David Buss's Biography(Photos)

David M.Buss Ph.D. (born April 14, 1953) is a
professor of psychology at The University of

Evolution of Desire, The Dangerous Passion,
The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology and

Texas at Austin, known for his evolutionary
psychology research on human sex differences

The Murderer Next Door, which introduces a
new theory of homicide from an evolutionary

in mate selection.
David M.Buss probably the foremost

perspective. He is also the author of
Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of

evolutionary psychologist in the world.

the Mind which is currently in its third
edition and was released in 2007. In 2005,

David Buss is a full professor of psychology
at the University of Texas. He is currently

Buss edited a definitive reference volume,
The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology. His

the head of the Individual Differences and
Evolutionary Psychology Area and supervises a

latest book is entitled Why Women Have Sex,
coauthored with Cindy Meston.

lab of evolutionary psychology Ph.D.
students.

Buss is involved with extensive

After completing his doctorate in 1981 at the

cross-cultural research collaborations and
lectures within the U.S. His hobbies include

University of California, Berkeley, David
Buss spent four years as Assistant Professor

tennis, squash, disc golf, and he is an avid
film buff.

at Harvard University. In 1985, he migrated
to the University of Michigan, where he

Act Frequency Approach

taught for 11 years before accepting his
current position at the University of Texas

In science, it has proven to be very
difficult, if not impossible, to find exact

in 1996. His primary interests include the
evolutionary psychology of human mating

definitions for concepts of layman
psychology, by either stating the conditions

strategies; conflict between the sexes;
prestige, status, and social reputation; the

that constitute a certain personality trait,
or by exhaustively listing all the acts that

emotion of jealousy; homicide; anti-homicide
defenses; and stalking.

identify a bearer of that trait. What exactly
defines an individual as "creative",

The primary topics of his research include

"humorous", or "ambitious"? Equally difficult
is the measurement of how strongly a trait is

mating strategies, conflict between the
sexes, status, social reputation, prestige,

pronounced in an individual. As a solution,
Buss and K. H. Craik (1980) proposed to

the emotion of jealousy, homicide,
anti-homicide defenses, and most recently

introduce prototype theory into personality
psychology.

stalking. All of these are approached from an
evolutionary perspective. Buss is the author

First, a group of people is asked to list

of more than 200 scientific articles and has
won many awards. Some of these awards include

acts that a person bearing the trait in
question would show. Next, a different group

American Psychological Association (APA)
Distinguished Scientific Award for Early

of people is asked to name from that list
those acts that are most typical for the

Career Contribution to Psychology in 1988 and
APA G. Stanley Hall Lectureship in 1990.

trait. Then the measurement is conducted by
counting the number of times (within a given

period of time), a proband performs the
typical acts.