---
abstract: 'Evolutionary psychology (EP) is an approach to the study of the mind that is founded on Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. It assumes that our mental abilities, emotions and preferences are adapted specifically for solving problems of survival and reproduction in humanity’s ancestral environment, and derives testable predictions from this assumption. This has important implications for our understanding of the conditions for human well-being.'
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creators_id:
  - fheyligh@vub.ac.be
creators_name:
  - family: Heylighen
    given: Francis
    honourific: ''
    lineage: ''
date: 2011
date_type: submitted
datestamp: 2011-05-02 17:16:00
department: ~
dir: disk0/00/00/72/64
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editors_id: []
editors_name:
  - family: Michalos
    given: Alex
    honourific: ''
    lineage: ''
eprint_status: archive
eprintid: 7264
fileinfo: /style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png;/7264/1/EvolutionaryPsychology%2DQOL.pdf
full_text_status: public
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ispublished: inpress
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lastmod: 2011-05-02 17:16:00
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metadata_visibility: show
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pubdom: FALSE
publication: ' Encyclopedia of Quality of Life Research'
publisher: Springer
refereed: FALSE
referencetext: "Barkow, J. H., Cosmides, L., Tooby, J.. (1992). The adapted mind: Evolutionary psychology and the generation of culture. Oxford University Press New York.  \r\nBuss, D. (Ed.). (2005). The handbook of evolutionary psychology. Wiley.  \r\nBuss, D. (2011). Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind (4th ed.). Prentice Hall.  \r\nConfer, 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(2), 110–126.  \r\nFredrickson, B. L. (2004). The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 359(1449), 1367.  \r\nGrinde, B. (2002). Happiness in the perspective of evolutionary psychology. Journal of Happiness Studies, 3(4), 331–354.  \r\nHaselton, M. G., & Nettle, D. (2006). The paranoid optimist: An integrative model of cognitive biases. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10, 47–66.  \r\nHill, S.E.., & Buss, D.M. (2008).  Evolution and subjective well-being.  In Eid, M. & Larsen, R. (Eds). The science of subjective well-being.  New York:  Guilford Press.\r\nIlardi, S. S. (2009). The Depression Cure: The 6-Step Program to Beat Depression without Drugs. Da Capo Lifelong Books.  \r\nNarvaez, D., Panksepp, J., Schore, A., & Gleason, T. (Eds.). (2011). Human Nature, Early Experience and the Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness. Oxford University Press.  \r\nNesse, R. M. (2004). Natural selection and the elusiveness of happiness. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 359(1449), 1333.  \r\nSchön, R. A., & Silvén, M. (2007). Natural Parenting―Back to Basics in Infant Care. Evolutionary Psychology, 5(1), 102–183.  \r\nWright, R. (1996). The moral animal: Why we are the way we are: The new science of evolutionary psychology. Abacus.  \r\n"
relation_type: []
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reportno: ~
rev_number: 19
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status_changed: 2011-05-02 17:16:00
subjects:
  - evol-psy
succeeds: ~
suggestions: ~
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thesistype: ~
title: Evolutionary Psychology
type: bookchapter
userid: 271
volume: ~
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