Seven years have passed since Nigel Nicholson published his manifesto for evolutionary psychology (EP) in Human Relations. Given EP’s continued popularity, this article undertakes a timely reappraisal of its assumptions and practical implications. In particular, it assesses EP’s claim to unify the social and natural sciences by establishing a foundation for psychology in the evolutionary biological sciences. I demonstrate that EP is found wanting in both these areas: it cannot satisfy the rigorous demands of experimental evolutionary biology and does not deal well with some of the key problems faced by mainstream psychologists. As a result, EP’s claims as they pertain to management and organizations are speculative and highly normative, despite vigorous protestations to the contrary.
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