Evolutionary Psychology Research Articles

Integrative Perspectives on Human Development: Dynamic and Semiotic.

Werner Greve argues for an abstract and integrative theory of development; to progress toward such a theory, he suggests that evolutionary psychology can provide concepts for a processual approach to adaptation. To complement this perspective, I propose to start where the author finishes: the need to further qualify change, and to account for information. Considering ruptures and sense-making as cornerstones of a developmental approach, I recall that open dynamic approaches offer a meta-theoretical frame for an integrative developmental psychology, and that cultural approaches already and always account for meaning-making to start with. Assuming these two givens, a variety of integrative propositions account for stability and change; I present an historical example, the work of Gordon Allport, and a current one, our work as sociocultural psychologists, to show how the theoretical and heuristic interest of this proposition.

Exploring fundamental motives of tourists visiting dark tourism sites

ABSTRACT Evolutionary psychology offers new potential to understand the motivation of tourists visiting dark sites. This study first identified four fundamental motives (kin care, exploration, affiliation, and status) related to dark tourism contexts, and then examined their relationships with proximal motives and disaster perception. Results found that fundamental motives positively affected corresponding proximate motives and mediated the relationships between disaster perception and proximate motives, and gender and prior experience had moderating effects. This study contributes to better understanding the fundamental psychological mechanisms of tourists visiting dark sites and has some practical implications for these sites' marketing and management.

From Costly Signals and Competitive Niches to Reciprocity, Memes, and Memory Traces: Evolutionary Psychology and Strategic Communication

ABSTRACT This article gives an overview of the contributions in the special issue of the International Journal of Strategic Communication on evolutionary psychology and strategic communication. Forward-looking, it argues that recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have made it imperative for our discipline to come to grips with a biologized view of the human mind as an information-processing system that evolved to solve specific adaptive problems. Backward-looking, it tries to explain why evolutionary psychology, which offers such as perspective, has met with so much resistance in the social sciences.

Investor Relations as Strategic Communication: Insights from Evolutionary Psychology

ABSTRACT The investor relations (IR) function emerged from the need to limit information asymmetries between management and shareholders. As a result, the mandatory disclosure of material information is at the heart of the IR task. Over the years, however, investor relations has evolved into a strategic communication function, responsible for a wide array of voluntary disclosure activities, for relationship management, and executive advisory. Empirical studies document the positive impact of these IR efforts on share prices. Notably, these empirical insights point to tensions emanating from a strategic IR role: According to current regulatory frameworks, voluntary communication beyond mandatory disclosures should not be price-sensitive, and thus should not affect corporate value. To date, there is no authoritative theoretical account for the strategic role of investor relations. Some argue that IR shapes investor perceptions through sensegiving, by fostering social ties, or due to investors’ cognitive biases. This contribution proposes that evolutionary psychology allows for a more comprehensive theoretical account of the strategic role of investor relations. It reviews insights from evolutionary psychology and relates them to established concepts and empirical findings from IR research. It discusses avenues for future research and limitations to an evolutionary psychology perspective on strategic investor relations.

Media Psychophysiology and Strategic Communications: A Scientific Paradigm for Advancing Theory and Research Grounded in Evolutionary Psychology

ABSTRACT Researchers working in the discipline of Strategic Communications can significantly enrich strategic communication by grounding theorizing in evolutionary psychology. This opportunity can be more fully realized through the application of a rigorous scientific paradigm for strategic communication that conceptualizes human brain processes as well as the attitudes and behaviors produced by brain activity through the lens of evolutionary psychology. The importance of scientific paradigms in mass communication research has been outlined before. Many of these ideas seem to apply to strategic communication research as well. We present media psychophysiology as a theoretically rigorous and practically valuable scientific paradigm for advancing the application of evolutionary psychology and the mind sciences in the strategic communication discipline. This article reviews the necessity of a newer scientific paradigm for strategic communication research, overviews the media psychophysiology paradigm, and provides recommendations for applying evolutionary theory and the media psychophysiology paradigm to advancing mind-science-based strategic communication research and theory.

Leaderspeak – An Evolutionary Psychology Approach to Reducing Gaps in Strategic Communication

ABSTRACT The gaps that strategic communication has to bridge have widened due to competing values driven by self-interest versus superordinate organizational goals. We propose a higher-order comprehensive model, grounded in a) the social behavioral aspects of evolutionary psychology and strategic communication; b) evolutionary game theory reciprocity; and c) the niche construction of leadership. We offer the concept of ‘leaderspeak’, which brings into effect the concepts of collaborative and mutually beneficial relations, altruism, spite, and selfishness. In this paper, we seek to parse the role of reciprocity, altruism, and how receivers are motivated to respond to leader communication (leaderspeak, i.e., leader communication that considers all the multi-modal affordances of language, including non-verbal communication, to outline the intent of the leader). This is an initial attempt to delve deeper into the evolving human need while ensuring reciprocity between the sender and receiver. Our aim is to understand and address the attitude, “I hear you, and get what you want me to do for you, so what’s in it for me?”

Peacocks, Penknives and Power

ABSTRACT This article conceptualizes evolutionary theory as a bridge between existing theorizing in strategic communication on the one hand, the mind sciences on the other. It discusses six core concepts of evolutionary psychology that have a bearing on strategic communication theory: a) the human as a highly flexible social species; b) the regulation of individually-minded vs. collectively-minded behavior; c) advanced, symbolic communication as a mode of regulation and its second-order problems; d) a consilient conceptualization of communication; e) evolutionary psychology’s role as a heuristic; and f) the limits of cognitive capacity and the role of heuristic shortcuts. The article concludes with a note on the theory of science in strategic communication research and cautions against the common misunderstanding of evolutionary psychology’s agenda.

The Evolution of the Sustainability Story: Strategic Sustainability Communication as Niche Construction

ABSTRACT In this article, the evolutionary perspective is applied as a heuristic to explore strategic sustainability communication as communicative niche construction at the intersection of organizations and their environment over the past decades. Within the sustainability story and frames that organize the narratives, corporates as ‘species’ not only adapt to their constantly changing environment (communicative cultivation of new values within the organization) but also impact their environment, change cultural patterns, and co-construct their own socio-ecological niche (niche construction through communication). The evolution of the strategic sustainability story can be observed in the development of corporate non-financial reporting over the past three decades. This article utilizes a mixed-methodologically designed content analysis of a sample of (n =) 250 “Environment(al) Reports” from the 1990s, later entitled as “CSR Reports” (2000–2015), and today as “Sustainability Reports”. The sample has been taken from 15 internationally operating energy corporates within a time span of 30 years. After the theoretical conceptualization, the methodology and the findings of the study are presented along with a discussion of the limitations of the analysis. Finally, future potential of the evolutionary psychology approach to study and conceptualize strategic communication and of transposing the framework of biological niches to the corporate world, is discussed.

Bring it on! Package shape signaling dominant male body promotes healthy food consumption for male consumers

AbstractAlthough the effects of product packaging on food healthiness and product/brand anthropomorphism on consumer response have been extensively studied, there has been little attention paid to how anthropomorphizing the package could potentially bias consumers' perception of food healthiness and subsequent consumption. Drawing on theory from evolutionary psychology, the current paper proposes that package signaling a dominant male body (vs. nondominant package) promoted healthy food consumption among males rather than female consumers. In a field study (Study 1), preliminary real‐world evidence was collected that showed that both genders perceived food as healthier when it was packaged in a dominant (vs. nondominant) package. However, in terms of food content satisfaction, only males reported more satisfaction when exposed to the dominant (vs. nondominant) package, and this effect was not observed for unhealthy food. Next, two lab experiments directly assessed the impact of package dominance on male consumers' purchase intention of healthy food products and found that intrasexual competition underlies such effect (Studies 2 and 3). These findings were contingent on individual differences in competitive mindset (Study 4); competitive (vs. cooperative) consumers were more inclined to pay a premium for healthy food within dominant package. Our work adds to the growing body of literature on anthropomorphic package by highlighting the influential role of package dominance on healthy food consumption. Marketers selling healthy food may adopt a dominant (i.e., V‐shaped package) to communicate the product's healthiness and promote consumption for male consumers.

The Effect of Revealing Clothes on the Formation of Sexual Stereotypes

This paper focuses on the relationship between revealing clothes to forming some stereotypes based on evolutionary psychology. Through the color of clothing and revealing clothes, common examples in everyday life, we analyze the perceptions and reactions of both genders to such behaviors through evolutionary psychology. This paper finds that men and women have different views on revealing clothes, which directly leads to stereotypes. Research on stereotypes can allow society to understand the reasons for their formation and make improvements. From the perspective of evolutionary psychology, our behavior is determined by our ancestors, and if we make improvements now, our descendants will be positively changed.

To What Extent Can Evolutionary Theories Explain Mental Illness?

Clinical psychology, the psychiatry field, and medical conditions all tend to ignore the role of evolution in them. However, the human brain is indeed a product of natural selection. Its complexity, including both normal functions and potential dysfunctions, has developed over evolutionary time under the process of natural selection. Evolutionary psychology provides guidance for psychologists today on how to think about individual differences in terms of psychopathology. Therefore, understanding the evolutionary origin of psychiatric conditions is a crucial component of a complete understanding of psychological illnesses and their etiology. This paper explores this idea of evolution with four examples of mental illnesses, depression, postpartum depression, agoraphobia, schizophrenia and autism.

Why Story Matters: The Fitness Enhancing Strategies in Storytelling

Did storytelling in ancestral society help individuals to accrue fitness benefits? Here I explore what benefits storytelling brings to the storyteller and the audience respectively from the perspective of evolutionary psychology. Early human societies did not have the large number of technological innovations that we have that let us accomplish more and more in ever less time; time was relatively precious to ancestral humans. In this context, the emergence of "storytelling" presents a quandary. Why did people organized such collective activities and why did they spend time listening to the content of stories?

Designing for Hope: Biophilic Color Associations and Their Relevance to ClinicalSettings.

To consider one common aspect of biophilic design (BD; i.e., color) and its relationship to an important element of well-being (i.e., hope). BD is multifaceted making the identification of critical design elements difficult. Further complexity is introduced given that practice assumptions stemming from the biophilia hypothesis may be questioned. Consistent with the biophilia hypothesis, the author considers the study's findings from the perspectives of evolutionary psychology and psychobiology. One hundred and fifty four adult participants engaged in one of the three experiments. Using colored test cards, Experiment #1 sought to determine which of four biophilic colors (i.e., red, yellow, green, or blue) evoked the strongest experience of hope. Considering this color alone, Experiment #2 sought to manipulate "color depth." Participants were asked to identify what color depth evoked the strongest experience of hope. Experiment #3 sought to determine if the outcomes of Experiments #1 and #2 were due to a priming effect. All participants were asked about color associations they held. Experiments #1 and #2 demonstrated that yellow at maximal color depth evoked the strongest experience of hope (p < .001). Experiment #3 demonstrated that no priming effect was evident (p < .05). No participant had a strong personal preference for/against yellow. Natural world color associations existed for yellow, green, and blue. Red held emotive associations. These findings clearly associate yellow with hope. From the perspectives of evolutionary psychology and psychobiology this suggests color cues can evoke time-dependent motive states. Implications for practitioners designing spaces of hope within healthcare facilities are considered.

Evolutionary psychology and resource-sharing laws

Evolutionary psychology and resource-sharing laws

The disjunction between evolutionary psychology and sex-discrimination law and policy

Workplace sexual disparities are often attributed primarily to discrimination or other nefarious causes, leading to findings of legal liability based upon statistical disparities. That conclusion rests implicitly on the Standard Social Science Model, which assumes that the sexes are largely identical and would have similar workplace experiences and outcomes absent discrimination. The findings of evolutionary psychology challenge that assumption. Evolved differences in temperament and cognitive patterns lead to average differences in talents, tastes, and interests. The widely decried “underrepresentation” of women in some, but not all, STEM fields can be explained in part by differences in vocational personality (especially the “people-things” dimension) and cognitive patterns (relative strengths in verbal, quantitative, and spatial abilities). The “glass ceiling” is at least partially attributable to sex differences in personality (e.g., competitiveness and risk-taking), differences in intensity of career commitment, and the tendency of highly able women disproportionately to remove themselves from the labor force voluntarily. The “gender gap” in earnings is attributable in large part to women's working different jobs, working fewer hours, and placing a lower priority on wages than other job attributes than men do, factors that result in a larger earnings gap between self-employed men and women than between male and female employees.

Framing mathematical content in evolutionarily salient contexts improves students’ learning motivation

Theory in evolutionary educational psychology (EEP) distinguishes between evolved or biologically primary knowledge and non-evolved or biologically secondary knowledge that emerges with formal schooling. The current study explores the associated argument that framing biologically secondary mathematics learning in biologically primary contexts will increase students’ learning motivation. We investigated this hypothesis by presenting standard math content in primary scenarios to a sample of Grade 9 adolescents (n = 32, age=15) and compared their motivation before and after the intervention. Quantitative results showed an increase in the students’ motivation scores from pre-to-post intervention comparisons, and qualitative interviews confirmed their positive attitudes toward learning mathematics. The results are discussed from an evolutionary point of view, and the theory’s implications for improving classrooms’ environments are outlined.

Particularly in Highly Developed and More Gender Egalitarian Societies: Sex Differences in Attitudes Towards Homosexuality

ABSTRACT Time and again, research has shown that men are less accepting of homosexuality than women. Studies on such attitudinal sex differences have been overwhelmingly conducted in Western democracies, however, with a special focus on the U.S. Whether the sex difference in attitudes towards homosexuality is a worldwide phenomenon has not yet been investigated. Using data from the seventh wave of the World Values Survey (2017–2021), this article provides evidence that the sex difference is not universal, but limited almost exclusively to Europe and the Americas, indicating the need to replicate studies conducted in these societies in global cross-country comparisons. Contrary to predictions of the social role theory or biosocial construction theory, but in line with predictions from evolutionary psychology and a growing number of empirical studies in this field, the sex difference in attitudes towards homosexuality widens with rising gender equality and development, especially when the two coincide.

Is It a Human Instinct to Seek Procedural Justice? Answers from Evolutionary Psychology

Procedural justice is one of the foundational principles of modern social governance. The different views of the academic circles on its origin have become "innate" and " acquired" schools. However, the division between these two camps has hindered the practical application of procedural justice in governance. The debate between the two camps centers on the question of whether people's inclination towards procedural justice is innate or acquired. What role does social indoctrination play in the formation of procedural justice? Research from developmental psychology has found that humans are born with a predisposition to procedural justice, which evolves and matures with age and cognitive level.

The 2023 Veblen-Commons Award Recipient: Jon D. Wisman: Thorstein Veblen, the Meaning of Work, and its Humanization

Thorstein Veblen gave special attention to work. He claimed that an instinct of workmanship “is present in all men, and asserts itself even under very adverse circumstances … [It] is the court of final appeal in any question of economic truth or adequacy.” Although many scholars have examined Veblen’s claim, this article differs by examining his conception of work in light of findings from anthropology, evolutionary psychology, and happiness research. The questions explored are: Why and how did Veblen understand work as instinctual and did his understanding conform to Charles Darwin’s concept of instincts? Is it an instinct that evolved to be pleasurable or to gain respect and status to motivate provisioning? If evidence supports the claim that work did indeed evolve to be pleasurable, and today much of it is not, then its restructuring should be a top social priority. Although Veblen’s understanding of work provides inadequate guidance as to how it should be restructured, he was pathbreaking in insisting that our understanding of this question, and of human behavior and society more generally, must be grounded in the evolutionary biology launched by Darwin. Accordingly, a second aim of this article is to offer support for Veblen’s attempt to do so.

Fostering Resilience to Adverse Childhood Experiences Among Adolescents: Investing in Social Brain Development in the Age of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Social experiences are central to developing resilience to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Disruptions to social interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic may compromise resilience, or the ability to psychologically adapt to ACEs, by blunting social brain development. This is especially concerning for children with access to limited resources. Drawing from evolutionary psychology and resilience research, we understand that the development of the social brain —a complex network of brain regions involved in social behaviors—is shaped by life experiences throughout childhood. Adolescence is a sensitive period of brain development during which rapid and lasting attunement of the brain to the environment occurs.1 Therefore, to counter potential negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on resilience to ACEs among vulnerable adolescents, interventions should focus on promoting social brain development through positive social experiences. Critically, this effort will support youth who are economically marginalized, and/or racially and ethnically minoritized. Not only are these adolescents highly exposed to ACEs and to discrimination-based social rejection, they often lack access to resources that foster resilience.2 Individual, family, and community level interventions can promote trajectories toward resilience by facilitating supportive relationships, providing access to social resources, and promoting social cohesion by reducing experiences of social rejection.