A psychology professor from Texas will explore the motives for murder during his April 11 presentation at Rogers State University.
Dr. David Buss, professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, will present “Motives for Murder: Why the Mind is Designed to Kill” at 11:30 a.m., April 11 in the Will Rogers Auditorium on RSU’s Claremore campus. A question and answer session will conclude Buss’s presentation. Following the lecture, a reception will be hosted in Post Hall. Both events are free and open to the public.
Dr. Abe Marrero, department head for RSU’s Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, said Buss will provide unique insight into the motivations for murder.
“The question of why people commit murder is a topic that has burdened humanity from the beginning of recorded history,” Marrero said. “In the social and behavioral sciences, we seek to understand, and hopefully, find ways to mediate this tragic condition of mankind. Dr. Buss, a nationally known evolutionary psychologist, offers an intriguing perspective on the issue. It is yet another piece of the proverbial jigsaw puzzle of understanding human behavior.”
Buss has received numerous honors and has lectured widely in the United States as well as other countries. Buss’s primary interests include the evolutionary psychology of human mating strategies; conflict between the sexes; prestige, status, and social reputation; the emotion of jealousy; homicide; anti-homicidal defenses and stalking.
Buss has been a full professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin since 1996. He is currently the head of the individual differences and evolutionary psychology area and supervises six evolutionary psychology doctoral students.
Buss has published numerous works, including “Personality and Psychology: Recent Trends, Emerging Directions,” “The Dangerous Passion: Why Jealousy is as Necessary as Love and Sex,” “The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating,” “Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind,” The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology,” and “The Murderer Next Door: Why the Mind is Designed to Kill.”
The event is sponsored by the RSU Department of Social and Behavioral Science. For more information, call (918) 343-7683.