Evolutionary perspectives on soc. and org. psychology - *Canceled because of the Corona-virus*

Semester

Semester 2, 2019-2020

Type of course

Methodological and Practical Courses

Date

April 2 and April 3, 2020

Location

VU Amsterdam, room to be announced.

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Duration

2 days

Maximum number of participants

30

ECTS

1 EC will be appointed for participation in the complete course

Staff

Joshua Tybur (VU), David Pietraszewski (Max Planck Institute for Human Development)

Content, learning goals, preparation
Evolutionary perspectives have been applied to understanding emotions, cooperation, mating, prejudice, and a bevy of other topics. Indeed, evolutionary theory offers an unmatched ability to not only unite research conducted in traditionally separated subfields within psychology, but also allow for connections between psychology, sociology, biology, anthropology, and economics. Given the volume of evolutionary work that currently appears in high impact, mainstream journals such as Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Psychological Science, and Psychological Review, familiarity with evolutionary perspectives is essential for fully engaging in the social and organizational psychology literature. In this workshop, we aim to familiarize students with this perspective and offer examples of how the perspective can enrich hypothesis generation. 

The first day of this workshop will focus on (1) the history of evolutionary perspectives on human behavior and the social and political controversies underlying this approach, (2) the theoretical underpinnings of the contemporary approach, and (3) the applications of evolutionary approaches to two specific content areas: coalitional psychology (David Pietraszewski) and emotions (Josh Tybur). 
On the second day, students will give brief presentations on the theoretical assumptions underlying their research programs. The group will discuss these assumptions and how evolutionary perspectives can be used to refine and/or re-evaluate them.

Ultimately, the aims of the workshop are three-fold: participants will (a) be introduced to the core theories and assumptions of evolutionary psychology; (b) gain detailed information about four experts’ evolutionary research programs; and (c) receive personalized feedback regarding their own research.
 

Literature
-Confer, J. C., Easton, J. A., Fleischman, D. S., Goetz, C. D., Lewis, D. M., Perilloux, C., & Buss, D. M. (2010). Evolutionary psychology: Controversies, questions, prospects, and limitations. American Psychologist, 65, 110-126.
-Kurzban, R., & Athena Aktipis, C. (2007). Modularity and the social mind: Are psychologists too self-ish?. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11, 131-149.