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Evolutionary cyber-psychology: applying an evolutionary framework to internet behavior

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>11/2009
<mark>Journal</mark>Computers in Human Behavior
Issue number6
Volume25
Number of pages12
Pages (from-to)1258-1269
Publication StatusPublished
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

An evolutionary psychological perspective has much to offer the study of Internet behavior. However, cyber-psychologists have hitherto neglected this rich theoretical tradition and evolutionary psychologists have been slow to apply their perspective to computer-mediated behavior. This paper applies an evolutionary perspective to the study of Internet behavior in four relevant domains: (1) mating and sexual competition, (2) parenting and kinship, (3) trust and social exchange, and (4) personal information management. Both general and specific evolutionary theories are explored in relation to online behavior in each domain, with an emphasis on generating testable hypotheses for future research.