Darwin is known as the Father of Evolution, but not everyone knows the tenets of Darwin's theory of natural selection. An avid pigeon collector and breeder Darwin were well aware of artificial selection and how selective breeding could produce traits that were deemed desirable. During Darwin's travels, he hypothesized that a force in nature could breed strategies for survival. In his hypothesis, the organisms that possessed the traits necessary for survival were the ones that survived. These surviving organisms mated together and passed their traits onto the next generation. In other words, Natural Selection is the theory that some species have traits that make them better able to adapt to their environment and continue to survive. These traits are considered fit - traits that aid in survival and reproduction and are selected for.
The theory of Sexual Selection is that some organisms are better equipped to survive because they have adapted traits that make them better able to attract a mate, and this differs slightly from the theory of natural selection because traits based on sexual selection may not be the fittest for their environment. However, attracting a mate ensures the genes are passed to the following generation, which may not be an intentional choice but, rather, a characteristic of natural selection as females that chose particular mates and had surviving offspring passed down the attraction to that trait.
Evolutionary Personality Theory, also developed by Darwin, builds on the two above theories to determine how personality traits are derived and then selected. The evolutionary psychology perspective on human personality is innate (offspring are born with it) and biological. Like other traits, personality has evolved in human evolution due to genetics - shaped and selected for by the environment. Individuals' behavioral traits can be considered more or less fit depending on the social environment. Traits that enable individuals to fit into a particular niche will be passed on.
Evolutionary perspective, sometimes referred to as evolutionary psychology, refers to the expression of phenotypic traits that provide survival and reproductive values within an environment. These include behaviors such as fears and prejudices that help individuals survive in their environment. For example, having an inherent fear of a dangerous organism can be considered "fit" for the environment since our ancestors who had a similar fear were those that survived to reproduce. Diversity in human personality allows individuals to fit into a particular social niche. This variation ensures that the species will survive in times of change. The human ability to react and respond to changing environments and social cues has allowed us to survive and outcompete other early human species. The adaptive strategies surrounding behavior and personality are similar to physical traits. Each is helpful in a particular niche; however, unlike physical traits, behaviors do not follow purely Mendelian inheritance. In addition to vertical transfer from parents to offspring, behaviors can also be acquired from non-kin adults and peers.
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It's important to remember that no one trait, physical or behavioral, is solely better than another. Expressed traits are domain-specific, meaning that adaptive personality traits have evolved to be helpful in particular areas of human life. For instance, risk-taking behaviors can be rewarded, selected for, and seen as more fit within a more dangerous environment where risk-taking can lead to survival. The image below from 1000 BC shows acceptable risk-taking behaviors for the cultural niche in Egypt.
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On the other hand, risk-taking behaviors could be detrimental in a different environment, leading to decreased survival and/or reproduction.
Evolutionary personality theory then is the idea that all of our human personality traits were derived over time to help us survive and reproduce. Even traits that lower survival rates can be passed down if they assist in more significant numbers of offspring. Over time, the behavioral traits that shape our personality evolved from our ancestors. Researchers can expect to find similar personality traits within the human population in many regions if there is a similar selection for that trait in the environment. Other species exhibit similar traits to their species in what is referred to as species-typical phenotypic traits.
Some components that are taken into consideration in the evolutionary personality theory are:
One famous evolutionary personality theory example is the almost-universal attraction by males towards women of reproductive age, which is an example of evolutionary personality theory because the individuals that were attracted to the age group most likely to provide offspring were able to pass down that genotypic preference to their children ingraining a behavioral trait that is evolutionarily fit for our species. The image below shows a painting of a woman and children. The sexual selection for women of child birthing age can be seen through the lens of evolutionary personality theory, as the trait for attraction to that age group is expressed prominently in many cultures.
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The arts often reflect evolutionary personality theory by focusing on the traits that sexual selection has reinforced in our culture. Wide hips are favored in some cultures. It can be hypothesized that the wide hip set of women would ease labor and lead to more living offspring. Since attraction to this trait led to the increase of offspring with this trait, sexual selection led to a preference for wider hips in many cultures. The image below shows a sculpture from 4000BC showing, through the arts, how attraction can lead to sexual selection.
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Another famous example that can be seen in today's population and the past is the fear of snakes. As our ancestors' paths intersected with snakes, those with fear or avoidance were more likely to survive and pass down their wary genes, while our less cautious relatives were less likely to survive. Today the fear of snakes is a common phobia in the human population, with the origin hypothesized to have been early on in our evolutionary development.
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Darwin is the founder of the theories of Natural Selection and Sexual Selection. He hypothesized that the variation of organisms increases the survival and reproductive abilities of organisms that are fit for their environment. Expanding on the knowledge and evidence of traits being more or less fit for the environment and getting passed down, Darwin extrapolated further to determine the Evolutionary Personality Theory to show how personality traits can fit an environment lead to differential survival and reproduction. Individuals' behavioral traits can be considered more or less fit depending on the social environment.
Evolutionary perspective refers to the expression of phenotypic traits that provide survival and reproductive values within an environment. Diversity in human personality allows individuals to fit into a particular social niche ensuring human survival in changing environments. Expressed traits are domain-specific, meaning that adaptive personality traits have evolved to be helpful in particular areas of human life. Evolutionary personality theory is the idea that all of our human personality traits were derived over time to help us survive and reproduce.
Some components that are taken into consideration in the evolutionary personality theory are:
Examples of personality evolution include males' attraction towards women of reproductive age, which is an example of evolutionary personality theory because the individuals attracted to the age group most likely to provide offspring were able to pass down that genotypic preference to their children. Another example is the sexual selection for wide hips favored in some cultures. It can be hypothesized that the wide hip set of women would ease labor and lead to more living offspring. Phobias, such as snakes, can also be traced back evolutionarily as a survival instinct that allowed differential reproduction.
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The focus of the evolutionary theory is to determine the origin and evolution of behaviors. Evolutionary behaviors have been selected by natural selection as fit for their environment. Behaviors that help an organism survive and reproduce tend to be passed on and continue.
Some personality components of evolutionary theory are personality variation, behavioral flexibility, and personality disorders. Personality variation refers to the diversity of the behavior in the population, which leads to differential survival and reproduction. Behavioral flexibility is the ability to respond to a changing environment. Personality disorders refer to the inability to adapt to the environment you find yourself in, which is considered inappropriate and dysfunctional.
Evolutionary perspective refers to the expression of phenotypic traits that provide survival and reproductive values within an environment. These include behaviors, such as fears and prejudices, help individuals survive in their environment. Similar to physical traits, beneficial behaviors and aid in survival are passed on to future generations.
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