#605 Frank McAndrew: Evolutionary Psychology, Gossip, Namesaking, and Aggression
RECORDED ON DECEMBER 15th 2021.
Dr. Francis McAndrew is the Cornelia H. Dudley Professor of Psychology at Knox College. He studies human social behavior from an evolutionary perspective. He is especially interested in understanding the psychology of everyday life. Why do we enjoy gossip about celebrities? Why do some people name their children after themselves while others do not? His current research projects are concerned with aggression, gossip, and creepiness, and he writes a blog for Psychology Today Magazine titled “Out of the Ooze: Navigating the 21st Century with a Stone-Age Mind.” Dr. McAndrew is also interested in environmental psychology, which is the study of the relationship between people and their physical environments, both natural and human-made. He has written a successful textbook in this area, Environmental Psychology.
In this episode, we talk about gossip, namesaking, creepiness, and aggression, all from an evolutionary perspective. Toward the end, we also discuss how and why people underestimate how much other people like them.
Time Links:
Intro
The evolution and functions of gossip
Namesaking
Creepiness and horror
Aggression, and mass shootings
Do people underestimate how much other people like them?
Follow Dr. McAndrew’s work!
Follow Dr. McAndrew’s work:
Faculty page: https://bit.ly/3iKg5JG
Website: https://bit.ly/3AJuEDu
Works on ResearchGate: https://bit.ly/3yM0JKk
Twitter handle: @FTMcAndrew