Chapter 9 - Biological Basis - Evolutionary Psychology of Personality

Question 1

variation

Answer 1

individuals within a species are variable in terms of their morphology (structure, forms), physiology and behavior

Question 2

heritability

Answer 2

some of the variations within the species is heritable

Question 3

competition

Answer 3

competition within the species for resources such as food, mates, places to live, …

Question 4

natural selection

Answer 4

as a result of competition, some individuals will leave more offspring than others → these children will have inherited characteristics from their parents

Question 5

adaptation

Answer 5

result of natural selection → individuals within a species become adapted to the environment (individuals of genes from those parents who have done better in competition and survived)

Question 6

three main ways of describing adaptations to understand evolutionary modifications

Answer 6

> functional
domain-specific
numerous

Question 7

Evolutionary personality

Answer 7

Assumption: Personality traits emerge as a result of human’s adaptations to their social environments
> Fittest (best adapted) members of a species survived and reproduced → their traits were carried forward

Question 8

Buss theory of personality and adaptation

Answer 8

> personality traits represent successful adaptations
- certain traits were part of adaptive landscape
- certain behaviors were linked to survival and reproduction

Question 9

Prisoners Dilemma (Rands et al)

Answer 9

Use of the prisoners dilemma idea to explain the emergence of leadership between pair of social foragers
> Two rabbits instead of two prisoners!

Question 10

four main areas of consideration when studying adaptive personality

Answer 10

1. definition of adaptive personality (broad vs. narrow sense)
2. behavioral consistency (Short-term vs. long term variation)
3. conceptual nature and function of adaptive personality traits (plasticity vs. highly constrained
4. possible models for studying adaptive personality