Understanding Evolutionary Psychology

Dear colleagues,

We invite you to take part in a study (10 minutes) attempting to (1) better ascertain the magnitude of criticisms regarding Evolutionary Psychology, (2) learn whether criticisms differ as a function specialty, and (3) determine if men and women differ in the types of criticisms they feel characterize this field. This study represents the first attempt (we know of) to quantify criticisms of this paradigm and hope that such a project will be able to both improve Evolutionary Psychology but also better allow Evolutionary Psychologists to communicate their findings.

Evolutionary Psychology is a popular-yet-controversial paradigm used to study all manner of psychological phenomena. For instance, some have used it to study depression, others to study mate preferences, others to study biases in the perception of vertical distances, and more. Despite the broad range of topics studied by evolutionary psychologists, there remains serious controversy (or confusion, depending on your perspective) regarding its usefulness, theoretical rigor, and implications. In this study we ask experts like you in the fields of psychology and elsewhere what they feel are the most common or important criticisms regarding the utility of evolutionary psychology.

Thank you in advance

T