Posts Tagged evolutionary psychology

Monkey Romance
By Alexandra Brodsky • 11 years ago

Quick Hit: Darwin Was Wrong About Dating

This weekend the New York Times published a strong piece dismantling some widely accepted Darwinist explanations for gendered mating behavior. Dan Slater doesn’t actually prove, as his title suggests, that Darwin and his followers were definitely incorrect, but does challenge the “teleological status” of evolutionary psychology, particularly worrisome in light of its historical use for terrible political ends.

…The fact that some gender differences can be manipulated, if not eliminated, by controlling for cultural norms suggests that the explanatory power of evolution can’t sustain itself when applied to mating behavior. This wouldn’t be the first time we’ve pushed these theories too far. How many stereotypical racial and ethnic differences, once declared evolutionarily determined under the banner of science, have been revealed ...

This weekend the New York Times published a strong piece dismantling some widely accepted Darwinist explanations for gendered mating behavior. Dan Slater doesn’t actually prove, as his title suggests, that Darwin and his followers were definitely incorrect, ...
By Samhita • 12 years ago

Want to be taken seriously ladies? Wear make-up!

A study done by researchers at Procter & Gamble, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston University and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute found that what a woman wears on her face impacts how people perceive her. Participants in the study were asked to rate whether they felt women were competent, like-able, attractive and trustworthy. Turns out most people felt all these factors were true when looking at faces for a flash and felt most of them when studying the faces longer with the exception of one factor: at a longer glance women wearing make-up were not trustworthy.

We already know we live in a culture where women are judged by what they look like–you don’t need a multi-institution study to tell ...

A study done by researchers at Procter & Gamble, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston University and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute found that what a woman wears on her face impacts how people perceive ...