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Bad Men: The Hidden Roots of Sexual Deception, Harassment and Assault
Sexual conflict permeates ancient religions, from injunctions about thy neighbor's wife to the sexual obligations of marriage. It is etched in written laws that dictate who can and cannot have sex with whom. Its manifestations shape our sexual morality, evoking approving accolades or contemptuous condemnation. It produces sexual double standards that flourish even in the most sexually egalitarian cultures on earth. And although every person alive struggles with sexual conflict, most of us see only the tip of the dating deception, a politician's unsavory grab, the slow crumbling of a once-happy marriage, a romantic breakup that turns nasty.Bad Men shows that this "battle of the sexes" is deeper and far more pervasive than anyone has recognized, revealing the hidden roots of sexual conflict -- roots that originated over deep evolutionary time -- which characterise our sexual psychology. Providing novel insights into our minds and behaviours, Bad Men presents a unifying new theory of sexual conflict and offers practical advice for men and women seeking to avoid it.
337 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 1, 2021
About the author
David M. Buss
49 books632 followersDavid M. Buss is a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, known for his evolutionary psychology research on human sex differences in mate selection.
Buss earned his PhD in psychology at University of California, Berkeley in 1981. Before becoming a professor at the University of Texas, he was assistant professor for four years at Harvard University, and he was a professor at the University of Michigan for eleven years.
The primary topics of his research include mating strategies, conflict between the sexes, social status, social reputation, prestige, the emotion of jealousy, homicide, anti-homicide defenses, and—most recently—stalking. All of these are approached from an evolutionary perspective. Buss is the author of more than 200 scientific articles and has won many awards, including an APA Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology in 1988 and an APA G. Stanley Hall Lectureship in 1990.
Buss is the author of a number of publications and books, including The Evolution of Desire, The Dangerous Passion, and The Murderer Next Door, which introduces a new theory of homicide from an evolutionary perspective. He is also the author of Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind, whose fourth edition was released in 2011. In 2005, Buss edited a reference volume, The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology. His latest book is Why Women Have Sex, which he coauthored with Cindy Meston.
Buss is involved with extensive cross-cultural research collaborations and lectures within the U.S.
Education:
Ph.D.University of California,Berkeley:1981
B.A.University of Texas, Austin: 1976
Academic Employment History:
1996-Present Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin.
1991-1996 Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan.
1985-1991 Associate Professor: Department of Psychology, University of Michigan.
1981-1985 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Harvard University (promoted to Associate Professor, Harvard, 1985)
Buss earned his PhD in psychology at University of California, Berkeley in 1981. Before becoming a professor at the University of Texas, he was assistant professor for four years at Harvard University, and he was a professor at the University of Michigan for eleven years.
The primary topics of his research include mating strategies, conflict between the sexes, social status, social reputation, prestige, the emotion of jealousy, homicide, anti-homicide defenses, and—most recently—stalking. All of these are approached from an evolutionary perspective. Buss is the author of more than 200 scientific articles and has won many awards, including an APA Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology in 1988 and an APA G. Stanley Hall Lectureship in 1990.
Buss is the author of a number of publications and books, including The Evolution of Desire, The Dangerous Passion, and The Murderer Next Door, which introduces a new theory of homicide from an evolutionary perspective. He is also the author of Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind, whose fourth edition was released in 2011. In 2005, Buss edited a reference volume, The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology. His latest book is Why Women Have Sex, which he coauthored with Cindy Meston.
Buss is involved with extensive cross-cultural research collaborations and lectures within the U.S.
Education:
Ph.D.University of California,Berkeley:1981
B.A.University of Texas, Austin: 1976
Academic Employment History:
1996-Present Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin.
1991-1996 Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan.
1985-1991 Associate Professor: Department of Psychology, University of Michigan.
1981-1985 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Harvard University (promoted to Associate Professor, Harvard, 1985)
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 30, 2023
Mycket bra. Rekommenderar starkt. Evolutionspsykologi är fan ett starkt komplement till andra förklaringsmodeller. Många fenomen i boken som belyser viktiga könsskillnader vilket inte kan förstås bättre ut ett evolutionärt perspektiv. En bok man kommer återvända till när man har fastnat i ”hur var det nu igen?”; efter att ha testat ett resonemang på fyllan med sina kvinnokompisar som blir rosenrasande (högst troligt av att jag formulerar och återger resonemanget/fyndet klumpigt och inkorrekt pga given promillehalt)
March 11, 2024
Terrifying
June 7, 2022
This was an extremely fascinating book. The title is actually a bit misleading because it is not all about how men are "bad" in their behaviour. Instead, this book focuses on men and women equally, and the evolutionary drives behind the mating behaviours of heterosexual couples.
It has cleared up for me the motives behind a lot of the puzzling, and poor, romantic behaviours by both men and women. The motivations have been developed by thousands of years of evolutionary adaptations, and Buss cites many studies to back up his conclusions. In fact it is his own specialist area of study.
Although the conclusions reached in this book may make it seems like the evolutionary behaviour is inevitable, Buss strives to convey that only by an awareness of the evolutionary motivations can we consciously strive to correct them, especially when it comes to harmful behaviour by men against women and girls.
A fascinating read for anyone who has ever puzzled over the mystery of the romantic relations between men and women.
It has cleared up for me the motives behind a lot of the puzzling, and poor, romantic behaviours by both men and women. The motivations have been developed by thousands of years of evolutionary adaptations, and Buss cites many studies to back up his conclusions. In fact it is his own specialist area of study.
Although the conclusions reached in this book may make it seems like the evolutionary behaviour is inevitable, Buss strives to convey that only by an awareness of the evolutionary motivations can we consciously strive to correct them, especially when it comes to harmful behaviour by men against women and girls.
A fascinating read for anyone who has ever puzzled over the mystery of the romantic relations between men and women.
August 22, 2021
This is a thought provoking look at human sexual behaviour through the lens of evolutionary adaptations. While I found much of the conclusions confronting and even disquieting, it was definitely a helpful process to view human behaviour through this different perspective. David peels away the moral compass and removes cultural practices to consider why men and women behave the way they do. There are some very useful insights such as men's propensity to over perceive women's interests and intentions. He had some useful suggestions to avoid sexual coercion. But overall the book left me feeling somewhat dismayed and perhaps even a little hopeless. It's not for the feint-hearted, not a light read, but definitely something to learn.
August 23, 2021
I came by this author on a Sam Harris podcast recently . This is a really fascinating book. The title is dramatic (and probably effective, clickbait and all) but genuinely speaking this is really different. It's essentially a biology book. It dives into the evolutionary origins of how relationships form, how people evaluate potential mates, and then, as the title suggests, how those biological drivers inform a lot of the suffering we see in terms of sexual assault.
This will be confronting, jarring and thought provoking to read. Which is why it's so fascinating.
This will be confronting, jarring and thought provoking to read. Which is why it's so fascinating.
August 20, 2022
Harshly but refreshingly sharp, this book takes a bluntly biological, logical and amoral dive into sexual assault. I found the final section to be most impactful, and understand better the need for education on male over perception biases leading to sexual assaults. However, I did feel that the book lacked in research on alternative sexualities - but this is more a problem in wider psychology than one confined to Buss’s discussion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews