All articles tagged with #evolutionary psychology
A Behavioral Sciences review argues that humans evolved to thrive in small, connected groups, but today’s hyperconnected cities, constant social comparison, and nonstop news create an evolutionary mismatch that fuels stress, anxiety, and loneliness; the authors urge redesigning cities and communities to better match our psychology rather than blaming individuals.
In a study of young men, higher fluid intelligence measured by Raven's matrices correlated with stronger grip strength and a more masculine shoulder-to-hip shape, while top scorers reported fewer casual sexual partners. The researchers interpret these links as part of a broader 'fitness' trait cluster—intelligence, physical health/strength, and mating strategy—potentially signaling more monogamous tendencies. However, the study’s small, regionally limited sample (41 men in the main analysis) calls for replication before drawing wide conclusions about intelligence and dating behavior.
A study of 147 ultra-endurance athletes across ultramarathons and ocean rowing provides experimental evidence for life history trade-offs in humans: under extreme energy deficit, the body prioritizes immune defense while suppressing energy storage and reproductive investment, with leptin and fat mass dropping, testosterone decreasing in men, and markers of tissue maintenance rising. Cortisol spikes and weight loss accompany these shifts, a pattern consistent across sexes and events, suggesting deep evolutionary roots in energy allocation during stress. The findings have implications for athletic training and public health, but may not generalize to non-athletes or chronic stress, and recovery dynamics across populations remain to be explored.
A global online experiment with 4,000+ participants tested whether humans' sound preferences align with those of other animals when judging mating calls from 16 species. Using audio recordings manipulated to isolate traits, the study found a broad overlap: humans tended to pick calls that animals also prefer, and when they did, choices were about 50 milliseconds faster. Both groups favored acoustic adornments and ancestral sounds, though humans showed a stronger preference for lower pitches; factors like training or occupation did not predict alignment. The authors conclude the results broadly support Darwin's idea that a common sensory basis underlies aesthetic taste across species, while noting limits and proposing future research.
Italian researchers find left-handed people, especially men, display greater competitiveness (including hypercompetitiveness) in one-on-one contexts, aligning with an evolutionarily stable strategy; dexterity tests didn’t predict competitiveness, and general personality traits were similar across handedness, with men more competitive and women more avoidance-prone.
Psychologists have found that our most disgusting memories are often associated with smells, tastes, and touches, as these sensory cues elicit disgust more intensely than what we see or hear. This is believed to help protect us from disease by motivating avoidance of potential sources of infection. The emotion of disgust is thought to support our physiological immune system, and the universality of disgust is reflected in widely recognizable facial expressions. The study's findings were published in Royal Society Open Science and suggest that sensory cues of smell, taste, and touch are more intense elicitors of disgust because pathogens and toxins tend to enter the body at these surfaces.
A cross-cultural study involving over 3,100 participants from 22 countries revealed that lower voice pitch is universally preferred for long-term relationships and associated with increased formidability and prestige in males. The study's findings are consistent across different cultures, suggesting a universal aspect of human psychology related to voice pitch perceptions. Voice pitch's impact on social evaluations is influenced by societal factors such as relational mobility and violence rates, indicating its adaptability to social environments and highlighting its importance in human interaction and social mobility.
A cross-cultural study found that lower voice pitch makes individuals sound more attractive for long-term relationships and confers a sense of formidability and prestige, particularly among men. The study, published in Psychological Science, suggests that voice pitch influences social perceptions and status evaluation, with lower pitches being preferred for long-term relationships and higher pitches being perceived as more flirtatious. The findings also indicate that perceptions of voice pitch vary across societies based on factors such as relational mobility and homicide rates, shedding light on the evolutionary significance of voice pitch in human social interactions.
This article explores why people tend to become obsessed with individuals who are not interested in them romantically. The author suggests that our infatuation with uninterested individuals may be a combination of cultural expectations and a healthy reaction to social rejection. The societal pressure to be in a relationship and the subsequent loss of identity when rejected contribute to the difficulty in coping with romantic rejection. However, the author encourages individuals to redefine themselves and not let others define their worth based on relationship status.