Q.1 Which of the following is a primary application of evolutionary psychology in understanding human mating behaviors?
Studying cultural differences in fashion trends
Analyzing reproductive strategies and mate selection
Examining modern political systems
Tracking dietary preferences
Explanation - Evolutionary psychology applies principles of natural selection to explain mating behaviors, including preferences for traits that signal health and reproductive fitness.
Correct answer is: Analyzing reproductive strategies and mate selection
Q.2 Evolutionary psychology can help explain why humans experience jealousy. Which perspective best aligns with this explanation?
Cultural norms shape jealousy exclusively
Jealousy evolved to protect pair bonds and ensure paternity certainty
Jealousy is a learned response from media
Jealousy occurs randomly with no evolutionary purpose
Explanation - From an evolutionary standpoint, jealousy helps protect relationships that are crucial for reproductive success and parental investment.
Correct answer is: Jealousy evolved to protect pair bonds and ensure paternity certainty
Q.3 Which of the following is an example of applying evolutionary psychology to workplace behavior?
Examining why some employees seek leadership roles due to status and resource control
Tracking weekly sales targets
Analyzing email response times
Studying office furniture arrangements
Explanation - Evolutionary psychology can explain workplace behavior through ancestral drives, such as the pursuit of status and resources that enhance survival and reproduction.
Correct answer is: Examining why some employees seek leadership roles due to status and resource control
Q.4 How can evolutionary psychology be applied in understanding criminal behavior?
By studying media influence on crime
By examining strategies for resource acquisition and mate competition
By analyzing social media trends
By reviewing educational policies
Explanation - Certain criminal behaviors, like aggression or risk-taking, can be viewed as maladaptive expressions of evolutionary strategies for resource acquisition or mating.
Correct answer is: By examining strategies for resource acquisition and mate competition
Q.5 Which area of health psychology has benefited from evolutionary psychology insights?
Understanding eating disorders through evolutionary adaptations related to calorie storage
Tracking heart rate during exercise
Measuring daily step counts
Analyzing sleep schedule preferences
Explanation - Evolutionary psychology suggests that mechanisms for storing calories evolved for survival in food-scarce environments, helping explain some modern eating behaviors.
Correct answer is: Understanding eating disorders through evolutionary adaptations related to calorie storage
Q.6 Evolutionary psychology helps explain why humans tend to fear snakes and spiders. This application is an example of:
Cultural learning
Adaptive phobias
Random behavior
Environmental conditioning
Explanation - Humans evolved to fear certain threats in their ancestral environment; such fears increased survival chances and are an example of adaptive phobias.
Correct answer is: Adaptive phobias
Q.7 Which of the following best illustrates the application of evolutionary psychology in consumer behavior?
Preference for bright colors and high-calorie foods due to ancestral cues signaling energy
Buying products based solely on price
Following advertising trends without preference
Ignoring nutritional labels
Explanation - Evolutionary psychology explains consumer preferences as extensions of ancestral survival strategies, such as seeking high-energy foods.
Correct answer is: Preference for bright colors and high-calorie foods due to ancestral cues signaling energy
Q.8 In evolutionary psychology, the application to parenting suggests that:
Parents invest equally in all children due to social norms
Parental investment is influenced by ensuring the survival of genetically related offspring
Parenting styles are random
Parental behavior is entirely culturally determined
Explanation - Parental investment theory explains that humans evolved to invest resources in offspring to maximize reproductive success.
Correct answer is: Parental investment is influenced by ensuring the survival of genetically related offspring
Q.9 Which application of evolutionary psychology helps explain risk-taking behavior in adolescence?
Adolescents take risks to impress peers, reflecting evolved strategies for status and mating
Risk-taking is purely accidental
Risk-taking is driven by school curriculum
Adolescents avoid risks to conform to norms
Explanation - Evolutionary psychology suggests that risk-taking can serve reproductive goals by demonstrating strength, courage, or status to potential mates.
Correct answer is: Adolescents take risks to impress peers, reflecting evolved strategies for status and mating
Q.10 Which of the following illustrates the evolutionary psychology explanation of gossip?
Gossip helps individuals monitor social alliances and reputations, enhancing survival and cooperation
Gossip is purely for entertainment
Gossip is only learned through media
Gossip has no adaptive function
Explanation - From an evolutionary perspective, gossip is an adaptive behavior for managing social networks and detecting cheaters or allies.
Correct answer is: Gossip helps individuals monitor social alliances and reputations, enhancing survival and cooperation
Q.11 Which of the following evolutionary psychology principles applies to fear of strangers?
Xenophobia as a maladaptive cultural construct
Stranger anxiety evolved to protect against potential threats
Fear of strangers is purely taught by society
Fear of strangers is a modern invention
Explanation - Evolutionary psychology posits that fear of unfamiliar individuals increased survival in ancestral environments by reducing risk from unknown threats.
Correct answer is: Stranger anxiety evolved to protect against potential threats
Q.12 How can evolutionary psychology be applied to understand altruistic behavior?
Altruism evolves to increase the survival of genetically related individuals (kin selection)
Altruism is purely social conditioning
Altruism is random behavior
Altruism occurs only for social approval
Explanation - Kin selection theory explains altruistic behavior as increasing inclusive fitness by helping relatives who share genes.
Correct answer is: Altruism evolves to increase the survival of genetically related individuals (kin selection)
Q.13 Which application of evolutionary psychology explains why humans enjoy storytelling?
Storytelling transmits survival-relevant information and social norms
Storytelling is a recent technological invention
Storytelling serves no evolutionary purpose
Storytelling is a method for entertainment only
Explanation - Storytelling can be seen as an evolved mechanism to share knowledge, teach lessons, and enhance group cohesion.
Correct answer is: Storytelling transmits survival-relevant information and social norms
Q.14 Evolutionary psychology can explain human attraction to symmetrical faces because:
Symmetry signals good health and genetic quality
Symmetry is purely a cultural trend
Symmetry is coincidental
Symmetry is valued only in media portrayals
Explanation - Facial symmetry is often unconsciously used as a cue for genetic fitness and reproductive potential.
Correct answer is: Symmetry signals good health and genetic quality
Q.15 How does evolutionary psychology explain risk-taking in men compared to women?
Men historically benefited from risk-taking to gain resources and mates, influencing modern behavior
Risk-taking is entirely random
Women take more risks due to social roles
Risk-taking is a purely cultural phenomenon
Explanation - Evolutionary pressures favored men who took calculated risks to increase status, access resources, and attract mates.
Correct answer is: Men historically benefited from risk-taking to gain resources and mates, influencing modern behavior
Q.16 Which evolutionary psychology principle can explain the human tendency to form in-groups?
Forming in-groups increased cooperation and survival among familiar individuals
In-groups are a recent cultural invention
In-groups form randomly
In-groups have no evolutionary function
Explanation - Evolutionary psychology suggests that favoritism toward familiar or related individuals enhanced survival and resource sharing.
Correct answer is: Forming in-groups increased cooperation and survival among familiar individuals
Q.17 How is evolutionary psychology applied to understanding human humor?
Humor signals intelligence and social fitness to potential mates
Humor is purely entertainment
Humor has no evolutionary basis
Humor is only culturally defined
Explanation - Humor may serve as a signal of creativity, intelligence, and social competence, which are advantageous in mating contexts.
Correct answer is: Humor signals intelligence and social fitness to potential mates
Q.18 Which evolutionary explanation applies to human preference for high-calorie foods?
Humans evolved to prefer energy-dense foods to survive periods of scarcity
Preference is due to marketing
Preference is a modern invention
Preference is learned in school
Explanation - High-calorie foods provided an evolutionary advantage during times when food was limited, shaping modern taste preferences.
Correct answer is: Humans evolved to prefer energy-dense foods to survive periods of scarcity
Q.19 Which application of evolutionary psychology helps explain male competition?
Men compete to increase access to mates and resources
Men compete because of school assignments
Male competition is purely cultural
Male competition is a modern invention
Explanation - Evolutionary psychology suggests that male competition evolved to enhance reproductive success and status within social hierarchies.
Correct answer is: Men compete to increase access to mates and resources
Q.20 Which application of evolutionary psychology explains why humans cooperate in groups?
Cooperation increased survival through resource sharing and collective defense
Cooperation is a purely legal requirement
Cooperation is accidental
Cooperation is random
Explanation - Group cooperation provided survival advantages in ancestral environments, influencing modern social behavior.
Correct answer is: Cooperation increased survival through resource sharing and collective defense
Q.21 Why is evolutionary psychology useful in understanding mate preferences across cultures?
It identifies universal preferences shaped by reproductive fitness rather than cultural differences alone
It ignores biology entirely
It focuses only on economic factors
It considers culture the only influence
Explanation - Evolutionary psychology highlights traits like health and fertility that are valued across cultures due to their reproductive significance.
Correct answer is: It identifies universal preferences shaped by reproductive fitness rather than cultural differences alone
Q.22 Which of the following is an application of evolutionary psychology in education?
Tailoring learning methods to align with evolved attention and memory mechanisms
Scheduling school holidays
Decorating classrooms
Assigning random homework
Explanation - Evolutionary psychology can inform educational strategies by leveraging innate cognitive tendencies shaped for survival-relevant learning.
Correct answer is: Tailoring learning methods to align with evolved attention and memory mechanisms
Q.23 Which application of evolutionary psychology explains why humans tend to form romantic pair bonds?
Pair bonding increases offspring survival and cooperative parenting
Pair bonding is only for social appearances
Pair bonding is a recent invention
Pair bonding has no functional purpose
Explanation - Long-term bonds allowed cooperative care of offspring, increasing reproductive success and survival.
Correct answer is: Pair bonding increases offspring survival and cooperative parenting
Q.24 How does evolutionary psychology explain human fear responses to heights?
Fear of heights is adaptive to avoid falling and injury, enhancing survival
Fear of heights is purely learned in school
Fear of heights is accidental
Fear of heights is only cultural
Explanation - Evolution favored individuals who avoided dangerous heights, making this fear an adaptive response.
Correct answer is: Fear of heights is adaptive to avoid falling and injury, enhancing survival
Q.25 Which application of evolutionary psychology helps explain cooperative hunting in humans?
Cooperative hunting evolved to maximize food acquisition and strengthen social bonds
Cooperative hunting is purely recreational
Cooperative hunting is a modern invention
Cooperative hunting has no evolutionary basis
Explanation - Cooperative strategies in hunting increased survival success and reinforced social alliances, an adaptive evolutionary behavior.
Correct answer is: Cooperative hunting evolved to maximize food acquisition and strengthen social bonds