The Evolution of Desire

The groundbreaking, provocative book that uses evolutionary psychology to explain human mating and the mysteries of love.
If we all want love, why is there so much conflict in our most cherished relationships? To answer this question we must look into our evolutionary past, argues prominent psychologist David M. Buss. Based one of the largest studies of human mating ever undertaken, encompassing more than 10,000 people of all ages from thirty-seven cultures worldwide, The Evolution of Desire is the first work to present a unified theory of human mating behavior. Drawing on a wide range of examples of mating behavior -- from lovebugs to elephant seals, from the Yanomamö tribe of Venezuela to online dating apps -- Buss reveals what women want, what men want, and why their desires radically differ. Love has a central place in human sexual psychology, but conflict, competition, and manipulation also pervade human mating -- something we must confront in order to control our own mating destiny.
Updated to reflect the very latest scientific research on human mating, this definitive edition of this classic work of evolutionary psychology explains the powerful forces that shape our most intimate desires.

David M. Buss is professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and the author of many books, including When Men Behave Badly, Why Women Have Sex, The Murderer Next Door, The Dangerous Passion, and the textbook Evolutionary Psychology, now in its fifth edition. He has written for publications including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Psychology Today. He lives in Austin, Texas.