TY - CHAP
T1 - Evolutionary Social Psychology
T2 - Adaptive Predispositions and Human Culture
AU - Kenrick, Douglas
AU - Ackerman, Josh
AU - Ledlow, Susan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2006, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
PY - 2006
Y1 - 2006
N2 - We have argued that the evolutionary perspective to social psychology is not untestable, not reductionist, not a theory about rigid genetic determinism, not a justification for the status quo, and not incompatible with sociocultural or cognitive analyses. What it is, instead, is a set of ideas that have proved quite useful in generating novel hypotheses, and parsimoniously connecting findings from very different domains ranging from mate choice and family relationships to aggression and intergroup relations. Adopting an evolutionary perspective can help us appreciate not only the common threads that bind the people in our culture to those in other cultures, but also, beyond that, to the other species with which we share the earth. Taking this broad perspective, however, also makes us aware of the vast reaches of our own ignorance. As yet, we know very little about how evolved psychological mechanisnis inside individuals develop, or how they influence, and are influenced by, the complex cultures that humans construct. Bringing light to these questions will require a fuller integration of all the different theoretical perspectives on human social behavior.
AB - We have argued that the evolutionary perspective to social psychology is not untestable, not reductionist, not a theory about rigid genetic determinism, not a justification for the status quo, and not incompatible with sociocultural or cognitive analyses. What it is, instead, is a set of ideas that have proved quite useful in generating novel hypotheses, and parsimoniously connecting findings from very different domains ranging from mate choice and family relationships to aggression and intergroup relations. Adopting an evolutionary perspective can help us appreciate not only the common threads that bind the people in our culture to those in other cultures, but also, beyond that, to the other species with which we share the earth. Taking this broad perspective, however, also makes us aware of the vast reaches of our own ignorance. As yet, we know very little about how evolved psychological mechanisnis inside individuals develop, or how they influence, and are influenced by, the complex cultures that humans construct. Bringing light to these questions will require a fuller integration of all the different theoretical perspectives on human social behavior.
KW - Evolutionary Perspective
KW - Evolutionary Psychology
KW - Mate Choice
KW - Parental Investment
KW - Sexual Selection
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U2 - 10.1007/0-387-36921-X_5
DO - 10.1007/0-387-36921-X_5
M3 - Chapter
AN - SCOPUS:85125958348
T3 - Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research
SP - 103
EP - 122
BT - Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research
PB - Springer Science and Business Media B.V.
ER -