John Tooby

John Tooby is a Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), affiliated with the College of Letters and Science. He co-directs UCSB's Center for Evolutionary Psychology (CEP), where his research integrates evolutionary biology, cognitive science, and anthropology to study human nature. His work focuses on psychological adaptations for cooperation, coalitions, and social reasoning, with fieldwork in the Ecuadorian Amazon to study cross-cultural behavioral adaptations.

Education: PhD from Harvard University. Research interests include evolutionary psychology's foundational theories, the evolution of sexual reproduction, and the design of cognitive mechanisms for social exchange. He has authored seminal works like Conceptual Foundations of Evolutionary Psychology and Universal Minds.

Research highlights include mapping cognitive specializations for detecting cheaters, understanding shame and pride as adaptive emotions, and analyzing the evolutionary roots of political behavior. His publications emphasize evolutionary principles in explaining cultural phenomena and social institutions.

Grants and labs: Maintains the CEP field station in the Amazon for cross-cultural studies. Collaborates on projects like the evolutionary basis of morality and the cognitive architecture of anger.