Andrew George Thomas, PhD.

News from 2017-2018

30/11/2018 - MSc scholarship on offer
Andrew currently has an MSc by Research scholarship on offer. The student will research harrassment in non-criminal populations using evolutionary psychological theories and will be co-supervised by clinical and forensic psychologist Prof. Jason Davies. The scholarship covers all tuition fees, a stipend, and research/travel budget. Applications close on 10/12/2018 and the studentship starts at the beginning of January. For more information click here.

08/07/2018 - "Lowering Partner Standards in a Short-Term Mating Context"
Andrew's new entry on partner standards in the Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science is out now. The section describes the phenomenon whereby mate standards (particularly male) drop in short-term, relative to long-term, mating contexts. Find the entry here.


29/05/2018 - New Encyclopedia entry coming soon
Andrew has been invited to write a section on mating behaviour for Todd Shackelford and Viviana Weekes-Shackelford's Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. The section describes the phenomenon whereby mate standards (particularly male) drop in short-term, relative to long-term, mating contexts.


18/05/2018 - Coming soon: Steve’s second book, The Ape That Understood the Universe
Andrew's PhD supervisor Dr Steve Stewart-Williams has a new book coming soon. Some prominant academics, who have been given a first look, have some promising things to say! The book can be pre-ordered here (US) or here (UK):

“An eloquent and elegant exploration of human nature in the light of evolution, illuminating many modern social and political dilemmas.”
-Matt Ridley, author of ‘The Red Queen’ and ‘Nature via Nurture’

“A twenty-first-century successor to The Selfish Gene.”
-Lance Workman, co-author of ‘Evolutionary Psychology: An Introduction’

“Stewart-Williams is an exceptionally good writer, a witty and learned guide through challenging but exciting terrain… Read this book for its literary grace, and learn along the way why you are an ape that can understand the universe.”
-Todd Shackelford, Oakland University


26/01/2018 - Research on flexible mating strategies? It's about TIME
Andrew and Steve's latest research article has been picked up by over 30 media outlets, including TIME magazine:


22/01/2018 - Let's have a conversation about mating strategies
Andrew has written a new piece for The Conversation based on his recent article Mating strategy flexibility in the laboratory: Preferences for long- and short-term mating change in response to evolutionarily relevant variables. The piece is an accessible introduction to the idea that humans hold separate preferences for both long- and short-term relationships, and that these preferences can be experimentally manipulated.


20/10/2017 - Mating Flexibility in the Laboratory
Andrew and Steve's latest article has recently been published in Evolution and Human Behavior. The article presents three experiments which demonstrate that short-term and long-term mating preferences can be affected by exposure to the evolutionarily relevant cues (e.g. parental care, resource abundance, and danger.)