionary social psychology university of michigan. One result of female choice is the evolution of exaggerated male traits. The phenomenon where females will copy or imitate the preferences of other females for a particular male mate has been documented in a wide variety of species, and is commonly referred to by evolutionary biologists as mate choice copying bennett, lim and gilbert, 2008.
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