Introductory Psychology Texts as a View of Sociobiology/Evolutionary Psychology's Role in Psychology

Abstract

Sociobiology and its descendant evolutionary psychology (EP) have struggled to gain ground within the social sciences over the past 30 years. While some have heralded the Triumph of Sociobiology ( Alcock, 2001 ), others have critiqued it as a poor approach to understanding human behavior and would prefer that a Darwinian perspective remain outside the domain of human social sciences. We attempt to assess just how successful (or not) it has been by examining how it has been covered in introductory psychology textbooks over the past 30 years. Our findings indicate that a Darwinian perspective has gained influence and acceptance within the field of psychology over the past three decades. However, we also find that EP as a sub-discipline is often perceived as narrowly defined and limited to research on mating strategies. We address how these perceptions may affect the future of EP, and possible steps needed to increase both the acceptance and importance of evolutionary theory to psychology.