Evolutionary psychology: Controversies, questions, prospects, and limitations

Evolutionary psychology has emerged over the past 15 years as a major theoretical perspective, generating an increasing volume of empirical studies and assuming a larger presence within psychological science. At the same time, it has generated critiques and remains controversial among some psychologists. Some of the controversy stems from hypotheses that go against traditional psychological theories; some from empirical findings that may have dis-turbing implications; some from misunderstandings about the logic of evolutionary psychology; and some from rea-sonable scientific concerns about its underlying frame-work. This article identifies some of the most common concerns and attempts to elucidate evolutionary psycholo-gy’s stance pertaining to them. These include issues of testability and falsifiability; the domain specificity versus domain generality of psychological mechanisms; the role of novel environments as they interact with evolved psy-chological circuits; the role of genes in the conceptual structure of evolutionary psychology; the roles of learning, socialization, and culture in evolutionary psychology; and the practical value of applied evolutionary psychology. The article concludes with a discussion of the limitations of current evolutionary psychology