CHOICE – Current reviews for academic libraries
October 2013 Vol. 51 No. 02
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Geher, Glenn. Mating intelligence unleashed: the role of the mind in sex, dating, and love, by Glenn Geher and Scott
Barry Kaufman. Oxford, 2013. 298p bibl index afp ISBN 9780195396850, $27.95
Geher (SUNY, New Paltz), one of the authors of this delightful and fascinating book, is a tireless promoter ofevolutionary psychology who is the coeditor of two previous books on human mating strategies and the nature of emotional intelligence. Kaufman (New York Univ.) is a researcher with a flair for asking creative and novel questions about human intelligence. They bring together their two areas of interest to propose a new rubric, “mating intelligence,” under which scientists who study human mating should conduct their research. They define mating intelligence as “the entire set of psychological abilities designed for sexual reproduction,” and argue that it is “not a single adaptation” but consists “of dozens or hundreds of distinct psychological processes and learned skills that affect the mating domain based heavily on context.” Breaking away from reductionist evolutionary approaches, the authors focus on individual differences and the crucial role they play in the various contexts in which individuals deploy their mating intelligence. Written with considerable humor and an appreciation for the limitations of the data on which evolutionary explanations of human mating behaviors are based, the book concludes with an ambitious, well-argued set of applications of their theory. An important contribution to the literature. Summing Up: Highly recommended.
All readership levels. — R. R. Cornelius, Vassar College