Evolutionary psychology (often shorted to evo-psych) is a field of behavioral research that attempts to explain social norms and structures through the lens of biological evolution. On paper, it isn't that unreasonable of a scientific branch, but in reality, it is entirely pseudo-science. Because it applies psychology (which is, itself, a soft science) to long-dead populations that lack total historicity, evo-psych claims are already both unverifiable and unfalsifiable even before the distinction between instinctual vs. learned behavior can be made. As a result, it is loaded with confirmation bias and just about any nonsense can be (and is) paraded around as "science".
Most real-world applications of evolutionary psychology come in the form of official-sounding apologism and justification for essentialism, patriarchy, and the men are just like that argument. Evo-psych claims are often used as an attempt to discredit feminists and other people acting outside of gender norms by suggesting it to be "unnatural" and "unhealthy for the human species as a whole". It is a false appeal to science and appeal to nature.
Until a group of children can be raised and observed in a closed environment with exact equal, genderless treatment, just about any claim of gendered behavior being instinctual cannot be verified.
Incidents
- Jonathan Tweet's blog post claiming women don't play RPGs because only men evolved to be competitive.
- FLOSS#Gender essentialism and social expectations.
