Some detractors unfairly dismiss the field as a mere series of just so stories, while others mischaracterise its attempts to grapple with human nature as endorsements of the naturalistic fallacy-the claim that our psychological traits are innate, immutable, natural and therefore good.

Evolutionary PsychologyĪ number of evolutionary psychology researchers who study human sex differences have been inspired by David Buss’s work, including Buss’s former colleague Laith Al-Shawaf, whose series of essays in this magazine provide an excellent primer on the discipline.

It also provides a roadmap for mitigating what Buss calls “the biggest human rights issue in the world”: sexual violence against women. It explores why many men seem unable to grasp the vulnerability that many women feel. The book synthesises over 30 years of research showing how evolutionary psychology can illuminate the origins of the sexual conflict that blights many women’s lives, and the mechanisms through which it operates.

Buss’s book is not only explanatorily powerful and pragmatically useful, but unfortunately very necessary. It seems that, every week, we hear a new report of atrocious male behaviour, such as the recent alleged kidnapping and murder of Sarah Everard in the UK Harvey Weinstein’s exploits, which epitomised the #MeToo era and the sex scandals of two recent US presidents (Donald Trump and Bill Clinton). The topic of David Buss’s new book, When Men Behave Badly: The Hidden Roots of Sexual Deception, Harassment and Assault, has scarcely ever been more relevant.

Evolutionary arms race sexual conflict