Psychology of honour killings

This article explores the psychology of honour killings- killings in which a family kills one of their own for bringing ‘shame’ and ‘dishonour’ to the family. Mostly, it’s the young women (with 23 being the worldwide average age) who’re the victims of honour killings and this practice, though more common in some cultures compared to …

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Why female sexuality tends to be suppressed

To understand why female sexuality is suppressed in many cultures, we first need to understand what’s so special about female sexuality that it ends up being suppressed almost everywhere and not male sexuality. It all starts with the fact that evolution has rendered female sexuality more valuable than male sexuality, not just in humans but …

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Why all the good guys are taken

I’m sure you’ve come across women who think all the good guys are taken. Is that really true? In humans, females are the high investing sex meaning that they invest more in their offspring than males. Nine months of gestation followed by years of feeding, nurturing and caring means paying a huge price in terms of …

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Do parents prefer sons or daughters?

Before we tackle the question of why parents prefer sons over daughters, let’s review some fundamental concepts of evolutionary biology and psychology. You need to have an understanding of these concepts before proceeding and if you’re already familiar with them, a nice little review won’t hurt. Reproductive potential It is the number of children an …

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Why do some mothers commit infanticide?

It’s reasonably hard for many to conceive how on earth could a mother ever decide to take the life of her own baby. After all, we’ve all been told that motherhood is divine and mother’s love unconditional and sacrosanct. Yet, it’s a fact of life that infanticide happens and, as you’ll find out when you’re …

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Why do people like fire?

What is it about fire that fascinates us so much? Why are camping trips so incomplete without fires? Why do people like sitting by the fire and having deep, meaningful conversations? Growing up as a kid, I was always fascinated with fire. I bothered my parents with questions about it. I experimented with it. I burnt …

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Psychology of fatherless daughters

This article will explore the psychology of fatherless daughters in light of evolutionary theory. There are broadly two types of heterosexual mating strategies that humans pursue: short-term and the long-term mating strategy.  Short-term mating strategy means forming brief relationships with multiple partners while a long-term mating strategy means forming an enduring relationship, typically with one …

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Psychology of gangs

This article will attempt to explain the psychology of gangs and gang violence in men using the concept of a dominance hierarchy. Timmy, a boy of fifth grade, was eating lunch at school, relishing his delectable dish in the peace and quiet of the school’s dining hall.  Suddenly, out of nowhere, Jimmy and his friends …

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What women gain by withholding sex in a relationship

Evolution has rendered female sexuality more valuable than male sexuality. There are two major reasons behind this: First, human males produce huge quantities of sperm while females produce only a limited number of eggs. Second, human females invest much more in offspring than males. The result being that female sexuality is a scarce and much …

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Why do people go to war?

Why do people go to war? Why do humans engage in warfare at all? At first blush, engaging in warfare seems to make no evolutionary sense. After all, if survival and reproduction are our core needs, why would we ever want to engage in an activity where the chances of us getting killed are so high? To …

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