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12 results in Cambridge Elements

The London Foundling Hospital and Eighteenth-Century Objects of Charity
  • Recovering the Digital Archive
  • Hilary E. Wyss
  • Coming soon
  • Expected online publication date:
    November 2025
    Print publication:
    30 November 2025
  • The Foundling Hospital was established in London in 1739 to save impoverished infants from destitution and abandonment by separating them from their mothers and raising them in an institutional setting. The Hospital, which also housed an art collection, concert series, and fashionable park, became a monument to the largess of the benefactors willing to support the reshaping of supposedly unwanted babies into “worthy” citizens useful to their nation. In 2024 the Coram Foundation digitized parts of its voluminous archive from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, making these records available to the public in unprecedented ways. Through a close examination of the material artifacts of the Hospital, this analysis of the first few decades of this institution makes visible the uneasy tension between the perspective of the benefactors and the experiences of foundlings from the moment of separation from their birth parent(s) through their years associated with the Foundling Hospital.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Two Theories for Explaining 15 Universal Sex Differences in Cognition and Behavior

Strengths and Weaknesses of Two Theories for Explaining 15 Universal Sex Differences in Cognition and Behavior
  • Lee Ellis
  • Published online:
    14 August 2025
    Print publication:
    11 September 2025
  • Social role theory and evolutionary neuroandrogenic (ENA) theory are compared regarding how well they can explain 15 cognitive and behavioral sex differences that appear to be present in all human cultures. In essence, social role theory argues that, except for males being larger and more muscular and only females being able to bear children, cognitive and behavioral differences between the sexes result from sociocultural training and expectations. On the other hand, ENA theory attributes sex differences in cognition and behavior to evolved differential exposure of male and female brains to sex hormones, especially testosterone. The existence of 15 nearly certain universal sex differences in cognitive and behavioral traits was documented in a recently published book based on findings from over 40,000 empirical studies. This Element documents that, while both theories have explanatory power, ENA theory surpasses social role theory in explaining the universality of most of the 15 traits.
Evolution and the Fate of Humankind

Evolution and the Fate of Humankind
  • Peter A. Corning
  • Published online:
    15 February 2025
    Print publication:
    27 February 2025
  • In recent years we have come to understand better the forces that have shaped biological evolution over the course of time. Evolved purposiveness (teleonomy) in living systems themselves has been an important influence. Cooperative effects (synergies) of various kinds have also been influential. And the bioeconomics (functional costs and benefits) have been important constraints. Now we are facing a mounting survival crisis that may determine the future of life on Earth. We need to make a major course change, utilizing our insights into these important influences. Here is a review, and a 'prescription.'
Evolution in International Relations

Evolution in International Relations
  • Jeremy Garlick
  • Published online:
    07 February 2025
    Print publication:
    06 March 2025
  • Scholars of international relations (IR) and evolution pay little attention to each other's fields. However, there is a need to examine evolution's impacts in IR. International actors such as nations are made up of people, so evolved human nature has an impact on relations within and between states. Accordingly, this pathbreaking Element will attempt to apply insights from evolutionary biology, evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, and archaeogenetics to IR. Among such insights are the evolved role of emotions in decision-making, intergroup competition as a driver of in-group cooperation, and culture, morality, and language as group-binding mechanisms. Homo sapiens is a primate, so comparison with the behaviours of other great apes reveals some commonalities in terms of group dynamics, status, and hierarchies, as well as the enduring human capacity for both in-group cooperation and organised violence against other groups. These have an evolutionary basis that is relevant to IR theory and practice.
Evolutionary Perspectives on Enhancing Quality of Life

Evolutionary Perspectives on Enhancing Quality of Life
  • Mads Larsen, Nina Witoszek
  • Published online:
    13 April 2024
    Print publication:
    23 May 2024
    • Element
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  • Positive psychology is a thriving field with increasing political influence, yet there are few evolutionary studies that have had a tangible impact on rethinking mechanisms of well-being. This Element reviews existing literature and proposes synthesizing insights into human flourishing under an umbrella of multilevel selection (MLS). Conceptualizing quality of life as 'Happiness + Meaning = Well-being' draws attention to how people navigate between individual and group needs, and how they reconcile selfish pursuits with altruism and cooperation. We define happiness as the cluster of affects that reward individuals for solving adaptive challenges. We approach meaning as a reward that individuals experience when contributing to their community. By way of examples, we critically examine the Nordic well-being societies whose ethos and education advance prosocial values and practices and strike a balance between individualist and communitarian ideals. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
The Evolved Mind and Modern Education

The Evolved Mind and Modern Education
  • Status of Evolutionary Educational Psychology
  • David C. Geary
  • Published online:
    12 March 2024
    Print publication:
    23 May 2024
  • Humans have an extraordinary ability to create evolutionarily novel knowledge, such as writing systems and mathematics. This accumulated knowledge over several millennia supports large, dynamic societies that now require children to learn this novel knowledge in educational settings. This Element provides a framework for understanding the evolution of the brain systems that enable innovation and novel learning and how these systems can act on human cognitive universals, such as language, to create evolutionarily novel abilities, such as reading and writing. Critical features of these networks include the top-down control of attention, which is central to the formation of evolutionarily novel abilities, as well as self-awareness and mental time travel that support academic self-concepts and the generation of long-term educational goals. The basics of this framework are reviewed and updated here, as are implications for instructional practices.
Attachment and Parent-Offspring Conflict

Attachment and Parent-Offspring Conflict
  • Origins in Ancestral Contexts of Breastfeeding and Multiple Caregiving
  • Sybil L. Hart
  • Published online:
    12 January 2024
    Print publication:
    01 February 2024
  • This Element builds on the mainstream theory of attachment and contemporary understanding of the environment of evolutionary adaptedness to address the origin and nature of infant-maternal bond formation. Sections 2 and 3 propose that attachment behaviors for protesting against separation and usurpation were compelled by infants' needs for close and undivided access to a source of breast milk, usually mothers, for three years to counter threats of undernutrition and disease that were the leading causes of infant mortality. Since these attachment behaviors would not have been presented unless they were compelled by maternal resistance, their arising is also attributed to parent-offspring conflict. Section 4 theorizes that the affectional nature of infant-maternal attachment originated within contexts of breastfeeding. Uniform and universal features of exclusive versus complementary breastfeeding, that could entail diverse experiences among multiple caregivers, may have shaped adaptations so that love relationships with mothers differ from those with nonmaternal caregivers.
The Evolution of Reputation-Based Cooperation

The Evolution of Reputation-Based Cooperation
  • A Goal Framing Theory of Gossip
  • Rafael Wittek, Francesca Giardini
  • Published online:
    22 November 2023
    Print publication:
    21 December 2023
  • Gossiping and its reputation effects are viewed as the most powerful mechanism to sustain cooperation without the intervention of formal authorities. Being virtually costless, gossiping is highly effective in monitoring and sanctioning norm violators. Rational individuals cooperate in order to avoid negative reputations. But this narrative is incomplete and often leads to wrong predictions. Goal Framing Theory, a cognitive-behavioral approach anchored in evolutionary research, provides a better explanatory framework. Three overarching goal frames (hedonic, gain, and normative) constantly compete for being in our cognitive foreground. This Element argues that for gossip to have reputation effects, a salient normative goal frame is required. But since the hedonic mindset usually trumps gain and normative concerns, most gossip will be driven by hedonic motives and therefore not have strong reputation effects. Propositions on cultural, structural, dispositional, situational, and technological gossip antecedents and consequences are developed and illustrated with evidence from the empirical record.
Superorganism

Superorganism
  • Toward a New Social Contract for Our Endangered Species
  • Peter A. Corning
  • Published online:
    23 June 2023
    Print publication:
    03 August 2023
  • As evidence of our global survival crisis continues to mount, the expression 'too little, too late' comes to mind. We all live in an interdependent world which has an increasingly shared fate. We are participants in an emerging global 'superorganism' that is dependent on close cooperation. Indeed, positive synergy (cooperative effects) has been the key to our evolutionary success as a species. However, our ultimate fate is now in jeopardy. Going forward, we must either create a more effective global society (with collective self-governance) or our species will very likely be convulsed by mass starvation, waves of desperate migrants, and lethal social conflict. The greatest threat we may face is each other, and a regression into tribalism and violent conflict. This Element has a more hopeful prescription for a new global social contract. It is based on the many examples of superorganisms – socially organized species – in the natural world, and in evolution.
An Introduction to Positive Evolutionary Psychology

An Introduction to Positive Evolutionary Psychology
  • Glenn Geher, Megan Fritche, Avrey Goodwine, Julia Lombard, Kaitlyn Longo, Darcy Montana
  • Published online:
    25 April 2023
    Print publication:
    18 May 2023
  • Over the past few decades, evolutionary psychology has shed light on such features of the human experience as mating, love, religion, aggression, warfare, physical health, mental health, and more. The field of positive psychology has progressed along a parallel trajectory, using behavioral science techniques to help our understanding of human thriving at the individual and community levels. Positive Evolutionary Psychology is dedicated to the integration of positive and evolutionary psychology, with an eye toward using Darwinian-inspired concepts to help advance our understanding of human thriving. This Element describes the basic ideas of this new approach to behavioral science as well as examples that dip into various aspects of the human experience, including such topics as health, education, friendships, love, and more–all with an eye toward providing a roadmap for the application of Darwinian principles to better understanding human thriving and the good life.
The Hidden Talents Framework

The Hidden Talents Framework
  • Implications for Science, Policy, and Practice
  • Bruce J. Ellis, Laura S. Abrams, Ann S. Masten, Robert J. Sternberg, Nim Tottenham, Willem E. Frankenhuis
  • Published online:
    24 March 2023
    Print publication:
    06 April 2023
  • Although early-life adversity can undermine healthy development, an evolutionary-developmental perspective implies that children growing up in harsh environments will develop intact, or even enhanced, skills for solving problems in high‐adversity contexts (i.e., 'hidden talents'). This Element situates the hidden talents model within a larger interdisciplinary framework. Summarizing theory and research on hidden talents, it proposes that stress-adapted skills represent a form of adaptive intelligence enabling individuals to function within the constraints of harsh environments. It discusses potential applications of this perspective to multiple sectors concerned with youth from harsh environments, including education, social services, and juvenile justice, and compares the hidden talents model with contemporary developmental resilience models. The hidden talents approach, it concludes, offers exciting directions for research on childhood adversity, with translational implications for leveraging stress-adapted skills to more effectively tailor education, jobs, and interventions to fit the needs of individuals from a diverse range of life circumstances.
Improving Breastfeeding Rates

Improving Breastfeeding Rates
  • Evolutionary Anthropological Insights for Public Health
  • Emily H. Emmott
  • Published online:
    10 February 2023
    Print publication:
    23 February 2023
  • Breastfeeding is championed as an effective way to improve global health, associated with improved health outcomes for children and mothers. Various public health strategies to promote breastfeeding have been developed and implemented for over four decades, yet progress has stagnated, and exclusive breastfeeding rates remain low globally. From an evolutionary anthropological perspective, low breastfeeding rates seem like an 'evolutionary puzzle'; breastfeeding is a behaviour which confers survival and fitness advantage to children and mothers, yet so many mothers do not breastfeed exclusively or at all. Is this a globally maladaptive behaviour? Framing breastfeeding as a maternal investment behaviour, an evolutionary perspective directs us to consider the fitness costs of breastfeeding, together with the role of social learning and cultural norms. Indeed, an evolutionary anthropological perspective provides insights to why some breastfeeding-promotion strategies may have been ineffective, while pointing to potentially promising policies and practices which have been overlooked