Discovering the next big question in evolutionary psychology: A few guidelines.

Douglas T. Kenrick

doi:10.1037/ebs0000204

Discovering the next big question in evolutionary psychology: A few guidelines.

Douglas T. Kenrick

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

The original big question for evolutionary psychology was whether an evolutionary perspective could generate any novel predictions, beyond those that would follow from common sense or from traditional theories in psychology. I consider a couple of examples of lines of research that answer that affirmatively. I then suggest 6 general heuristics for generating evolutionary psychological hypotheses and some criteria for evaluating the likely importance of a particular research question. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved) Public Significance Statement—Our evolved psychological mechanisms influence our responses to modern societal conditions. Thus, evolutionary psychological hypotheses have the potential not only to be scientifically interesting, but also to help us understand and address the most pressing social problems of today. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	347-354
Number of pages	8
Journal	Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences
Volume	14
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1037/ebs0000204
State	Published - Oct 2020

Keywords

evolutionary psychology
heuristics
hypothesis generation
theory

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Social Psychology
Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

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10.1037/ebs0000204

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AB - The original big question for evolutionary psychology was whether an evolutionary perspective could generate any novel predictions, beyond those that would follow from common sense or from traditional theories in psychology. I consider a couple of examples of lines of research that answer that affirmatively. I then suggest 6 general heuristics for generating evolutionary psychological hypotheses and some criteria for evaluating the likely importance of a particular research question. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved) Public Significance Statement—Our evolved psychological mechanisms influence our responses to modern societal conditions. Thus, evolutionary psychological hypotheses have the potential not only to be scientifically interesting, but also to help us understand and address the most pressing social problems of today. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)

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Discovering the next big question in evolutionary psychology: A few guidelines.

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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