Humans are a curious species. We strive to understand the way the world works and why we exist. This is why evolutionary psychology is so intriguing: it can help us understand our emotions and how they were formed. By understanding this, we can explore how our emotions drive our behavior and influence our reactions to the world around us. In this article, we’ll dive deep into the evolutionary psychology of emotions and emotional expression, so let’s get started.
How Does Evolutionary Psychology Explain Emotions and Emotional Expression?
At its core, evolutionary psychology is the study of how emotions and behaviors evolved over time to help us survive and thrive. According to evolutionary psychologist John Tooby and anthropologist Leda Cosmides, emotions are adaptive mechanisms that have evolved over time to help humans survive in their environment. In other words, emotions are our evolutionary responses to certain needs or pressures in our environment.
For example, the emotion of fear evolved as a response to dangerous situations. It’s an emotion that helps us identify and respond to potential threats in our environment. Fear can alert us to danger and help us make quick decisions to protect ourselves. It can also cause us to flee from threats and seek shelter. This emotional response has helped humans survive in dangerous situations for centuries.
Another emotional response that has evolved in humans is love. The evolutionary psychologists David Buss and Robert Wright believe that love evolved as a way to ensure the survival of genetic material. In other words, love helps us select a mate who is likely to pass along the best version of our genetics to the next generation. Love, then, is an evolutionary response to the need for a mate who can provide the best protection, care, and resources for our offspring.
What Are Some Theories for Why Certain Emotions Evolved?
The evolutionary psychologist Paul Rozin believes that certain emotions evolved to help us make advantageous choices. For example, the emotion of disgust evolved to help us reject or avoid potential sources of disease and contamination. This emotion, then, acts as a warning system to help us stay safe from contamination and danger.
Another evolutionary emotion is anger, which helps us confront threats and defend ourselves. In his book Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind, David Buss explains how anger evolved to help us stand up for ourselves and defend against potential threats. Anger, then, helps us assert our rights and take action when we feel threatened.
Lastly, guilt is an emotion that helps us cooperate with others and maintain harmony in our relationships. By feeling guilty, we become more likely to make amends for our mistakes and maintain stronger relationships with others. This emotion, then, evolved to help our relationships stay as healthy and strong as possible, as it ensures that we don’t take advantage of others and maintain a certain level of harmony in our relationships.
How Do Emotions Differ Across Cultures?
Emotions are all universal, but they can be expressed in different ways across cultures. For example, in some cultures the emotion of anger may be expressed in a loud and assertive manner, while in other cultures it may be expressed in more subtle ways, such as avoiding eye contact or speaking in a low voice.
Researchers have studied the ways in which emotions are expressed and interpreted across cultures, and found that some emotions evoke a universal response, while others have different meanings and connotations in different cultures. For example, in some Asian cultures, the emotion of contempt may be seen as a sign of increased respect, while in Western cultures, it may be seen as a sign of disrespect or aggression.
This is why it’s so important for us to consider cultural context when interpreting emotions. By understanding how different emotions are perceived and expressed across cultures, we can gain a greater understanding of the ways in which our emotions shape our behavior and influence our interactions with the world around us.
Conclusion
Evolutionary psychology provides us with a fascinating look into the way our emotions evolved to help us survive and thrive. It also gives us insight into how our emotions are expressed and interpreted across cultures. By understanding how our emotions evolved and how they differ across cultures, we can gain a greater understanding of the ways in which our emotions shape our behavior and our reactions to the world around us.
References
Buss, D. M. (2005). Evolutionary psychology: The new science of the mind (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Allyn & Bacon.
Cosmides, L., & Tooby, J. (2008). The evolutionary psychology of the emotions and their relationship to internal regulatory variables. Handbook of emotion regulation, 2, 114-137.
Rozin, P. (2001). Social psychology and science: Some lessons from Solomon Asch. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5(2), 2-14.
Wright, R., & Buss, D. M. (2015). Love: A biological and psychological perspective. In A. F. Sharpe (Ed.), Theory and research in behavioral neuroscience (pp. 185–201).