Citation
(Li, van Vugt, & Colarelli, 2018)
Link
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0963721417731378
PDF
The Evolutionary Mismatch Hypothesis_ Implications for Psychological Science.pdf
Type
Review Paper
Summary:
This is a conceptual framework paper rather than an empirical study.
The paper presents the precepts of evolutionary mismatch processes and highlights areas where modern environments differ from ancestral conditions, leading psychological mechanisms to produce maladaptive outputs.
The methodology involves theoretical integration of evolutionary psychology principles to explain how human adaptations designed for ancestral environments may function poorly in modern contexts.
Quotes:
Page 1/2: Evolutionary mismatch: forced and hijacked
In evolutionarily novel contexts, key aspects of psychological mechanisms may no longer be linked to the environment in the same way. This phenomenon, known as evolutionary mismatch.
- Two types of mismatch are “forced”—when a new environment is imposed on an organism—and “hijacked”—when novel stimuli are favored by a mechanism over stimuli that the mechanism evolved to process.
- Mismatch occurs because of significant changes in either (a) input cues, which have changed in intensity or quantity, are altogether missing, or have been replaced by novel cues mimicking the original cues, or (b) the consequences of the mechanism’s output.