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Using sexual selection to explain human psychology.
Introduction
The publication in 2000 of Geoffrey Miller’s book The Mating Mind: How Sexual Selection Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature heralded the first in–depth and wide reaching exploration of how sexual, rather than natural, selection could explain human behavior and psychology (Miller 2000). A central premise of this book is that as human encephalization (brain growth) has been very rapid, lacks any obvious survival benefits, and is unique to one species, it cannot be adequately explained by theories drawn from natural selection. Instead, Miller (2000) believes that our mental traits can best be explained as being the result of runaway sexual selection in order to signal desirable traits in mate choice.
The Mind as a Fitness Indicator?
Subsequently, Miller (2000) views the mind as a fitness indicator as it is an extremely effective way for an individual to signal their genetic quality. This...
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References
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Farrelly, D. (2016). Geoffrey Miller. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_33-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_33-1
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