A mind of her own: The Evolutionary Psychology Of Women

by Anne Campbell

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Author: Anne Campbell

Publisher: Oxford University Press, Usa

Paperback:
ISBN 10: 0199609543
ISBN 13: 978-0199609543

When Darwin proposed that females shape evolution by being choosy in their choice of male suitors, his Victorian contemporaries were shocked that he accorded so much importance to women. But this early view of the female role was far from revolutionary: They were simply allowed to be passive 'quality controllers' of male genes.

Recent years have shown that the inert 'coy female' is a myth. For a male, a high sex drive and a taste for variety may improve his fitness. But for a female, successful reproduction goes far beyond copulation. She bears the brunt of parental investment with each child represents years of commitment from pregnancy and breast-feeding to provisioning and guarding. For her genetic lineage to survive, she must do this better than her rivals. Each of us comes from a line of winning mothers. Women are, after all, the first and default sex. It is women who bear children. A child born with a single X chromosome can survive, but not one with a single Y. In a population crash, a female-biased population will survive far better than a male-heavy one.

In this book, Anne Campbell redresses the balance of evolutionary theory in favour of women. She examines how selection pressures have shaped the female mind over thousands of generations: Their emotions, friendship, competition, aggression and mate choice. She brings together data from neuroscience, endocrinology, anthropology, primatology as well as psychology to address fundamental questions about sex differences. . . Why are women less aggressive than men? Were women designed for monogamy or promiscuity? What do women compete for? Why is conflict between males and females inevitable? What makes each woman unique? Have contraception and Ivf subverted the process of natural selection?

Review

Review from previous edition
"In her readable and thought-provoking account, Campbell argues that there are profound differences between women, and that this is both a cause and a consequence of directional selection on female psychology... Campbell provides an excellent taxonomy of nine classes of feminism This book will
stimulate an important debate and ensure that evolution cannot be ignored."

--Anne Magurran, Times Literary Supplement

"A Mind of Her Own is a well-organized, well-written, up-to-date textbook on evolutionary psychology, which stands out from the pack."

--Trends in Cognitive Science

"This is an important and challenging book taht may change how you think about human nature and gendered psychology"

--Phyllis Chesler, Emerita Professor Psychology and Women's Studies

"A fascinating and intellectually deep tour of the evolutionary psychology of women. Campbell's book provides insights into some of the most profound mysteries of human nature... destined to become a classic"

--David M. Buss

About the Author

Anne Campbell, Department of Psychology, Durham University, UK

Anne Campbell is a Professor of Psychology at Durham University. After completing her D.Phil. on female delinquency at Oxford University, she worked in the United States for eleven years studying girl gang members and violent crime. Since then, she has taken an evolutionary approach to understanding sex differences in aggression, focusing on the psychological mechanisms that mediate behavioural differences between men and women. She has published 5 books, and won the Distinguished Publication Award from Association for Women in Psychology. She has written over 90 academic articles on topics such as female crime, intimate partner violence, one night stands, competition, gender development, impulsivity, fear, hormonal effects, and mental representations of aggression.

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Evolutionary Psychology

A mind of her own: The Evolutionary Psychology Of Women