Sex, murder, and the meaning of life : a psychologist investigates how evolution, cognition, and complexity are revolutionizing our view of human nature / Douglas T. Kenrick.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Standing in the gutter : how did an innocent young student accidentally fall in with a band of intellectual revolutionaries? -- Why playboy is bad for your mental mechanisms : when is beauty bad for you? -- Homicidal fantasies : why have most of us had at least one fantasy about committing murder? -- Outgroup hatred in the blink of an eye : why can't we all just get along? -- The mind as a coloring book : why doesn't cultural variation support the blank slate view of the mind? -- Subselves : the three faces of thee -- Reconstructing Maslow's pyramid : where are the missing bricks in the classic pyramid of needs? -- How the mind warps : why do men and women forget different people and regret different things? -- Peacocks, Porsches, and Pablo Picasso : why do men go out of their way to avoid a Consumer Reports best buy? -- Sex and god : when is godliness just another mating strategy? -- Deep rationality and evolutionary economics : why are behavioral economists only half right when they say that our economic choices are irrational? -- Bad crowds, chaotic attractors, and humans as ants : why your parents were right about the company you keep -- Conclusion: looking up at the stars : how does research on unsavory and taboo topics converge into a grand view of human nature and answer the question : what is the meaning of life?

The founder of social evolutionary psychology argues that many apparently ingrained human behaviors--including prejudice, over-consumption, and religious devotion--are actually easier to explain and avoid than one would imagine.