Human sexual selection, good genes, and special design. In D. LeCroy & P. Moller (Eds.), Evolutionary perspectives on human reproductive behavior

ABSTRACT: Evolutionary psychology seeks to understand the functional design underlying psychological processes and behavior. Theories of selection pres-sures developed within evolutionary biology are key components of this under-standing. Because past selection pressures responsible for current design cannot be directly observed, theoretical understandings of the psychological processes and behavior must be inferred. The most important epistemological concept within evolutionary psychology is that of special design-evidence that a feature exhibits specificity, efficiency, and economy for producing a particu-lar beneficial effect. A variety of sexual-selection processes have been proposed to account for aspects of human mating. These processes are not mutually ex-clusive. More than one may account for aspects of human mating. A core task of evolutionary psychology within this domain is to identify which processes account for which phenomena. I have attempted to illustrate how the search for special design is central to this endeavor. SEXUAL SELECTIO