Customer Reviews

Dangerous Passion

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David Buss is an excellent author and scholar in the area of evolutionary biology. This book takes a lot of work he has already done and presents it in a way that explains jealousy that is plausible in terms of evolutionary logic.

The heart of this author's theory is a model of human sexuality where each sex pursues both a long term and short term mating strategy. In general, males are looking to maximize mating opportunities because they don't have much risk if they participate in short term mating. This behavior increases their chances of passing their genes on.

According to Buss, women also pursue a short term strategy, but this involves coupling with higher status males more selectively. This is because a possible pregnancy represents more risk to a primitive woman. Her long term strategy involves an ongoing relationship with a male who will provide steady resources, but may not have genes that are top notch.

In short, women can maximize their chances of passing on their genes, procuring the best genes and surviving by having a steady partner and cheating with a higher status male. This male would be available to provide resources in the event her lover got killed on a hunt or possibly during times of famine.

Because a woman always knows that a baby is her own, she is more concerned with emotional infidelity because it represents a risk that she might be abandoned or resources might be diverted to another woman. In the case of a man, he can not be sure he is the father, so he is more concerned with sexual fidelity. This dynamic sets up a scenario where jealousy plays a complex role at increasing attraction, longing, etc.

A lot of the material in this book is the same as in the "Evolution of Desire." That is partly why I rated this book a four. I also think it isn't as well thought out or presented as the "Evolution of Desire."

I would definitely buy this book again, but I don't think it takes the full complexity of the phenomenon of jealousy into account. For this, I would complement this book with "Your Erotic Mind" by Jack Morin. From there, I would see where you wanted to branch out to get a more integral view.

I don't think Evolutionary Biology fully explains the phenomenon of jealousy, but it certainly sheds light on some important human tendencies. "Your Erotic Mind" starts where this book leaves off and gives a more well-rounded view.

For my money, Dr. David Buss is one of the most important psychologists in the world. The Evolution of Desire is quoted constantly by authorities of all different stripes in regards to human sexuality. I first read it in 1999 but did not get around to opening The Dangerous Passion until last month. It was written with laymen in mind and explains numerous politically incorrect facts about jealousy (although, aren't most facts politically incorrect?). Indeed, he even has a subchapter entitled "Is Domestic Violence Adaptive" which is not a question you'll ever hear the mainstream media pose. Some tenets of evolutionary psych are presented here such as "Mommy's baby, daddy's maybe," and the Concorde Fallacy. As expected, Buss's narration is a strength as he's a clever writer. Also, excelsior is the research. He examines trends in places as diverse as America, Korea, the Netherlands, and Jamaica. The Dangerous Passion was dangerous to put down. I highly recommend it.