Objections to evolutionary psychology: Reflections, implications and the leadership exemplar

A recent exchange of articles in Human Relations debated the validity, philosophical coherence and applicability of the ideas of evolutionary psychology (EP), with specific reference, inter alia, to previous writings where the author has sought to apply EP to the field of organizational behaviour. This article aims to analyse key areas of controversy about the logic and assumptions on both sides of the debate and to explore the possibilities for common ground to be found between them. It is argued that this entails an inter-actionist approach to the analysis of individual agency and action, and a co-evolutionary perspective on the social context. Leadership is taken as an exemplar of how this would be applied.