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Religion has been a subject of study for centuries, with scholars approaching this topic from a plethora of perspectives. Applying an evolutionary perspective to the study of religion represents a relatively new approach, and yet the last few decades have seen an impressive collection of hypotheses developed and empirical findings gathered from this perspective. Given the multiple facets and overall complexity of religion, these theoretical and empirical contributions are disparate and even isolated from one another. Some researchers have focused on the cognitive systems and mechanisms that produce religious thoughts and behaviors, others on examining possible adaptive (or maladaptive) functions that religion may serve, and still others on the evolutionary history of specific organized religions and the interaction between evolved psychological mechanisms and the development of specific religious beliefs and behaviors. The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology and Religion offers a comprehensive and compelling review of research in religious beliefs and practices from an evolutionary perspective on human psychology. The chapters explore a number of subtopics within one of three themes: (1) the psychological mechanisms of religion, (2) evolutionary perspectives on the functionality of religion, and (3) evolutionary perspectives on religion and group living. This handbook unites the theoretical and empirical work of leading scholars in evolutionary psychology, religious studies, cognitive science, anthropology, biology, and philosophy to produce an extensive and authoritative review of this literature, summarizing existing work and serving as a guide to the problems that remain to be solved and the debates that remain to be resolved.

Evolutionary psychology --- Religion --- Psychology, Religious --- Psychology and religion --- E-books --- Psychology --- Human evolution --- Religion and psychology

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Although most will be at least somewhat familiar with the biological role hormones play during puberty and pregnancy, many are likely unaware that hormones - chemical messengers that are secreted by cells and that travel through the body to reach specialized receptors - impact multiple aspects of our lives from conception onward. Behavioral endocrinology and evolutionary psychology are complementary disciplines wherein scholars seek to understand human behavior. Evolutionary psychologists contend that human psychology and behavior are functional outcomes of natural and sexual selection pressures encountered in the ancestral environment. In this view, selection pressures designed adaptations of the mind and body, which produce behavior through a variety of psychological, neurological, and physiological mechanisms.

Evolutionary psychology --- Human behavior --- Endocrine aspects