Evolutionary Political Psychology: On the Origin and Structure of Heuristics and Biases in Politics

People decide on political issues using judgmental shortcuts called heuristics. What are the origins of these political heuristics? Traditionally, heuristics have been viewed as learned from the structure of elite debates. This article outlines a different view: that many political heuristics are evolved, biological adaptations that helped our ancestors deal with political problems in small-scale social groups. By analyzing these evolved origins, it becomes possible to develop novel, testable predictions regarding the structure of political heuristics. This argument is illustrated through an extensive review of studies on the structure of the socalled deservingness heuristic. The article concludes by outlining four principles that should guide future research on heuristics in political psychology.