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Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind
Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind by David Buss. Providing an overview of the field, this textbook highlights the adaptive problems that humans face and uses this discussion to examine topics like sex and mating, parenting and kinship, conflict and war, and status and dominance.
Composed of cutting-edge research and featuring an engaging writing style, the author offers compelling scientific answers to the profound human questions regarding love and work. Beginning with a historial introduction, the text logically progresses by discussing adaptive problems humans face and ends with a chapter showing how the new field of evolutionary psychology encompasses all branches of psychology. Each chapter is alive with the subjects that most occupy our minds: sex, mating, getting along, getting ahead, friends, enemies, and social hierarchies. Why is child abuse 40 times more prevalent among step-families than biologically intact families? Why, according to one study, did 75% of men but 0% of women consent to have sex with a complete stranger? Buss explores these intriguing quandaries with his vision of psychology in the new millenium as a new science of the mind. Anyone with an interest in the biological facets of human psychology will find this a fascinating read.