Sex, Murder, and the Meaning of Life

Exploring the simple selfish biases that make us caring, creative, and complex.

by Douglas Kenrick

What’s the ONE Big Secret to Self-Control?

There’s a mind-numbingly large body of literature on will-power, enough to make you so exhausted you’ll want to eat an extra couple of brownies, or drink an extra couple of glasses of beer. But there’s one very simple trick that side-steps most of the obstacles. Read More

Mollusks and the Meaning of Life

Every once in a while life throws you a pleasant surprise. I got several today when I attended a luncheon for neuroscientist Eric Kandel. Kandel's approach to life and science is inspiring on at least 3 levels. Read More

Do We All Suffer from Multiple Identity Disorder?

William James suggested we all suffer from a form of multiple identity disorder. In a recent TedX talk I discussed modern research on evolution and social cognition that expands on this idea. Read More

Is the world becoming a nicer place to live?

All the evidence seems to suggest that people are getting increasingly violent and xenophobic. Or does it? Read More

Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?

Do we all suffer from xenophobia? Over the last few days, a group of world-known experts in social psychology, anthropology, biology, economics, neuroscience, and other disciplines put their heads together to understand the roots of our fear and hatred of strangers. Read More

Why Aren’t Men Worth As Much? Part III

What’s a man’s dollar value as a marriage partner? What about as a sexual partner? I asked a large group of students and the answer might disappoint those of you with Y chromosomes Read More

The Cost of a Woman vs. the Cost of a Man

Why would a women ever pay for a man’s company? And what’s she paying for? Why bride price and dowry are completely different stories. Read More

Does a Woman’s Company Always Cost More Than a Man’s?

Men will often pay surprisingly large sums for women’s company, whether for a single evening of a lifetime. This phenomenon makes evolutionary sense, but why is it sometimes reversed, with women paying more for a man’s company? Read More

Six Degrees of Social Influence

Why would a world-renowned group of psychologists and marketing researchers team up with a man who was once the world’s most wanted computer hacker to write about one man’s social influence? Read More

The Psychological Burdens of Carrying Around a Y Chromosome

According to cultural stereotypes, being a man is a lot like being James Bond. But I here list 7 of the real (and immense) psychological and behavioral costs of being a man. And there’s research to back up these complaints, here registered on behalf of all those handicapped with a Y chromosome. Read More

Self-Evaluation via the Internet

Am I doing OK? Let’s see, 412 Facebook friends, 7,452 Google citations, 538,412 Psych Today hits, Amazon.com sales rank: 2,376th... But am I happy? I need to check authentichappiness.com... Healthy? I’ll check realage.com. The internet provides enough information to compare yourself into insanity Read More

How Would More Women Help the Economy?

The ratio of males to females has profound effects on other animal’s behaviors, but can it affect human economic behaviors, such as credit card debt, savings, and how much you spend on a Valentine’s Day Gift? A new series of studies demonstrates the power of evolutionary economics. Read More

Can You Immunize Yourself Against Prejudice?

Could washing your hands or getting a flu shot make you less prejudiced against foreigners? A series of fascinating studies just released in Psych Science explores the preventative implications of understanding the Behavioral Immune System. Read More

And the Year’s Best Paper on Consumer Psychology Is...

Every year, the editors of the Journal of Consumer Research give out an award for the best paper published in their journal. This year’s award goes to a clever paper on influence and environmental conservation by Noah Goldstein, Bob Cialdini, and Vlad Griskevicius Read More

How a Passing Mood Can Profoundly Alter Your Economic Decisions

Could a passing mood influence your financial portfolio for decades to come? Could impulses you inherited from your cave-man ancestors influence your financial decisions in the modern world, in ways that may have lifelong consequences? A series of studies just released online by the APA addresses these questions. Read More

What Is the Intellectual Elite Worth to the American Economy?

What are intellectuals worth to society? A recent study of “human capital” examines the links between IQ and national wealth across 90 countries, and puts a (surprising) dollar value on each additional IQ point amongst the free-thinking intellectual elite. Read More

Why Are Pot Smokers Less Likely to Be Obese?

A new finding demonstrates that pot-smokers are less likely to be obese. Should you start toking up as a part of your weight loss program, or like, what's going on, man? Read More

Do You Underestimate the Joys of Nature?

Why are we surprised at how good it feels to take a hike? A new experiment demonstrates that people significantly underestimate the psychological boost they would get from taking a walk in a natural environment. Read More

Dueling Stereotypes and the Psychology of Bumper Stickers

Who says Americans can’t communicate across the left/right political divide? Many citizens reach out to neighbors everyday with bumper stickers logically explaining how they define the other side. Here are nine pair of bumper stickers to prove it! Read More

Do Your Genes Respond to Everyday Social Experiences?

We often assume that our genes influenced embryonic development, then lie dormant (till they’re sent out on an erotic recombination mission). But your genes are actually working every day of your life, responding flexibly and dynamically to your social experiences Read More

Why the Human Brain Is Designed to Distrust

What kind of person would have so little trust in his fellow man to believe that the U.S. president and the CIA conspired to fake the death of Osama Bin Laden, or that the news media is tightly controlled by a powerful cadre of wealthy extremists? And why you and I may be part of the plot... Read More

What’s the Real Secret of Harry Potter, and How Can You Use It?

My 7-year-old and I have spent the last seven months avidly devouring all 4091 pages of J.K. Rowling’s wondrously magical Harry Potter series. Yet we wanted more. What’s the secret ingredient that kept us spellbound? Read More

New Study Calculates Exactly How Bad Heat Is For Your Health

A new study finds some unexpected links between heat and a wide range of health problems. Should you sweat about it? Read More

A (p)review of the Consuming Instinct

Besides mangoes, blueberries, an iPad, and Legos, I bought a new book this week – the book explains why I bought mangoes, blueberries, an iPad, and Legos. Read More

Do Unconscious Fears of Infection Influence Your Social Life?

How do unconscious fears of disease affect your everyday social life, influencing who you find attractive, who you are prejudiced against, and even how you view yourself? Read More

Never Tell a Woman You Love Her! (Unless...)

A new series of studies explores the circumstances under which the words “I love you” bring happiness or unhappiness. Read More

Why Objections to Irrationality and Simple-Mindedness Shouldn’t Be the Same

It’s a bit scary, but the debate over Kanazawa’s sensationalist post continues to teach us about the dangers of thinking in simple-minded terms. Meanwhile, other PT bloggers ought to educate themselves before expressing simple-minded stereotypes about evolutionary psychology Read More

Race, Sensationalism, Stereotyping, and Freedom of Speech

My initial reaction to Kanazawa’s controversial blog posting was annoyance, but I now believe there is much to learn from this episode – about freedom of speech, "pseudoscience," sensationalism, stereotyping, and the ease with which otherwise well-intentioned people can adopt a lynch-mob mentality. Read More

Don’t Stereotype Your Fellow Scientists, Either!

Most researchers who apply evolutionary models to human behavior are not interested in racial differences. I consider two reasons why. Read More

What Are the Roots of the Psychological Obsession with Culinaria?

I don’t seriously think we should add food porn addiction to the DSM, but I do believe there are serious questions about why people are obsessed with cookbooks, cooks, and other things culinary, and about the links between food and sex… Read More

Douglas T. Kenrick, Ph.D., is professor of social psychology at Arizona State University.

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About Sex, Murder, and the Meaning of Life

What do sex and murder have to do with the meaning of life? Oscar Wilde said "We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars.” But to see the stars -- to understand where human beings fit into the universe -- you have to be willing to look in the gutter -- to explore the simple selfish biases that link us with baboons, hyenas, chimpanzees, and naked mole rats. Ironically, studying those simple selfish biases helps us understand our generosity, creativity, and the emergence of human society.