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Overview
How we choose—and lose—our mates has always been a source of fascination. This controversial book is the first to present a unified theory of human mating behavior. The Evolution of Desire is based on the most massive study of human mating ever undertaken, encompassing more than 10,000 peoples of all ages from thirty-seven cultures worldwide. If we all want love, why is there so much conflict in our most cherished relationships? To answer this question, we must look into our evolutionary past, according to David M. Buss. For in attracting, keeping, and even breaking up with our mates, we are closer to our ancestral forebears than many of us think.
Editorials
Elle
An ambitious addition to the ever-growing shelves of books on sex wars.... Buss is refreshingly evenhanded.Philadelphia Inquirer
Clear, coherent, and convincing.... [What] makes it intriguing are the insights it offers into our behavior and the behavior of our partners, lovers, and friends.Publishers Weekly -
In the pursuit of a mate, women prefer men who possess money, resources, power and high social status, while men tend to seek attractive, youthful women who will remain sexually faithful. This finding emerged from a global survey by Buss and colleagues of 10,047 persons in 37 cultures, from Australia to Zambia. Women and men are often at cross-purposes in mate selection, sexual relations and affairs. In a provocative study, Buss, a University of Michigan psychology professor, attributes these differences to ingrained psychological mechanisms which he argues are universal across cultures and rooted in each gender's adaptive responses over millennia of human evolution. One area, however, where Buss finds common ground between men and women is in their ruthless use of deception, sexual display and denigration of rivals in the pursuit of a partner. Feb.Booknews
Presents a unified theory of human mating behavior based on a study encompassing over 10,000 people representing 37 cultures. By looking at our evolutionary past and the results of the mating study, the author draws an often disturbing picture of mating strategies and motives. As Buss admits, "Much of what I discovered about human mating is not nice." Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)Book Details
Published
March 1, 1995
Publisher
New York, N.Y. : BasicBooks, c1994.
Pages
222
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780465021437