Title: David Buss’s Evolutionary Theory of Personality – JFPVreflections
Headings: David Buss’s Evolutionary Theory of Personality
David Buss’s Evolutionary Theory of Personality
David Buss’s Evolutionary Theory of Personality
Overview of Evolutionary Theory of Personality
VII. Critique of Evolutionary Theory of Personality
VIII. Concept of Humanity
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Content: Critique of Evolutionary Theory of Personality
Evolutionary psychology in general and evolutionary personality psychology in particular have stimulated a lot of controversy but also a relatively large body of empirical research. The field has its own scientific society (Human Behavior and Evolutionary Society, HBES), and its own scientific journal Evolution and Human Behavior. The discipline also rests upon other scientific disciplines, such as evolutionary biology, ethology, behavioral genetics, and neuroscience, so there is a solid empirical foundation to the field. VIII. Concept of Humanity
It is difficult to say on which side of the optimism-pessimism debate evolutionary theory would fall. It is mostly descriptive and, in that sense, tends to be somewhat neutral about describing human nature. Evolutionary psychology has a complex view on the question of determinism versus free-will. A common assumption of evolutionary theory by critics is that it is harshly deterministic in that it explains behavior in terms of an evolved past and genetic influence. Indeed, evolutionary psychology is often criticized for condoning traditional sex-roles (e.g., women are attracted to high status men and men are attracted to physically attractive women). Buss and other evolutionary theorists make clear, however, that evolutionary psychology is a theory of how these traits began, not how they should be.