My research asks how evolution has shaped human relationships, with a particular focus on women: how they compete, cooperate, choose partners and raise families. I draw on surveys, cross-cultural ethnographic records and analyses of popular culture, and I collaborate with researchers in Canada, Chile, Japan, Norway, the United States and elsewhere in Europe.
Women’s intrasexual competition
The core of my work examines how and why women compete with one another for partners, and the strategies they use, from self-promotion to undermining rivals. I edited The Oxford Handbook of Women and Competition (2017), and recent work offers preliminary evidence that kindness itself can be competitive: Kill them with kindness (Frontiers in Psychology, 2026).
Co-wives and female aggression across cultures
Using ethnographic records from societies around the world, I study rivalry and aggression among women who share a husband. The battle of the brides (Evolution and Human Behavior, 2026) documents co-wife competition and aggression across 19 cultures. My SSHRC Insight Development Grant examines physical aggression as a means of conflict resolution in the Takanakuy of Peru.
Romance fiction and popular culture
Romance novels, their covers and romantic films offer a window into women’s mate preferences. With colleagues, I have analysed Harlequin romance novels and their cover text, and Hallmark Channel films.
Reproduction, family and fertility
Cross-cultural studies with collaborators in Japan and the United States examine how personality and attachment relate to the number of children people have, including Attachment bonds and baby booms (International Journal of Psychology, 2026).
Applying evolutionary psychology
I also apply evolutionary thinking to everyday behaviour, from food choices (To Eat or Not to Eat Meat, 2019) to environmentalism and community-mindedness (Green and generous, Evolutionary Psychology, 2026).
Feminism and evolutionary psychology
Much of my scholarship brings feminist perspectives and evolutionary science into conversation, including Evolution’s Empress: Darwinian Perspectives on the Nature of Women (2013).
For a full list of my work, please see my publications.