Steve Stewart-Williams (Ph.D.)
Lecturer in Psychology
Swansea University
Phone: +44 (0) 1792 602681
SU
Webpage Academia.edu
Homepage Project Steve
I’m a lecturer in
evolutionary psychology at Swansea University. My research
revolves around the idea that theories from evolutionary biology can shed light
on human psychology. In particular, I’m interested in the evolutionary origins
of altruistic behaviour and human mating behaviour. I also have a long-standing
interest in the philosophical implications of evolutionary theory and
evolutionary psychology. Before moving to Wales, I spent two years as a
postdoctoral fellow at McMaster University
in Canada, working in the lab of Martin Daly
and Margo Wilson,
and before that I did a Ph.D. in psychology and philosophy at Massey
University in New Zealand.
I also briefly
pursued a career as a musician and put together an album of my songs; click here for a sample. (I like “Won’t Stop
till We Get Home” best.) I was born and raised in
Current Teaching
Level 1: Social
and Developmental Psychology
Level 3: Evolutionary
Psychology
Forensic
Psychology
Academic Employment
2007-present. Lecturer in
Psychology. Department of Psychology, Swansea
University.
2006. Sessional
Lecturer. Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour,
Course
Taught: General Experimental Psychology
Laboratory.
2005-2007. Post-Doctoral
Research Fellow. Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour,
Mentors: Martin Daly and
Margo Wilson
2004. Sessional Lecturer.
Course Taught: Introduction to
Psychological Research
2004. Research
Assistant.
2001-2004. Graduate
Assistant.
Education
Doctoral
Thesis: Evolutionary
psychology and the innate ideas debate (Chief Supervisor: John Podd, Ph.D.)
B.A. Honours, First Class.
Honours Thesis: The perception,
evaluation, and interpretation of aggression: Influence of gender of aggressor,
target, and observer (Supervisor: Ross Flett, Ph.D.)
B.A. in Social
Science.
Awards and Honours
2009. Joseph Lister Social Sciences Award
Lecture (Runner-Up)
2008. British Academy Overseas
Conference Grant.
2005-2007. New Zealand Science and Technology
Post-Doctoral Fellowship.
2001-2004. Bright Future Top Achiever Doctoral Scholarship.
2001. Massey Extramural Students’
Society Scholarship.
2001. Massey Doctoral Scholarship.
2001-2004. Shirtcliffe Fellowship.
2001-2004. William Georgetti Scholarship.
2000. Massey Scholar.
2000.
1999. Freemasons Scholarship.
Publications
a. Books
Stewart-Williams, S. (in
press). Darwin,
God and the meaning of life: How evolutionary theory
undermines everything you thought you knew. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
b. Refereed
Journal Articles / Book Chapters (click on title to download)
Brain, P. F., & Stewart-Williams, S.
(in press). The evolution of emotion. In G. Koob, R. F.
Thompson, & M. Le Moal (Eds.), Encyclopaedia of
Behavioral Neuroscience. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Starratt, V. G., Goetz, A. T., Shackelford, T. K., McKibbin, W. F., &
Stewart-Williams, S. (2008). Men’s
partner-directed insults and sexual coercion in intimate relationships. Journal of Family Violence,
23, 315-323.
Stewart-Williams, S.
(2008). Human beings as
evolved nepotists: Exceptions to the rule and effects of cost of help. Human Nature, 19, 414-425.
McKibbin, W. F., Goetz,
A. T., Shackelford, T. K., Schipper, L. D., Starratt, V. G., &
Stewart-Williams, S. (2007). Why do men insult
their intimate partners? Personality
and Individual Differences, 43,
231-241.
Stewart-Williams, S. (2007). Altruism among kin
vs. nonkin: Effects of cost of help and reciprocal exchange. Evolution and Human Behavior, 28, 193-198.
Goetz, A. T.,
Shackelford, T. K., Schipper, L. D., & Stewart-Williams, S. (2006). Adding insult
to injury: Development and initial validation of the partner-directed insults
scale. Violence and Victims, 21, 691-706.
Stewart-Williams, S., Podd, J., & Hill, S. R. (2006). Elements of an
evolved conceptual framework. In C. M. Fletcher-Flinn & G. M. Haberman
(Eds.), Cognition and language: Perspectives from New Zealand (pp.
227-238).
Whittington, C. J., Podd, J., & Stewart-Williams, S. (2006). Memory
deficits in Parkinson’s disease.
Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 28, 738-754.
Lamont, A. C., Stewart-Williams, S., & Podd, J. (2005). Face
recognition and aging: Effects of target age and memory load. Memory and Cognition, 33, 1017-1024.
Stewart-Williams, S. (2005). Fitting data to theory: The contribution
of a comparative perspective.
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 28, 293-294.
Stewart-Williams, S. (2005). Innate ideas as a
naturalistic source of metaphysical knowledge. Biology and Philosophy, 20, 791-814.
Stewart-Williams, S. (2004). Life after
Stewart-Williams, S. (2004). The placebo puzzle:
Putting together the pieces. Health
Psychology, 23, 198-206.
Stewart-Williams, S., & Podd, J. (2004). The placebo
effect: Dissolving the expectancy versus conditioning debate. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 324-340.
Stewart-Williams, S., & Podd, J. (2004). Placebo
psychotherapies and nonconscious learning in the placebo effect: Reply to
Kirsch (2004). Psychological
Bulletin, 130, 344-345.
Stewart-Williams, S. (2003).
Stewart-Williams, S. (2002). Gender, the
perception of aggression, and the overestimation of gender bias. Sex Roles, 46,177-189.
c. Other
Publications
Stewart-Williams, S. (2004, August). Can
an evolutionist believe in God? Philosophy Now, 47, 19-21. (Cover
story)
Stewart-Williams, S. (2004, March).
Stewart-Williams, S. (2004). Dividing up the flow of experience [Review
of the book Concepts: Core readings]. Journal of Consciousness
Studies, 11, 79-80.
Stewart-Williams, S. (2003). Life from non-life: Must we accept a
supernatural explanation? The Skeptic, 16, 12-16. (Cover story)
Stewart-Williams, S. (2002, December). Life after death. Philosophy
Now, 39, 22-25.
Conference Presentations / Public Lectures
Stewart-Williams, S. (2010, February). Darwin,
God, and the meaning of life: The philosophical implications of evolutionary
theory. Public lecture presented at the bi-weekly
meeting of Agora, Swansea, UK.
Stewart-Williams, S. (2009, September). Life after Darwin: How evolutionary theory changed the world.
Public lecture presented at the monthly meeting of the British Federation of
Women Graduates, Swansea, UK.
Stewart-Williams, S. (2009, August). Darwin,
God and the meaning of life. Paper presented at Massey University,
Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Stewart-Williams, S. (2009, February). Darwin, God and the meaning of life: How evolution
undermines everything you thought you knew. Public lecture presented at Swansea University, Swansea, UK.
Stewart-Williams, S. (2008, June). Human beings as evolved nepotists:
Exceptions to the rule and effect of cost of help. Paper presented at the
Human Behavior and Evolution Society (HBES) 2008 Conference, Kyoto, Japan.
Stewart-Williams, S. (2007, October). Why are we nice? The evolution of altruistic behaviour. Presented
at Swansea University, Swansea, UK.
McKibbin, W. F., Goetz, A. T., Shackelford, T. K., Schipper, L. D.,
Starratt, V. G.,& Stewart-Williams, S. (2006, June). Why do men insult
their intimate partners? Poster presented at the Human Behavior and
Evolution Society (HBES) 2006 Conference,
Stewart-Williams, S. (2006, June). Kinship, friendship, and helping:
Effects of relatedness, cost of helping, and reciprocal exchange history.
Paper presented at the Human Behavior and Evolution Society (HBES) 2006
Conference,
Stewart-Williams, S. (2006, May). Altruism among kin vs. non-kin.
Paper presented at the Ontario Ecology and Ethology Colloquium (OEEC) 2006,
Stewart-Williams, S. (2006, April). Prosocial behaviour among kin vs.
non-kin: Effects of relatedness, cost of helping, and reciprocal exchange
history. Paper presented at the 8th Annual Darwinian Day 2006,
Stewart-Williams, S. (2004, August). Theories of the placebo effect.
Paper presented at the 28th International Congress of Psychology,
Stewart-Williams, S, & Hill, S. R. (2004, August). Silencing
roosters and skinning cats: The evolutionary origin of causal reasoning.
Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the New Zealand Psychological
Society,
Stewart-Williams, S. (2003, August). The placebo effect: Expectancy
versus conditioning debate. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the
New Zealand Psychological Society, Palmerston North, New Zealand. (Invited
speaker.)
Graduate Students Supervision/Examination
2009: External
examination of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, New Zealand
(Peter Clemerson, MA awarded).
2009: External
examination of PhD in Psychology at University of Sydney, Australia (Ben Colagiuri,
PhD awarded).
2008-present:
Supervision of PhD in Psychology at Swansea University (Mandy Gibson, in
progress).
2008-present: Secondary supervision of PhD in Psychology at Swansea
University (Alice Hoon, in progress).
2008-present:
Supervision of PhD in Psychology at Swansea University (Andrew Thomas, in
progress).
2007: Internal
examination of PhD in Psychology at Swansea University, Wales (Christine Dobbs,
PhD awarded).
Membership in Professional Associations
Animal Behavior
Society
Association for
Psychological Science
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Associate Member
Council for Secular Humanism, Associate Member
Human Behavior
and Evolution Society
Medical Science
Monitor International Reviewers Panel
New Zealand
Psychological Society
Society for Personality and Social Psychology
Society for
Philosophy and Psychology
Professional Activities
Committee Membership / Service
Departmental Ethics Committee, Department of Psychology, Swansea University, 2009-present.
Staff-Student Consultative Committee, Department of Psychology, Swansea University, 2007-present.
Undergraduate Admissions Team, Department of Psychology, Swansea University, 2007-2009.
Undergraduate Coordinating Committee, School of Psychology, Massey
University, 2004.
Editorial Consulting/Reviewing
Peer-Reviewed Journals:
Aggression.
Aggressive Behavior.
Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
Behaviour Research and Therapy.
Behavioural Processes.
Biology and Philosophy.
Clinical Trials.
Evolution and Human Behavior.
Evolutionary Psychology.
Health Psychology.
Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
Journal of Psychosomatic Research.
The Lancet.
Memory.
New Zealand Journal of Psychology.
Psychological Science.
Science.
Sex Roles.
Book Publishers:
Cambridge University Press.
Elsevier.
Pearson.
Sage Publications.
Wiley-Blackwell.
Grant Reviewing
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC),
UK.
Swiss National Science Foundation.
US-Israel Binational Science Foundation.
Media Consultancy
BBC Radio Wales, “Good Morning Wales” programme. Interviewed about
Charles Darwin on 200th anniversary of his
birth, 2009. (Starts at 2:24 minutes into the programme.)
South Wales Evening Post. Interviewed about “Darwin,
God and the Meaning of life” public lecture, 2009.
Daily Mail. Interviewed for article "Why do clever women fall for second-rate men?", 2008.
Vogue magazine. Consultation by Helen Kirwan-Taylor
on verbal conflict in relationships, 2008.
Brainiac (UK science TV show). Consultation on
evolutionary explanations for altruism among strangers, 2007.
El Colombiano (Colombian newspaper).
Consultation by Ramiro
Velasquez on patterns of altruism among kin vs. nonkin, 2007.
Your
Workplace magazine. Consultation
by Lorraine Aston on the evolutionary origins of nepotism in the workplace,
2006.
Pesquisa
Fapesp (Brazilian popular
science magazine). Consultation by Ricardo Zorzetto for the article “Imaginary
Remedies: Expectation and Conditioning Explain Why a Placebo Sometimes Works, 2004.