Evolutionary Psychology

Introduction

Evolutionary psychology is an interdisciplinary endeavor that applies evolutionary theory to psychology. Since its inception in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the field has witnessed the rising to dominance of a particular perspective launched mostly by David Buss, Leda Cosmides, and John Tooby; in this rising scientific efforts were coupled with publications aiming at a wider public from early on. Critical scholars call this perspective Evolutionary Psychology (EP) in order to distinguish it from the vast field of evolutionary perspectives in psychology. EP dominates the field of evolutionary psychology, though, is popular in the general public, and has sparked most vehement criticism. From a critical perspective, focusing on the relations between scientific knowledge, power, and subjectivity, EP is of particular relevance exactly because it displays such potential to soak into everyday discourse. In line with the encyclopedia’s focus on concepts