Dr Alastair Davies

Since joining Regent’s in January 2011, Alastair has been leader of numerous modules on the B.Sc. programme, Foundation Course, and B.A. programme. For all these, he devised the module handbooks and assessments. In addition, during the 2015 Summer semester, he taught on the M.Sc. programme. In Spring 2011, he helped deliver the first Foundation Course offered at Regent’s by organising the first Research School involving three days of practical research activities.

Alastair also served as a personal tutor to undergraduates during each semester. He participated as a member of the Psychology staff team throughout the validation, re-validation, and BPS accreditation of the B.Sc. Psychology at Regent’s, and has written handbooks for two modules for the forthcoming B.A. Liberal Studies programme.

Alastair’s training is in evolutionary psychology and my empirical research interests are in human mating, specifically infidelity and sex differences. his research has been published in several peer-review journals and has been presented at several academic conferences. He has also written book chapters. He is a regular reviewer for numerous peer-review journals, and is also on the editorial board of the peer-review journal Evolutionary Psychology and a Section Editor of the Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.

Qualifications

Ph.D. (2008) Psychology - Florida Atlantic University

Dissertation title: Sex Wars: Evolved Psychological Sex Differences in the Contexts of Infidelity and Persuasion.

M.A. (2005) Psychology - Florida Atlantic University

B.Sc. (Hons.) (1987) Applied Science - University of Wolverhampton

Relevant Past Employment

August 2004 – May 2008 Instructor, Florida Atlantic University

Teaching & Course Development

• B.Sc. Biopsychology, Module leader
• B.A. Introduction to Psychological Research Methods I, Module leader
• B.Sc. Research Methods and Statistics 3, Module leader
• B.A. Human Origins, Module leader
• B.Sc. Research Methods and Statistics 4, Module leader
• B.Sc. Foundation Research Methods and Statistics, Module leader

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

• Davies, A. P. C., Tratner, A. E., & Shackelford, T. K. (2019). Not clearly defined, not reliably measured, and not replicable: Revisiting the definition and measurement of human mate poaching. Personality and Individual Differences, 145, 103-105.
• Davies, A.P.C., & Shackelford, T.K. (2017). Don’t you wish your partner was hot like me?: The effectiveness of mate poaching across relationship types considering the relative mate values of the poacher and the partner of the poached. Personality and Individual Differences, 106, 32-35
• Davies, A. P. C., & Shackelford, T. K (2015). Comparisons of the Effectiveness of Mate-Attraction Tactics across Mate Poaching and General Attraction and across Types of Romantic Relationships. Personality and Individual Differences, 85, 140-144.
• Doodson, L., & Davies, A. P. C. (2014). Different Challenges, Different Well-Being: A Comparison of Psychological Well-Being Across Stepmothers and Biological Mothers and Across Four Categories of Stepmothers. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 55 (1), 49-63.
• Davies, A. P. C.,Shackelford, T. K., & Hass, G. R. (2010). Sex differences in perceptions of benefits and costs of mate poaching. Personality and Individual Differences, 49, 441-445.
• Davies, A. P. C., Goetz, A. T., & Shackelford, T. K. (2008). Exploiting the beauty in the eye of the beholder: The use of physical attractiveness as a persuasive tactic. Personality and Individual Differences, 45, 302-306.
• Davies, A. P. C., & Shackelford, T. K. (2008). Chimps do it, Homo erectus did it, we do it; and in a rich variety of ways! The Journal of Sex Research, 45, 82-83.
• Davies, A. P. C., Shackelford, T. K., & Hass, G. R. (2007). When a “poach” is not a poach: Redefining human mate poaching and re-estimating its frequency. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 36, 702-716.
• Davies, A. P. C., & Shackelford, T. K. (2006). An evolutionary psychological perspective on gender similarities and differences. American Psychologist, 61, 640-641.
• Davies, A. P. C., Shackelford, T. K., & Goetz, A. T. (2006). “Attached” or “unattached”: With whom do men and women prefer to mate, and why? Psychological Topics, 15, 297-313.

Book Chapters

• Davies, A. P. C., & Shackelford, T. K. (2008). Two human natures: How men and women evolved different psychologies. In C. B. Crawford & D. Krebs (Eds.), Foundations of evolutionary psychology: Ideas, issues and applications (3^rd ed.) (pp. 261-280) Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Davies, A. P. C., Shackelford, T. K., & Goetz, A. T. (2007). An evolutionary psychological perspective on infidelity. In P. R. Peluso (Ed.), Infidelity: A practitioner’s guide to working with couples in crisis (pp. 31-51). New York: Routledge.

Peer-Reviewed Encyclopedic Entries

• Davies, A. P. C. (in press). Concurrent Mate Retention Tactics. In Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.
• Davies, A. P. C. (in press). Compensatory Mate Retention Tactics. In Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

Other Outputs

HONOURS

Florida Atlantic University - 2007 - Daniel Brown Memorial Psychology Graduate Scholarship (awarded to one outstanding, advanced graduate student studying Psychology) 

EDITORIAL ACTIVITIES

• June 2015 – present - Section Editor of the Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.
• Fall 2008 – present - Member of the Editorial Board of the peer-review journal Evolutionary Psychology

OCCASIONAL REVIEWER FOR PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS

Personality and Individual Differences:

January 2016, November 2015, June 2015, March 2015, November, 2014, August 2014,May 2014,December 2013, September 2013, July 2013, August, 2012, May, 2012, November, 2011, June, 2011; May, 2011; April, 2011; March, 2011; August, 2010; June, 2010; January, 2010; November, 2009; August, 2009; June, 2009; February, 2009; July, 2007; January, 2006

Journal of Sex Research:

January, 2008; October, 2007

Journal of Family Issues:

September, 2007

Scholarpedia:

August, 2007

Human Nature:

August, 2006;November, 2005

Evolutionary Psychology:

September, 2006

MISCELLANEOUS

Created the index for the book “Sperm Competition in Humans” (2006, Shackelford, T.K., & Pound, N. (Eds.). New York: Springer)

Conference Papers Given

(refereed on the basis of abstract)

• Davies, A. P. C., & Shackelford, T. K. (2007). The art of persuasion: It depends on your sex. Presented in symposium: “Sexual conflict in humans” (A. T. Goetz & T. K. Shackelford, Co-Chairs), 19th Annual Meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society. College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA.
• Davies, A. P. C., & Shackelford, T. K. (2006). Big pimpin’ and payin’ my bills: Hip-hop and evolved psychological sex differences. 18th Annual Meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
• Davies, A. P. C., Shackelford, T. K., & Hass, G. R. (2005). Human mate poaching: How frequent is it and what motivates it? 17th Annual Meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society. University of Texas at Austin. 

STUDENT MENTORING AND RESEARCH SUPERVISION

Regent's University, London

• Personal tutor to three undergraduates each semester
• Research supervisor to undergraduates conducting their Final Year research project

Florida Atlantic University

• August 2004 – May 2008, mentor for final-year undergraduates.

Research Interests

In my general area of research, I take an evolutionary psychological perspective on human mating. My specific areas of research are mate poaching and infidelity. Mate poaching is said to occur when individuals have sexual relations with individuals whom they know are already in nominally exclusive relationships with others.

In addition, my published research has investigated sex differences in the use of physical attractiveness as a persuasive tactic.

Florida Atlantic University

• 2007    Broward Graduate Council Summer Travel Grant
• 2006    Broward Graduate Council Summer Travel Grant
• 2005    Boca Raton Graduate Council Summer Travel Grant
• 2004    Boca Raton Graduate Council Research Grant

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• Chartered Psychologist within the British Psychological Society (CPsychol)
• Member of the British Psychological Society

• B.Sc. Biopsychology, Module leader
• B.A. Introduction to Psychological Research Methods I, Module leader
• B.Sc. Research Methods and Statistics 3, Module leader
• B.A. Human Origins, Module leader
• B.Sc. Research Methods and Statistics 4, Module leader
• B.Sc. Foundation Research Methods and Statistics, Module leader