Dr Daniel Nettle
Reader in Psychology
- Email: daniel.nettle@ncl.ac.uk
- Telephone: +44(0)191 222 8993
- Website: http://www.danielnettle.info
I am an anthropologist and psychologist with a special interest in how evolutionary theory can illuminate contemporary human behaviour and cognition. My PhD was on the evolution of language(s), and since then I have worked on a number of topics such as mating and marriage, paternal and grandparental investment, personality variation, language and culture, and a host of other topics in evolution and human behaviour.
Research Interests
Reproductive success and sexual selection in contemporary human populations.
Parental and grand-parental investment in humans.
Personality variation and individual differences.
Cultural variation in humans.
Selected Publications
- Nettle, D. Women's height, reproductive success and the evolution of sexual dimorphism in modern humans. Proceedings of the Royal Society B : Biological Sciences 2002, 269(1503), 1919-1923.
- Nettle, D. An evolutionary approach to the extraversion continuum. Evolution and Human Behavior 2005, 26(4), 363-373.
- Nettle, D. Clegg, H. Schizotypy, creativity and mating success in humans. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences 2006, 273(1586), 611-615.
- Haselton, M.G. Nettle, D. The Paranoid Optimist : An Integrative Evolutionary Model of Cognitive Biases. Personality and Social Psychology Review 2006, 10(1), 47-66.
- Nettle, D. The evolution of personality variation in humans and other animals. American Psychologist 2006.
- Bateson M; Nettle D; Roberts G. Cues of being watched enhance cooperation in a real-world setting. Biology Letters 2006, 2(3), 412-414.
Postgraduate Supervision
Helen Clegg, now at the University of Northampton, worked on creativity and sexual selection.
Thomas V. Pollet has investigated kin relations, grandparenting, marriage and sex ratios in the Netherlands, Guatemala, the UK, the USA and China.
Esteem Indicators
I was the Royal Anthropological Institute's 2007 Curl Lecturer. I am an editor of the Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, consulting editor of Evolution and Human Behavior, and on the Editorial Board of Evolutionary Psychology. I have held visiting positions at UCLA and at the University of Jos in Nigeria.
Undergraduate Teaching
I contribute to the BSc in Psychology, specifically in the areas of Evolution and Genetics, and Individual Differences.
