Evolutionary social psychology

Amy Lim

Chapter 3 in Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology, 2026, pp 40-62 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Abstract: Evolutionary social psychology incorporates an evolutionary perspective into social psychology, furnishing the understanding of psychological mechanisms that govern people's thoughts, feelings, and social behaviors with an appreciation of the adaptive function behind these mechanisms. For most of human history, people lived in highly interdependent groups. Differential reproductive success – the goal of evolution by natural selection – thus involves being able to navigate and master an array of tasks that are critical to social life. The adaptive challenges posed by ancestral environments produced a set of deep-seated evolutionary motives that influence much of human social behavior. These fundamental motives include: 1) self-protection, 2) avoiding disease, 3) finding mates, 4) keeping mates, 5) caring for kin, 6) forming alliances, and 7) attaining status. For each of these seven motivational domains of social life, this chapter reviews the decision rules that have evolved to allow people to achieve these fundamental motives.

Keywords: Evolutionary Social Psychology; Social Psychology; Evolutionary Psychology; Fundamental Motivational Systems; Fundamental Motives; Adaptationist Reasoning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035332496
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