Abstract
Although developed in biology to comprehend how organisms evolve, life history theory (LHT) has come to be applied in psychology to understand individual differences in development in response to specific environmental conditions. Due to its heuristic potential for understanding human behavior, this work aimed to describe the assimilation of LHT by psychology, presenting its theoretical and conceptual foundations in this new field, such as the fast-slow continuum, the covariation among psychological traits, and the life history strategies. We discuss, based on empirical works, the theory’s predictions about the influence of environmental unpredictability and harshness on psychological traits. We review studies in the field of development, sexual and antisocial behavior, personality, and psychopathology. Criticisms and counter-criticisms of its use in psychology are also presented. Finally, we list some of the limitations of LHT studies in psychology. We argue that studies in this area can contribute to the development of solutions to current social problems.
Keywords:
evolutionary psychology; developmental environment; plasticity; individual differences