Dean

BSc (Hons) Psychology (First Class Honours) | MSc student Human Evolution and Behaviour @UCL 🦚 Interested in evolutionary approaches to human behaviour.

[Rap Game Edward Bernays @edward_bernayz]

Future @adamcurtisbroll

[William Costello @CostelloWilliam]

The hardest man on television…sits down with @RossKemp to correct some misconceptions about incels.

[Dean @WDRNGTNIA]

"in the end vabbing is really just the smell of a vagina on a wrist."

Devastating.

[Dean @WDRNGTNIA]

"Taken together, these findings refute the core tenets of radical social constructionism: while culture and socialization undoubtedly influence how gender is expressed or policed, they do not overwrite the deep biological underpinnings of sex and gender.
Recognizing this dual reality – honoring both our shared humanity and our biological diversity – allows us to craft policies, educational programs, and clinical practices that respect individual dignity without disregarding scientific truth."

[Rob Sica @robsica]

"this paper has brought together evidence from evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, hormonal studies, cross-cultural surveys, and analyses of sexual orientation to demonstrate that biological factors play a foundational role in shaping sex and gender"

https://t.co/ORxJCtYCTg

[William Costello @CostelloWilliam]

Help my friend get some participants for their research!

Are you 18–25 and enjoy social media content promoting conservative/traditional family values?

Take this 15-min anonymous survey on how social media shapes relationship attitudes.

Link in post below.

[William Costello @CostelloWilliam]

In our new American Psychologist paper, we debunk the decades old zombie idea that evolutionary psychology is unfalsifiable.

🧵

[David Pinsof @DavidPinsof]

Or, as I would put it, most political discourse is bullshit.

[William Costello @CostelloWilliam]

New publication in Evolution and Human Behavior from Buss lab members past and present.

Project started in my 1st year of grad school and led by @RandomMutations.

Men underestimate how upset women feel after partner sexual assault, while women overestimate how upset men feel

[William Costello @CostelloWilliam]

The manosphere accidentally did men a favour.

They mainstreamed a brand of masculinity so consistently repellent to most women that it now functions as a perfect negative model. Just don’t be that guy.

If you use manosphere tactics, the women you attract will reinforce your worst beliefs about women and dating. You’ll get stuck in the anxious attachment style they’re selling. Play silly games win silly prizes.

You don’t need to be a hardcore feminist to avoid this either. Just don’t be ideologically possessed by red pill rhetoric.

[Steve Stewart-Williams @SteveStuWill]

In species where females commonly mate with more than one male in a single fertile period, males evolve enormous testicles.

In species where females mate with just one male in any fertile period, males evolve relatively tiny ones.

How do humans measure up?

[Link below.]

[Dean @WDRNGTNIA]

@CostelloWilliam I remember mentioning the Pham & Shackelford paper on this similar subject to my class once, they were very freaked out 😂

[Dean @WDRNGTNIA]

Lifelong sexlessness is genetically correlated with higher IQ and education, lower substance use, and autism spectrum traits, though these are tentative patterns as the social environment also matters a lot.

More research on the effect partner formation is having on fertility rates is encouraging.

https://t.co/Bzf5BUbsN1

"Life without sex: Large-scale study links sexlessness to physical, cognitive, and personality traits, socioecological factors, and DNA" (Abdellaoui et al., 2025)

[Dean @WDRNGTNIA]

@CostelloWilliam I don't think GP's should be so confidently talking about scientific evidence, considering there's no incentive for them to actually engage with current literature outside their basic training refreshers

[Macken @MackenMurphy]

Critics use findings like "weather is heritable" to mock behavior genetics.

"Genes can't change weather, so if it's heritable that suggests an issue with your study design!"

But it's not that your genes change your weather.
They influence your perception and your location.

[Dean @WDRNGTNIA]

I sometimes (mostly jokingly) get called right-wing because I value free speech and academic freedom, understand the importance of biological sex, love evolutionary psychology, enjoy transgressive 'edgy' humour, and don't spew reactionary emotional takes about Trump. Yet, I have always identified as socially libertarian and economically left of centre.

I wonder how these kinds of attitudes would fair if questionnaires like this one were updated to reflect contemporary shifts in political affiliation and ideology.

Can ideology really still be measured accurately in a way that reflects the current scattered climate, when modern politics is such a mismatched blend that “left” and “right” often lose their meaning?

[Dean @WDRNGTNIA]

@Sachieehkun I fear AI will begin to dictate and influence tastes and trends with how much is being unknowingly consumed now. I suspect this is already happening in writing.

[William Costello @CostelloWilliam]

Good thread detailing some new YouGov figures showing that the fretting about the rabid misogyny of Gen Z teenagers and influence of Andrew Tate may actually be a massive moral panic.

[Dean @WDRNGTNIA]

As a long time listener, it’s great to hear @yorl and @minzlicht back together for a brilliant conversation.

@fourbeerspod's latest episode discusses @nature’s decision to require "citation diversity statements". Passionate but measured takes, really enjoyed listening.

https://t.co/TqyaEhpLUj

[Dean @WDRNGTNIA]

@CostelloWilliam Probably NEO PI-R or the WAIS