Why are we still afraid of snakes? The contribution of evolutionary psychology to the understanding of certain behavioral biases

Theoretical notes
By Patrick Bonin, Alain Méot
English

The purpose of this article is to briefly present the contribution of evolutionary psychology to the understanding of certain behavioral biases. This theoretical orientation, which is not well-known in France, explains behaviors by focusing on ultimate explanations (“why”). A key idea of this theoretical framework is that the brain has been shaped by evolutionary pressures encountered in the ancestral past, such as finding food or protecting oneself from predators. Thus, we have specific orientations in the processing of information in certain domains—leading to behavioral biases—, which are in part related to the consequences of confronting these selective pressures encountered by our hunter-gatherer ancestors. We will illustrate this using experimental studies on food, predation, social exclusion, and contamination.

  • behavioral biases
  • evolutionary psychology
  • evolution
Go to the article on Cairn-int.info