The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human MatingA “drop-dead shocker” (Washington Post Book World) that uses evolutionary psychology to explain human mating and the mysteries of love If we all want love, why is there so much conflict in our most cherished relationships? To answer this question, we must look into our evolutionary past, argues prominent psychologist David M. Buss. Based one of the largest studies of human mating ever undertaken, encompassing more than 10,000 people of all ages from thirty-seven cultures worldwide, The Evolution of Desire is the first work to present a unified theory of human mating behavior. Drawing on a wide range of examples of mating behavior — from lovebugs to elephant seals, from the Yanomamö tribe of Venezuela to online dating apps — Buss reveals what women want, what men want, and why their desires radically differ. Love has a central place in human sexual psychology, but conflict, competition, and manipulation also pervade human mating — something we must confront in order to control our own mating destiny. Updated to reflect the very latest scientific research on human mating, this definitive edition of this classic work of evolutionary psychology explains the powerful forces that shape our most intimate desires. |
Contents
What Women Want | |
What Men Want | |
Casual | |
Attracting a Partner | |
Staying Together | |
Sexual Conflict | |
Breaking | |
Changes over Time | |
Harmony Between the Sexes | |
Acknowledgments | |
Discover More Notes | |
Bibliography | |
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Common terms and phrases
abuse adaptive problems affairs attracting a mate attractive women benefits Buss casual sex committed mating competition conflict context contrast Coolidge effect costs couples cues cultures derogate desire display divorce economic effective Ethology Ethology and Sociobiology evolution evolutionary psychology evolved example female gender differences heterosexual homosexual human evolutionary history human mating human sexual husband increase investment Kim Hill less long-term mate male man’s marital marriage married married couples mate poaching mate preferences mate value mate’s mateship mating market mating strategies men’s newlywed older one’s percent physical attractiveness polygynous potential mates psychological adaptations psychological mechanisms qualities rape ratio relationship reproductive value risk rival Schmitt seek sex differences sexual access sexual aggression sexual infidelity sexual intercourse sexual jealousy sexual selection sexual strategies short-term mating signals social status Sociobiology someone sometimes sperm spouse Symons tactics Thornhill University wife wives woman woman’s women’s preferences women’s sexual Yanomamö younger