
Contents
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Evolutionary Perspectives Evolutionary Perspectives
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Evolutionary Approaches: An Overview Evolutionary Approaches: An Overview
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Charles Darwin and the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection Charles Darwin and the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection
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Darwin’S Theory: Five Facts And Three Inferences Darwin’S Theory: Five Facts And Three Inferences
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The Modern Synthesis The Modern Synthesis
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Adaptationism Adaptationism
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Adaptation, Function, Adaptiveness, And Exaptation Adaptation, Function, Adaptiveness, And Exaptation
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Adaptation Adaptation
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Function Function
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Adaptiveness Adaptiveness
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Exaptation Exaptation
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Secondary Adaptation Secondary Adaptation
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By-Products By-Products
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How Evolutionary Biologists Identify Adaptation How Evolutionary Biologists Identify Adaptation
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Evolutionary Economics: Cost-Benefit Modeling Evolutionary Economics: Cost-Benefit Modeling
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Theory In Adaptationist Psychology: Two Levels Theory In Adaptationist Psychology: Two Levels
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Developmental Systems Theory and Evolutionary Biology Developmental Systems Theory and Evolutionary Biology
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Is Darwinism Genetic Determinism? Is Darwinism Genetic Determinism?
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Developmental Systems Perspectives Developmental Systems Perspectives
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Phylogenetic Analysis Phylogenetic Analysis
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The Human Niche The Human Niche
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The Concept of an Ecological Niche The Concept of an Ecological Niche
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The Traditional Concept The Traditional Concept
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The Traditional Concept Critiqued The Traditional Concept Critiqued
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The Niche Humans Entered and Defined The Niche Humans Entered and Defined
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Primate Niches And The Evolution of Miocene Apes Primate Niches And The Evolution of Miocene Apes
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The Hominin Niche Contrasted With The Typical Ape Niche The Hominin Niche Contrasted With The Typical Ape Niche
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The Human Adaptive Complex The Human Adaptive Complex
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Embodied Cognitive Capital Embodied Cognitive Capital
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A Long Lifespan and a Conservative Approach to Mortality Risks A Long Lifespan and a Conservative Approach to Mortality Risks
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A Long Period of Juvenile Dependence A Long Period of Juvenile Dependence
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Biparental Care Biparental Care
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Extensive Cooperation Extensive Cooperation
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Reliance on Coalitional Success Reliance on Coalitional Success
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Big Brains Big Brains
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Components of The Human Adaptive Complex Coevolved Components of The Human Adaptive Complex Coevolved
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Alternative Views of The Human Niche Alternative Views of The Human Niche
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Social Adaptations Special to the Human Niche: Illustrations Pertaining to Coalitional Behavior Social Adaptations Special to the Human Niche: Illustrations Pertaining to Coalitional Behavior
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Reputations Matter: People Evaluate Others As Coalition Partners Reputations Matter: People Evaluate Others As Coalition Partners
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Capacity Capacity
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Trustworthiness Trustworthiness
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Compatibility Compatibility
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Do Emotions Signal these Abilities and Appraisals? Do Emotions Signal these Abilities and Appraisals?
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Coalitional Psychology Coalitional Psychology
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Two Forms of Status: Dominance And Prestige Two Forms of Status: Dominance And Prestige
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Social Comparisons And Specialization Social Comparisons And Specialization
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Social Spheres: A Conceptualization of Individuals’ Social Capital Social Spheres: A Conceptualization of Individuals’ Social Capital
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Affordances In The Social World Affordances In The Social World
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Friendship Friendship
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Evolutionary Perspectives on Additional Domains of Social Behavior Evolutionary Perspectives on Additional Domains of Social Behavior
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Mating and Pair-Bonding Mating and Pair-Bonding
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Kinship Kinship
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Norms and Morality Norms and Morality
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Cultural Variation Cultural Variation
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Individual Differences in Evolutionary Perspective Individual Differences in Evolutionary Perspective
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Adaptive Contingent Variation Adaptive Contingent Variation
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An Illustration: Variations Across Individuals In How They Build Social Spheres An Illustration: Variations Across Individuals In How They Build Social Spheres
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Variations In Self-Monitoring: Adaptive Variations In Strategies For Building Social Spheres? Variations In Self-Monitoring: Adaptive Variations In Strategies For Building Social Spheres?
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Negative Frequency-Dependent Selection Negative Frequency-Dependent Selection
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Variations in Fitness Variations in Fitness
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What Accounts for Genetic Variation in Personality? What Accounts for Genetic Variation in Personality?
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Making the Best of a Bad Job Making the Best of a Bad Job
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Why the Big Five? Why the Big Five?
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Reflections Reflections
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Acknowledgment Acknowledgment
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References References
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7 Evolutionary Perspectives
Get accessUniversity of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
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Published:18 September 2012
Cite
Abstract
Evolutionary perspectives on human behavior are almost as old as the science of psychology itself. Functionalists such as James, Dewey, and Angell, however, lacked explicit evolutionary theories and methodologies to inspire generative research programs, and their movement dissipated. Today, a new brand of functionalism has emerged, one that draws its inspiration from massive developments in evolutionary biology in the past half-century. This chapter has several aims. First, it offers an overview of evolutionary biology as applied to human psychology. Second, it discusses the concept of an ecological niche, and addresses the critical issue of the nature of the niche that humans entered and defined. This niche has the unusual feature that individuals’ fitness was highly dependent on their ability to attract, form, and maintain cooperative coalitions with others and, hence, to harness the competencies of others to their own competencies. Third, it describes several broad, evolution-inspired proposals about human social behavior, which illustrate how evolutionary perspectives offer integrative understandings of psychological phenomena and generate new research programs. Fourth, it addresses individual differences from an evolutionary perspective. Rather than representing alternatives to social or cultural perspectives, evolutionary perspectives offer means by which to construct a personality and social psychology that is foundationally integrative.
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