The Evolutionary Psychology of Psychopathology: Towards an Integrative Conceptual Framework and Research Programme

Abstract

Evolutionary Psychology is a potentially unifying research program for evolutionary studies of psychopathology: Evolutionary Psychopathology. Although there are many competing research programs and researchers who study human or other animals’ minds or behaviour from an evolutionary perspective, these have a fundamental weakness in their reduced potential to aid accumulative theory building, due to the many diverging approaches, subtheories, and lack of overarching meta-theory. Most research within Evolutionary Psychopathology falls into the latter category. This thesis discusses an inclusive, integrative comprehensive model to illustrate the different factors and conceptual levels involved in an Evolutionary Psychology view of psychopathology. It is not meant to oppose recent suggestions of evolutionary conceptualizations of psychopathology; rather it attempts to present a synthesis. Its ambitious aim is to argue for an updated, revised version of Evolutionary Psychology as a conceptual tool and a research programme for future research into the many different factors underlying the broad class of diverging behaviours and mental states called psychopathology. This is also a modification of the Evolutionary Psychology research programme that may improve its ability to study individual differences in general.