Books in the Evolutionary Psychology series

"[A] fascinating read... Contrary to what the title might suggest, this is an upbeat exploration of suicide with a positive message." --Jeanine Connor, Therapy Today, December, 2018This thought-provoking volume offers a distinctly human evolutionary analysis of a distinctly human phenomenon: suicide. Its 'pain and brain' model posits animal adaptations as the motivator for suicidal escape, and specific human cognitive adaptations as supplying the means , while also providing a plausible explanation for why only a relatively small number of humans actually take their own lives. The author hypothesizes two types of anti-suicide responses, active and reactive mechanisms prompted by the brain as suicide deterrents. Proposed as well is the intriguing prospect that mental disorders such as depression and addiction, long associated with suicidality, may serve as survival measures.Among the topics covered:· Suicide as an evolutionary puzzle.· The protection against suicide afforded to animals and young children.· Suicide as a by-product of pain and human cognition.· Why psychodynamic defenses regulate the experiencing of painful events.· Links between suicidality and positive psychology.· The anti-suicide role of spiritual and religious belief.In raising and considering key questions regarding this most controversial act, The Evolution of Suicide will appeal to researchers across a range of behavioral science disciplines. At the same time, the book's implications for clinical intervention and prevention will make it useful among mental health professionals and those involved with mental health policy.

"[A] fascinating read... Contrary to what the title might suggest, this is an upbeat exploration of suicide with a positive message." --Jeanine Connor, Therapy Today, December, 2018This thought-provoking volume offers a distinctly human evolutionary analysis of a distinctly human phenomenon: suicide. Its 'pain and brain' model posits animal adaptations as the motivator for suicidal escape, and specific human cognitive adaptations as supplying the means , while also providing a plausible explanation for why only a relatively small number of humans actually take their own lives. The author hypothesizes two types of anti-suicide responses, active and reactive mechanisms prompted by the brain as suicide deterrents. Proposed as well is the intriguing prospect that mental disorders such as depression and addiction, long associated with suicidality, may serve as survival measures.Among the topics covered:· Suicide as an evolutionary puzzle.· The protection against suicide afforded to animals and young children.· Suicide as a by-product of pain and human cognition.· Why psychodynamic defenses regulate the experiencing of painful events.· Links between suicidality and positive psychology.· The anti-suicide role of spiritual and religious belief.In raising and considering key questions regarding this most controversial act, The Evolution of Suicide will appeal to researchers across a range of behavioral science disciplines. At the same time, the book's implications for clinical intervention and prevention will make it useful among mental health professionals and those involved with mental health policy.

The Evolution of Morality

Evolutionary Perspectives on Social Psychology

Of additional interest, is a foreword written by world renowned psychologist, Steven Pinker, and an afterword by noted evolutionary scholar, Richard Dawkins.

This volume in the Springer Series in Evolutionary Psychology presents a state of the art view of the topic of sexuality and sexual behavior drawing on theoretical constructs and research of noted individuals in the field.

Attraction, mating, reproduction: it is a given that as a species, human beings are concerned with sex. And whether the study compares sexual behaviors of men and women or considers the proportions between nature and nurture, most roads lead back to our distant ancestors and/or our fellow animals.The Evolution of Sexuality collects stimulating new empirical findings and theoretical concepts regarding both familiar themes and emerging areas of interest. Following earlier titles in this series, an interdisciplinary panel of contributors examines topics specific to the whys of male and female sex-related behavior, here ranging from biological bases for male same-sex attraction to the seemingly elusive purpose of the female orgasm. This vantage point between biology and psychology gives readers profound insights not just into human differences and similarities, but also why they continue to matter despite our vast understanding of culture and socialization. And intriguing dispatches from the humanities review sexual themes in classic works of literature and explore the role of parent-offspring conflict in the English Revolution of the seventeenth century. Among the topics covered:      Sexual conflict and evolutionary psychology: toward a unified framework.Assortative mating, caste, and class.The functional design and phylogeny of female sexuality.Is oral sex a form of mate retention behavior?Two behavioral hypotheses for the evolution or male homosexuality in humans.Sperm competition and the evolution of human sexuality.                            The Evolution of Sexuality will attract evolutionary scientists across a variety of disciplines. Faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and researchers interested in sexuality will find it a springboard for discussion, debate, and further study.

This volume in the Springer Series in Evolutionary Psychology presents a state of the art view of the topic of sexuality and sexual behavior drawing on theoretical constructs and research of noted individuals in the field.

This review of recent evolutionary theories on psychopathology takes on controversies and contradictions both with established psychological thought and within the evolutionary field itself. Opening with the ancestral origins of the familiar biopsychosocial model of psychological conditions, the book traces distinctive biological and cultural pathways shaping human development and their critical impact on psychiatric and medical disorders. Analyses of disparate phenomena such as jealousy, social anxiety, depressive symptoms, and antisocial behavior describe adaptive functions that have far outlasted their usefulness, or that require further study and perhaps new directions for treatment. In addition, the book¿s compelling explorations of violence, greed, addiction, and suicide challenge us to revisit many of our assumptions regarding what it means to be human.Included in the coverage: · Evolutionary foundations of psychiatric compared to non-psychiatric disorders.· Evolutionary psychopathology, uncomplicated depression, and the distinction between normal and disordered sadness.· Depression: is rumination really adaptive?· A CBT approach to coping with sexual betrayal and the green-eyed monster.· Criminology¿s modern synthesis: remaking the science of crime with Darwinian insight.· Anthropathology: the abiding malady of the species. With its wealth of interdisciplinary viewpoints, The Evolution of Psychopathology makes an appropriate supplementary text for advanced graduate courses in the evolutionary sciences, particularly in psychology, biology, anthropology, sociology, and philosophy.

The latest volume in this multidisciplinary series on key topics in evolutionary studies, Evolutionary Perspectives on Death provides an evolutionary analysis of mortality and the consideration of death. Bringing together noted experts from a variety of fields, the books emanate from conferences held at Oakland University, and are dedicated to providing wide ranging and occasionally provocative views of human evolution. The volume on death covers topics from biology, anthropology, psychology, sociology and philosophy, with contributors addressing how evolution informs the process of comprehending, grieving, depicting, celebrating, and accepting death.Among the topics covered:Evolutionary perspectives on the loss of a twinNonhuman primate responses to deathDeath in literatureWitnessing and representing the death of petsThe role of human decomposition facilities in shaping American perspectives on deathThis insightful volume showcases groundbreaking empirical and theoretical research addressing death and mortality from an evolutionary perspective, demonstrating the intellectual value of an interdisciplinary approach to understanding psychological processes and behavior.Chapter 6 of this book is available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com.

This unique volume is one of the first of its kind to examine infancy through an evolutionary lens, identifying infancy as a discrete stage during which particular types of adaptations arose as a consequence of certain environmental pressures.