ABSTRACT
E volutionary psychology (née socio-biology) was forged as a revolutionary movement in the 1970s, provoking the inevitable horrified backlash from dyed-in-the-wool defenders of the standard social science model. Evolutionary psychology, however, has continued to make considerable inroads into mainstream psychology. Empirical and theoretical articles now commonly appear in mainstream cognitive and social psychology journals, chapters adopting evolutionary approaches have become standard fare in psychology hand-books, and psychology textbooks routinely include evolutionary material. Yet the relations between mainstream psychology and evolutionary psychology continue to be strained. Many psychologists remain openly skeptical, even derisive, of the claims and programs of evolutionary psychology, and it remains true that one of the best ways of instigating verbal fireworks at a conference dinner table is to raise the topic of evolutionary psychology.
