Cited by 117Evolutionary Psychology and Human BehaviorAnimal Behavior and ReproductionPrimate Behavior and Ecology

Beyond the pleistocene: Using phylogeny and constraint to inform the evolutionary psychology of human mating.

Eastwick, Paul W.·2009·Psychological Bulletin

Abstract

Evolutionary psychologists explore the adaptive function of traits and behaviors that characterize modern Homo sapiens. However, evolutionary psychologists have yet to incorporate the phylogenetic relationship between modern Homo sapiens and humans' hominid and pongid relatives (both living and extinct) into their theorizing. By considering the specific timing of evolutionary events and the role of evolutionary constraint, researchers using the phylogenetic approach can generate new predictions regarding mating phenomena and derive new explanations for existing evolutionary psychological findings. Especially useful is the concept of the adaptive workaround-an adaptation that manages the maladaptive elements of a pre-existing evolutionary constraint. The current review organizes 7 features of human mating into their phylogenetic context and presents evidence that 2 adaptive workarounds played a critical role as Homo sapiens's mating psychology evolved. These adaptive workarounds function in part to mute or refocus the effects of older, previously evolved adaptations and highlight the layered nature of humans' mating psychology.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1037/a0016845

Cites

236 of 236 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Eastwick, P. W.
Affiliations
Texas A&M University (US)
Corresponding author
Eastwick, Paul W.
Venue
Psychological Bulletin
Published
2009-09
Volume
135
Issue
5
Pages
794-821
ISSN
  • 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1455
OpenAlex
W2081273945
Cited by
116
References
236
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 3
FWCI
4.24
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Science Foundation
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
Keywords
human mating, evolutionary psychology, phylogenetic approach, evolutionary constraints, hominid evolution
MeSH terms
Adaptation, Biological, Adaptation, Psychological, Biological Evolution, Genetics, Behavioral, Humans, Phylogeny, Psychology, Sexual Behavior, Sexology

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review