What perspective of psychology looks at how the natural selection of traits has promoted the survival of genes?

Evolutionary psychology is a relatively new branch of the behavioral sciences. Yet, evolutionary psychology is based on ideas that go back at least to the 1800s. Evolutionary psychology is a theoretical perspective. Yet, evolutionary psychology can explain many ways humans think, how they respond, and how they change and develop. One of its most practical purposes is as a tool for understanding mental health issues. If you or a loved one is looking to find help for mental health issues, online therapy is a great place to look for evolutionary psychologists and therapy. 

What Is Evolution?

To understand evolutionary psychology, you first need to be familiar with the basics of evolutionary biology. Evolution is the process by which inherited genetic characteristics change over generations. Changes can happen due to genetic mutations, but they can also happen through natural selection or sex selection.

In natural selection, a characteristic that promoted survival was more likely to be passed on because the person with that trait would live long enough to pass on their genetic code. If a trait didn't help someone survive, the gene that carried that characteristic wouldn't be passed on to the next generation.

Sexual selection is a special type of natural selection. In sexual selection, a characteristic that helps the person get a mate is passed on to the next generation. An example in the animal world is peacocks, whose males developed their colorful tail feathers through sexual selection.

What Is It?

How Does Evolution Fit Into My Mental Health And Psychology?

Evolutionary psychology is a new branch of psychology that seeks to discover people's mental adaptations in their changing environment. Its main foci are on thought, behavior, and brain structure. It's concerned with the ways memory, perception, and language evolve.

This psychological approach came from the combination of cognitive psychology and evolutionary biology. Just as evolutionary biology assumes that physiological adaptations came from natural selection, evolutionary psychology assumes that within the human brain lie cognitive mechanisms that have evolved through natural selection.

6 Basic Tenets

Evolutionary psychology relies on six core principles or basic tenets. These principles formed the basis of the evolutionary perspective psychology researchers used to study how certain behaviors and thought patterns emerged over time. They are:

1. The purpose of the human brain is to process information. As it does, it creates responses to stimuli.
2. The human brain has changed over time as it has adapted due to natural and sexual selection.
3. The human brain is made up of parts that became specialized in solving problems over time.
4. As problems occurred time and again, the human brain evolved to accommodate them. After going through this evolutionary process, the brain became what it is today.
5. The brain must solve problems, mostly at an unconscious level. An activity or response that seems simple may involve highly complex neural processes.
6. Human psychology is made up of a multitude of specialized mechanisms that come together to form human nature.

An additional factor often expressed in evolutionary psychology is that selection works on many levels, from biological to cultural to societal.

Evolutionary Developmental Psychology

Evolutionary developmental psychology uses the tenets of evolutionary psychology and evolutionary biology. Also, this subfield of evolutionary psychology focuses on the interaction between the individual and their environment. Studies include topics related to ensuring the survival of the person, their culture, and their species. It takes into account education, peer groups, neighborhoods, and families. It is mostly concerned with human development and how it happens.

Applications of Evolutionary Psychology In Therapy

The evolutionary psychology perspective can shed light on some different mental health issues. It is another way to better understand our history, attention to details, origins of patterns of interaction, and previous intervention methods. The following are a few evolutionary psychology examples.

Phobias

Phobias, or at least some of them, make sense from an evolutionary psychology perspective. A phobia is an irrational or exaggerated fear. Many people have an intense fear of snakes that reaches the level of a phobia. Since people in modern times don't typically encounter many snakes in their environment, the fear is usually irrational.

However, long ago, when people lived in a wild environment, snakes came with the territory. A person might have to try very hard to avoid snakes and always be alert for them as they went about their daily routines. So, if they had an intense fear of snakes, they were more likely to survive. Those who survived passed on their genes, along with the code that carried the intense fear of snakes.

More modern inventions, such as firearms, aren't usually the subject of a phobia. Why? Perhaps it's because they haven't been around long enough for fear of them to be passed on for enough generations.

Another problem with connecting phobias to evolution is that sometimes the subject of the phobia is something that has never been any threat to survival. Consider fear of public speaking. What survival value is there in avoiding the podium?

Relationships

According to the evolutionary theory, psychology relies on; everything people do is designed to promote childbearing. Most people think this is an undesirable view of relationships. Yet, it does make some sense. If evolution works this way in psychology, that explains why:

• Women are more attracted to masculine-looking men when they're ovulating.
• Men tend to have multiple sex partners to spread their DNA.
• Women choose powerful men who can provide for their children.
• Men like curvy women with wide hips who are better adapted physically for childbirth.
• Both men and women prefer partners with symmetrical faces, a clear indication of healthy cell division.

Disclaimer: We have learned through data, research, and article intake that there are more genders than just woman or man.

Motivation

According to the evolutionary psychology perspective, everything people do is motivated by their need to survive and have children. The idea is that these are the ultimate if unconscious goals even when you think you have other reasons. It may be that this is true in some situations and not in others, however.

Stress

The evolutionary basis of stress is very clear. When you perceive a threat, your body and mind go into fight or flight mode. Physiological changes happen that prepare you for a great struggle or a quick retreat. The adrenaline kicks in, and your heart rate shoots up. Other physiological changes happen, and your mind becomes focused on the threat.

While fight or flight is extremely useful in the wild, it doesn't do you much good when you're, say, facing a critical business meeting or a default on your mortgage. Instead, your mind and body go on alert and then have nothing to do. The result is stress and anxiety. If they go on too long, it can seriously damage your physical and mental health. Learning the implications of these reactions in present day, along with new treatment methods and challenges helps better understand the effects and causes of fight or flight. Interventions and treatments have been proven to have benefits, such as psychotherapy and the trial of it case by case.

Parenthood

Regarding evolution, raising children is just as important as having them in the first place. If a child doesn't grow to maturity, they won't pass on your genetic code, after all. Evolutionary psychology explains why people form such strong bonds with their children. It also suggests that people tend to like certain characteristics like large eyes because they're drawn to children and their care-taking role.

Altruism

For many evolutionary psychologists, altruism made no sense when people were living in wild environments. Everything needed to work together to ensure the survival of the individual, so why would they put the needs of others over their own?

Some evolutionary psychologists, however, look at altruism differently. They suggest that, while altruism may not help the individual who practices it directly, it does help ensure the survival of the whole species.

Language Acquisition

In the view of evolutionary psychologists, developing languages helped early peoples communicate thoughts that helped them survive. Yet, no one learns the language in a vacuum. The most effective ways to learn a language are through the cultural environments of the home and community. This is why language immersion studies, such as international student exchange programs, successfully teaching people a new language.

How Can Evolutionary Psychology Help Me Through Therapy?

In most circumstances and for most people, evolutionary psychology is best used in combination with other types of therapy. It can be very helpful for explaining and understanding mental health issues. However, to solve those issues, you typically need a more practical approach, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy or psychodynamic therapy. Using different psychological theories, the therapist can get to the heart of the problem before delving into the nuts and bolts of solving it.

Mental health issues can threaten your survival themselves, especially if they go untreated for a long period. Even if you live to old age, having mental problems can seriously affect your ability to function the way you would like.

How Does Evolution Fit Into My Mental Health And Psychology?

If you are going through mental problems that seem too difficult to handle on your own, a therapist can help you face and overcome them. You can talk to a licensed counselor at BetterHelp.com for help with mental health issues. After you're paired with a suitable counselor based on your answers to a simple questionnaire, you can start convenient online therapy.

Evolutionary psychologists believe that, although genetics play a large part in who you are, many other factors play an even larger role in who you become. One of these is your ability to make choices and change your thoughts and behaviors. With the right help, you can choose the life you want and make changes that move you closer to the life you want most. Learn more about this theory and the details surrounding it through a Wikipedia page, article, or through a specific city or country or area and their cultural influence.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the evolutionary psychology approach?

According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, evolutionary psychology is a biologically informed clinical psychology approach that proposes that most of, if not all, of our behavior can be explained by appeal to internal psychological mechanisms. Evolutionary cognitive therapy relies heavily on evolutionary insights and how this along with our ancestral past can explain our current behavior. Evolutionary psychology is part of the second wave of the cognitive revolution and cognitive theory, explaining how our evolutionary past can have a positive or negative effect on our behavior. One aspect of the approach is mismatch theory. This theory states that organisms possess traits that have been passed down through generations, preserved by natural selection. While not every theory relating to evolutionary psychology has been proven, there is a vast amount of empirical support for these theories. 

How do evolutionary psychologists treat people?

Evolutionary psychologists try to explain humanity and our behavior by looking at specific traits that were passed on from our ancestors and how these traits affect how we behave today. Evolutionary psychologists look at behavior, thought, and feeling through a similar lens as an evolutionary biologist looks at physiology. 

What is an example of evolutionary psychology in psychology?

One example is evolutionary psychologists treating people with major depression or major depressive disorder by hypothesizing that depression evolved as an evolutionary adaptation that helps prevent infection in individuals and their families. They believe these depressive symptoms, such as dysfunctional thinking patterns and negative emotions, became an evolved adaptation to keeping individuals lethargic and rested so they won’t participate in risky behaviors. This idea is called the analytical rumination hypothesis, and while many accept this hypothesis, these evolutionary explanations for severe depression have been contested by a number of psychologists as well. 

What is the goal of evolutionary psychology?

The goal of evolutionary psychology is to discover and explain cognitive mechanisms, brain disorders, mental illness, and mental disorders because they have been selected evolutionarily to the recurrent adaptive problems present in the environment of our ancestors.

What type of psychology is natural selection?

How the natural selection of traits promoted the survival of genes?

What is evolution by natural selection in psychology?

What is the perspective of evolutionary psychology?