Evolutionary Cyberpsychology 2.0: Revisiting Some Old Predictions and Posting Some New Ones in the Age of Facebook

Abstract

(from the chapter) The goal of the present chapter is to revisit some of the predictions of Piazza and Bering (2009), take stock of relevant research conducted in the interim, and offer some ways forward, with a particular eye on the topic of social networking. Our aim is to provide the field with a road map of what has been done in the application of evolutionary psychology (EP) to cyber psychology and to highlight areas that deserve further attention. We have adopted the basic structure used by Piazza and Bering, which covers five broad themes from EP that have direct application for cyberpsychology, including mating, intrasexual competition, parenting and kinship, personal information management, trust and social exchange. We have also added a sixth theme: friendship. We hope our review will illustrate how an evolutionary approach can help illuminate how people conduct themselves in cyberspace. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved)