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Full-Text Articles in Psychology
Digitally Connected, Evolutionarily Wired: An Evolutionary Mismatch Perspective On Digital Work., Mark Van Vugt, Stephen M. Colarelli, Norman P. Li
Digitally Connected, Evolutionarily Wired: An Evolutionary Mismatch Perspective On Digital Work., Mark Van Vugt, Stephen M. Colarelli, Norman P. Li
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
This paper makes the case for an evolutionary mismatch between digital work and the way human ancestors engaged in work. Psychological adaptations for producing things that early humans needed to survive and thrive, such as cognitive mechanisms for obtaining and processing food, toolmaking, and learning valuable working skills, evolved in the context of small networks of hunter–gatherers. These adaptations are central to understanding the significance of work in human evolution. Evolutionary mismatches operate when novel environments cue ancestral adaptations in ways that no longer provide adaptive benefits. We argue that digital work, although efficient and productive, is misaligned with some …
Desire For Social Status Affects Marital And Reproductive Attitudes: A Life History Mismatch Perspective, Amy J. Lim, Norman P. Li, Zoi Manesi, Steven L. Neuberg, Mark Van Vugt, Andrea L. Meltzer, Kenneth Tan
Desire For Social Status Affects Marital And Reproductive Attitudes: A Life History Mismatch Perspective, Amy J. Lim, Norman P. Li, Zoi Manesi, Steven L. Neuberg, Mark Van Vugt, Andrea L. Meltzer, Kenneth Tan
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Modern low fertility is an unresolved paradox. Despite the tremendous financial growth and stability in modern societies, birth rates are steadily dropping. Almost half of the world's population lives in countries with below-replacement fertility and is projected for a continued decline. Drawing on life history theory and an evolutionary mismatch perspective, we propose that desire for social status (which is increasingly experienced by individuals in industrialized, modern societies) is a key factor affecting critical reproductive preferences. Across two experimental studies (total N = 719), we show that activating a desire for status can lead people to prefer reproductive tradeoffs that …
Old Minds, New Marketplaces: How Evolved Psychological Mechanisms Trigger Mismatched Food Preferences, Michal Folwarczny, Tobias Otterbring, Valdimar Sigurdsson, Lynn K. L. Tan, Norman P. Li
Old Minds, New Marketplaces: How Evolved Psychological Mechanisms Trigger Mismatched Food Preferences, Michal Folwarczny, Tobias Otterbring, Valdimar Sigurdsson, Lynn K. L. Tan, Norman P. Li
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Principally due to unhealthy food choices, almost half of adults worldwide are overweight or obese. Current food retail practices bear some responsibility for such public health issues. We argue that numerous attempts to promote healthy eating have been unsuccessful due to the failure to account for our outdated evolved food selection mechanisms. Building on the evolutionary mismatch hypothesis and contrasting ancestral versus present-day foraging environments, we discuss how marketing activities exploit evolutionarily old food preferences and elicit unhealthy food choices for profit maximization at the expense of public health in terms of food consumption. We conclude by explaining how to …
Development And Psychometric Evaluation Of The Anticipated Food Scarcity Scale (Afss), Michal Folwarczny, Norman P. Li, Valdimar Sigurdsson, Lynn K. L. Tan, Tobias Otterbring
Development And Psychometric Evaluation Of The Anticipated Food Scarcity Scale (Afss), Michal Folwarczny, Norman P. Li, Valdimar Sigurdsson, Lynn K. L. Tan, Tobias Otterbring
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Mass media extensively inform societies about events threatening the global food supply (e.g., pandemics or Brexit). Consumers exposed to such communication may perceive food resources as becoming scarcer. In line with an evolutionary account, these perceptions can shift decision-making in domains such as food preferences or prosociality. However, existing literature has solely focused on actual and past food insecurity experiences threatening mostly low-income families, thus neglecting the future-oriented perceptions among the general population. This paper broadens the food insecurity research scope by developing a new construct-anticipated food scarcity (AFS)-which is defined as the perception that food resources are becoming less …
The Moderating Role Of Social Network Size On Social Media Use And Self-Esteem: An Evolutionary Mismatch Perspective, Amy J. Lim, Clement Yong Hao Lau, Norman P. Li
The Moderating Role Of Social Network Size On Social Media Use And Self-Esteem: An Evolutionary Mismatch Perspective, Amy J. Lim, Clement Yong Hao Lau, Norman P. Li
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Existing meta-analyses have shown that the relationship between social media use and self-esteem is negative, but at very small effect sizes, suggesting the presence of moderators that change the relationship between social media use and self-esteem. Employing principles from social comparison and evolutionary mismatch theories, we propose that the social network sizes one has on social media play a key role in the relationship between social media use and self-esteem. In our study (N = 123), we showed that social media use was negatively related to self-esteem, but only when their social network size was within an evolutionarily familiar level. …
Evolutionary Psychology’S Next Challenge: Solving Modern Problems Using A Mismatch Perspective, Norman P. Li, Jose C. Yong, Mark Van Vugt
Evolutionary Psychology’S Next Challenge: Solving Modern Problems Using A Mismatch Perspective, Norman P. Li, Jose C. Yong, Mark Van Vugt
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
As acceptance of evolutionary perspectives in mainstream psychology grows, it becomes increasingly pertinent to ask what evolutionary psychology can do to solve real-world problems and better our lives. Answers to this important question will more than likely require an understanding and application of the evolutionary mismatch framework. This powerful framework suggests that many of our contemporary problems—ranging from diabetes and depression to low fertility and sustainability—stem from a mismatch between our evolved psychological mechanisms, which are designed to be adaptive in ancestral contexts, and modern environments, which present novel stimuli that these mechanisms are not well suited to handle. By …