Andrew George Thomas

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Andrew George Thomas
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NationalityWelsh
Alma mater
  • Cardiff University
  • Swansea University
Occupation
  • Evolutionary Psychologist
  • Senior Lecturer

Dr Andrew G Thomas is a Welsh evolutionary psychologist and a senior lecturer at Swansea University, UK.[1] His research focuses primarily on evolutionary explanations of human mating preferences and how they differ between sexes and cultures.[2][3]

Career and Academic Contributions

Dr Thomas received his undergraduate degree in Psychology from Cardiff University, UK, and then a PhD from Swansea University, UK, where he subsequently started teaching and conducting research in evolutionary psychology and mating preferences in humans. He is currently a senior lecturer at Swansea University, and runs his own lab[1][3].

Among the most prominent pieces of Dr Thomas' work is "The Ape That Thought It Was A Peacock"[4], an academic article where he and his colleagues critique the widely accepted males-compete/females-choose (MCFC) model as a primary sexual selection strategy in our evolutionary history. They argue that this model overemphasises the short-term mating strategy of males focusing on producing as many offspring as possible. Instead, they promote the Mutual mate choice (MMC) model, which describes the mate selection as being mutually discriminating between sexes and better accounts for the amount of involvement in child-rearing in males. Consequently, the perceived sex differences in mating are greatly reduced compared to the WCMC model[5].

Research of Dr Thomas also investigated topics such as the influence of past sexual experiences on perceived attractiveness[6] or comparison of trait-desirability in long-term partners between Eastern and Western countries.[7] Beyond these topics, his lab also produced pioneering research regarding incels (involuntary celibates)[8][9], polygyny[10], and voyeurism[11].

Dr Thomas is a member of Human Behaviour and Evolution Society, European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association, a Chartered member of the British Psychological Society, and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.[12] He is also one of the founding members of Welsh Evolutionary Psychology Network (WEPN)[13].[14]

Media presence

Apart from his academic contributions, Dr Thomas is also known for his twitter page Darwin Does Dating, where he is sharing the latest research in his field.[2] As an expert in evolutionary psychology and human mating, Dr Thomas was interviewed by The Guardian where he criticised the concept of a popular Netflix show Sexy Beasts, saying that it interferes with the evolved mate selection mechanisms and, as a consequence, causes the participants to make suboptimal mating choices[15]. A subsequent article written by Dr Thomas was published in Psychology Today named "Animal Masks Probably Don't Make for Better Dating Decisions", further elaborating on the criticisms raised.[16]

In addition to The Guardian, Dr Thomas' work also appeared in Time, The Daily Mail, The Sun, and he was a guest speaker in BBC's X-Ray, BBC Radio Wales.[2] He was also the first Welsh guest featured on Modern Wisdom podcast.[17]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Dr Andrew Thomas - Swansea University". www.swansea.ac.uk. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Andrew G. Thomas Ph.D. | Psychology Today". www.psychologytoday.com. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "AndrewThomas.org". www.andrewthomas.org. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  4. Stewart-Williams, Steve; Thomas, Andrew G. (2013). "he Ape That Thought It Was a Peacock: Does Evolutionary Psychology Exaggerate Human Sex Differences?". Psychological Inquiry. 24 (3): 137–168. doi:10.1080/1047840X.2013.804899. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  5. Stewart-Williams, Steve (2013). "The ape that thought it was a peacock: Does evolutionary psychology exaggerate sex differences?". Psychological Inquiry. 24: 137. doi:10.1080/1047840X.2013.804899.
  6. Stewart-Williams, Steve; Butler, Caroline A.; Thomas, Andrew G. (2017-11-22). "Sexual History and Present Attractiveness: People Want a Mate With a Bit of a Past, But Not Too Much". Journal of Sex Research. 54 (9): 1097–1105. doi:10.1080/00224499.2016.1232690. ISSN 0022-4499. PMID 27805420.
  7. Thomas, Andrew G.; Jonason, Peter K.; Blackburn, Jesse D.; Kennair, Leif Edward Ottesen; Lowe, Rob; Malouff, John; Stewart-Williams, Steve; Sulikowski, Danielle; Li, Norman P. (June 2020). "Mate preference priorities in the East and West: A cross-cultural test of the mate preference priority model". Journal of Personality. 88 (3): 606–620. doi:10.1111/jopy.12514. ISSN 1467-6494. PMID 31494937.
  8. Costello, William; Rolon, Vania; Thomas, Andrew G.; Schmitt, David (2022-12-01). "Levels of Well-Being Among Men Who Are Incel (Involuntarily Celibate)". Evolutionary Psychological Science. 8 (4): 375–390. doi:10.1007/s40806-022-00336-x. ISSN 2198-9885.
  9. "What Do We Know About Incels? | Psychology Today United Kingdom". www.psychologytoday.com. Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  10. "How Open Are Westerners to Multi-Partner Marriages? | Psychology Today United Kingdom". www.psychologytoday.com. Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  11. Thomas, Andrew George; Stone, Bridie; Bennett, Paul; Stewart-Williams, Steve; Kennair, Leif Edward Ottesen (2021-07-01). "Sex Differences in Voyeuristic and Exhibitionistic Interests: Exploring the Mediating Roles of Sociosexuality and Sexual Compulsivity from an Evolutionary Perspective". Archives of Sexual Behavior. 50 (5): 2151–2162. doi:10.1007/s10508-021-01991-0. ISSN 1573-2800. PMC 8275528. PMID 34231108.
  12. "AndrewThomas.org". www.andrewthomas.org. Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  13. "Dr Andrew Thomas - Swansea University". www.swansea.ac.uk. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  14. "Welsh Evolutionary Psychology Network (WEPN)". evpsych.com. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  15. Hall, Rachel (2021-07-21). "How important is physical attraction? Netflix's Sexy Beasts tries to find out". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  16. "Animal Masks Probably Don't Make for Better Dating Decisions | Psychology Today United Kingdom". www.psychologytoday.com. Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  17. "‎Modern Wisdom: Dr Andrew Thomas - Evolution's Secrets To Understanding Relationships on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2023-07-23.

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