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book1994

The Evolution of Desire

Disciplines:
evolutionary psychology
evolutionary psychology/mating science
evolutionary psychology/sex differences

Summary

David Buss's 1994 book presenting the evolutionary psychology of human mating — covering mate preferences, the logic of jealousy, short-term and long-term mating strategies, and the conflicts of interest between the sexes.

Core Contribution

Made the evolutionary explanation for human mating behavior accessible and empirically grounded — explaining jealousy as an adaptive response to paternity uncertainty, sex differences in mate preferences as evolved solutions to different reproductive constraints, and conflict between sexes as structural feature of sexual reproduction.

Historical Influences

David Buss

Intellectual Lineage

Evolutionary Psychology Human Behavioral ScienceMating Research

Allied Works

The Moral Animal The Red Queen Mate

Contemporaries & Peers

The Moral Animal The Red Queen Sperm Wars

Minds Influenced

Mating science communityRelationship advice cultureRed pill discourse

Intellectual Posterity

Evolutionary mating scienceSex differences in mate preferences

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The Evolution of Desire

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