Summary Evolutionary psychology
Academic year 2026/2027
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
,Index
Lecture 1 What is evolution? 3
Lecture 2 What is evolutionary psychology 8
Lecture 3 Emotions as psychological adaptations for survival 19
Lecture 4 Short term mating 34
Lecture 5 Parenting kinship 44
Lecture 6 Cooperative alliances 52
Lecture 7 Aggression and warfare 59
Lecture 8 Conflictsexes 66
Lecture 9 Status, dominance, prestige and leadership 74
Lecture 10 Toward a unified evolutionary psychology 85
,Lecture 1 What is evolution?
Evolutionary psychology: short overview
Evolutionary psychology is the study of human behaviour, emotions (affect), and thinking
(cognition) from an evolutionary perspective. It uses evolutionary theory to understand
why the human mind works the way it does. The basic idea is that the human mind has been
shaped by evolution and natural selection over many generations.
In evolutionary psychology, humans are viewed as part of the animal kingdom. This means
that humans are also subject to the same basic processes of evolution as other animals,
such as variation, inheritance, and natural selection.
Non-scientific theories
Before scientific explanations of evolution, people had different ideas about how life and
humans came to exist.
Creationism → The idea that life and humans were created by a supernatural power, such
as God. This is a religious explanation rather than a scientific theory because it cannot be
scientifically tested or supported through empirical evidence.
Seeding theory → The idea that life on Earth came from somewhere outside Earth, for
example from aliens bringing or sending life to Earth.
Evolution of traits, pre-Darwin
Jean-Baptise Lamarck (1744-1829)
Lamarck was an early scientist who developed a theory about how species could change
over time. His ideas were important historically, although his explanation of evolution was
later shown to be incorrect.
1. inheritance of acquired characteristics
Lamarck believed that characteristics an individual developed during its lifetime could
be passed on to its offspring.
2. use and disuse of traits (e.g muscles)
Lamarck believed that using a body part a lot would make it stronger or more
developed, while not using it would make it weaker. For example, he might have
argued that giraffes developed longer necks because they repeatedly stretched their
necks to reach leaves high in trees.
3. the come-back kid: epi-genetics (but changes in DNA?)
Modern science has shown that experiences and environmental factors can
sometimes influence gene expression through epigenetic processes. However, this
is not the same as Lamarck's theory. Epigenetic changes do not generally mean
that an acquired physical characteristic is simply passed directly to offspring. This is
an important distinction.
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
, Charles Darwin developed the theory of evolution by natural selection.
From 1831 to 1836, Darwin travelled around the world on the HMS Beagle. During this
journey, he observed many different species and noticed that organisms differed depending
on their environment.
His observations eventually contributed to his theory that species change over generations
through natural selection.
Natural selection is based on the idea that individuals within a species are not exactly the
same. Some differences between individuals can give them an advantage in surviving and
reproducing.
The phrase “survival of the fittest” is often associated with Darwin. Here, “fittest” does not
mean the strongest or physically healthiest. It means best adapted to the environment,
meaning more likely to survive and reproduce successfully.
Darwin's basic argument can be simplified as follows:
● More individuals are born than can survive.
● Therefore, individuals have to compete for limited resources.
● Individuals differ from each other.
● Some differences give individuals an advantage in their environment.
● If these differences can be inherited, they can be passed on to offspring.
● Over many generations, advantageous traits become more common in the
population.
Three components of natural selection
There are three important components that must be present for natural selection to occur:
1. Variation → Individuals within a population differ from each other. For example,
people can differ in eye colour, height, physical abilities, or psychological
characteristics. If everyone in a population had exactly the same characteristics,
there would be no differences for natural selection to act on.
2. Inheritance → Some of these differences can be passed from parents to their
offspring. Inheritance mainly happens through genes and DNA. However, not every
individual difference is inherited. Some differences are caused by the environment or
by individual experiences.
3. selection → Some variations give individuals an advantage in surviving and/or
reproducing in a particular environment.
Individuals with advantageous traits are more likely to survive and reproduce,
meaning that the genes associated with these traits are more likely to be passed on
to the next generation.
Through these, over generations you get species that become better adjusted to the
environment.
The giraffe neck: how does natural selection really work
Academic year 2026/2027
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
,Index
Lecture 1 What is evolution? 3
Lecture 2 What is evolutionary psychology 8
Lecture 3 Emotions as psychological adaptations for survival 19
Lecture 4 Short term mating 34
Lecture 5 Parenting kinship 44
Lecture 6 Cooperative alliances 52
Lecture 7 Aggression and warfare 59
Lecture 8 Conflictsexes 66
Lecture 9 Status, dominance, prestige and leadership 74
Lecture 10 Toward a unified evolutionary psychology 85
,Lecture 1 What is evolution?
Evolutionary psychology: short overview
Evolutionary psychology is the study of human behaviour, emotions (affect), and thinking
(cognition) from an evolutionary perspective. It uses evolutionary theory to understand
why the human mind works the way it does. The basic idea is that the human mind has been
shaped by evolution and natural selection over many generations.
In evolutionary psychology, humans are viewed as part of the animal kingdom. This means
that humans are also subject to the same basic processes of evolution as other animals,
such as variation, inheritance, and natural selection.
Non-scientific theories
Before scientific explanations of evolution, people had different ideas about how life and
humans came to exist.
Creationism → The idea that life and humans were created by a supernatural power, such
as God. This is a religious explanation rather than a scientific theory because it cannot be
scientifically tested or supported through empirical evidence.
Seeding theory → The idea that life on Earth came from somewhere outside Earth, for
example from aliens bringing or sending life to Earth.
Evolution of traits, pre-Darwin
Jean-Baptise Lamarck (1744-1829)
Lamarck was an early scientist who developed a theory about how species could change
over time. His ideas were important historically, although his explanation of evolution was
later shown to be incorrect.
1. inheritance of acquired characteristics
Lamarck believed that characteristics an individual developed during its lifetime could
be passed on to its offspring.
2. use and disuse of traits (e.g muscles)
Lamarck believed that using a body part a lot would make it stronger or more
developed, while not using it would make it weaker. For example, he might have
argued that giraffes developed longer necks because they repeatedly stretched their
necks to reach leaves high in trees.
3. the come-back kid: epi-genetics (but changes in DNA?)
Modern science has shown that experiences and environmental factors can
sometimes influence gene expression through epigenetic processes. However, this
is not the same as Lamarck's theory. Epigenetic changes do not generally mean
that an acquired physical characteristic is simply passed directly to offspring. This is
an important distinction.
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
, Charles Darwin developed the theory of evolution by natural selection.
From 1831 to 1836, Darwin travelled around the world on the HMS Beagle. During this
journey, he observed many different species and noticed that organisms differed depending
on their environment.
His observations eventually contributed to his theory that species change over generations
through natural selection.
Natural selection is based on the idea that individuals within a species are not exactly the
same. Some differences between individuals can give them an advantage in surviving and
reproducing.
The phrase “survival of the fittest” is often associated with Darwin. Here, “fittest” does not
mean the strongest or physically healthiest. It means best adapted to the environment,
meaning more likely to survive and reproduce successfully.
Darwin's basic argument can be simplified as follows:
● More individuals are born than can survive.
● Therefore, individuals have to compete for limited resources.
● Individuals differ from each other.
● Some differences give individuals an advantage in their environment.
● If these differences can be inherited, they can be passed on to offspring.
● Over many generations, advantageous traits become more common in the
population.
Three components of natural selection
There are three important components that must be present for natural selection to occur:
1. Variation → Individuals within a population differ from each other. For example,
people can differ in eye colour, height, physical abilities, or psychological
characteristics. If everyone in a population had exactly the same characteristics,
there would be no differences for natural selection to act on.
2. Inheritance → Some of these differences can be passed from parents to their
offspring. Inheritance mainly happens through genes and DNA. However, not every
individual difference is inherited. Some differences are caused by the environment or
by individual experiences.
3. selection → Some variations give individuals an advantage in surviving and/or
reproducing in a particular environment.
Individuals with advantageous traits are more likely to survive and reproduce,
meaning that the genes associated with these traits are more likely to be passed on
to the next generation.
Through these, over generations you get species that become better adjusted to the
environment.
The giraffe neck: how does natural selection really work
