Abstract
The sociobiological version of human evolution is criticized as excessively reductionistic and focused on reproductive competition. An alternative version of evolutionary psychology is proposed based on the premise that the most important feature of human evolutionary history is selection for small group living. The structural requirements of group survival can account for fundamentally social motives characteristic of the human species such as cooperation, conformity, and group loyalty.
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Adapted from a symposium presentation at the annual meeting of the Society for Experimental Social Psychology, October 13, 1990, Buffalo, New York.
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Brewer, M.B., Caporael, L.R. Selfish genes vs. selfish people: Sociobiology as origin myth. Motiv Emot 14, 237–243 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00996182
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00996182