Evolutionary Psychology

The pursuit of some basic life goals -- such as caring for one's family members -- could help to foster a sense of purpose in life, according to a new study published in the scientific journal Personality and Social Psychology...

New research in Social Psychological and Personality Science provides evidence that women strategically dampen signals of sexual permissiveness and desirability to avoid provoking intersexual aggression. In other words, the study suggests that women "dress defensively" by wearing less revealing outfits...

Scientists are taking a closer look at how our evolutionary history may have influenced body modification practices such as tattooing and piercing. Their latest research, which appears in the journal Evolutionary Psychological Science, examines whether these practices are signals of...

New research has found evidence to support the so-called Napoleon complex, the popular belief that short men compensate for their height disadvantage by displaying dominant behavior. In the study, which was published in the journal Psychological Science, 206 male participants...

New research suggests that men with higher levels of testosterone tend to devote more energy to keeping their romantic partners faithful and in a relationship with them. The study, published in the journal Physiology & Behavior, examined what is known...

Most find intelligence attractive, peaking at IQ 120; some are specifically aroused by intelligence alone (sapiosexuals).

Scientists in Belgrade have found evidence that manipulative and deceitful personality traits allow psychopaths to achieve reproductive success in unpleasant environments. "Our research team is generally interested in adaptive outcomes of behavior in biological (evolutionary) sense. This means that we...

Although both men and women gossip, women may be more likely to use gossiping and rumour-mongering as tactics to badmouth a potential rival who is competing for a man's attention. Women also gossip more about other women's looks, whereas men...

A new replication study published in the peer-reviewed journal Hormones and Behavior casts doubt on claims that women unconsciously signal their fertility by wearing red clothing. Previous research had found that women were more likely to wear red or pink...

Female hormones impact women’s assertiveness and sexual availability, according to a study recently published in Psychoneuroendocrinology. Previous studies of female sexual behavior have found that women are the fussier sex when it comes to mate selection. This is thought to...

Recent research suggests that you will feel less empathy for someone of the same sex who has an attractive partner, according to a study published in the Cognitive Science section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology. Both males and females...

Our obsession with social websites like Twitter and Facebook is the side-effect of an evolutionary process that caused our brains to shrink, according to Professor Bruce Hood. "As people settled down into fixed communities for the first time, with the...

A study finds that women with wider hips report more casual sexual encounters, hinting that our body shape may influence romantic choices. Could evolution be quietly guiding modern dating?

New research suggests eating vegetables gives you a healthy tan. The study, led by Dr Ian Stephen at The University of Nottingham, showed that eating a healthy diet rich in fruit and vegetables gives you a more healthy golden glow...