How beliefs get in the way of the acceptance of evolutionary psychology

There can be no doubt there is serious resistance to evolutionary psychology (EP) as a theoretical paradigm from both within the field (e.g., social psychology) and in other disciplines (e.g., social sciences). Numerous researchers (Harris, 2003; Eastwick et al., 2014) appear to have made it their objective to show how predictions made and studies conducted by evolutionary psychologists are flawed (and even outright sexist). Such research programs have left evolutionary psychologists scratching their heads with the simple, yet fundamental question of why is everyone not an evolutionary psychologist? We contend there are essentially four different types of psychological resistance to EP, all of which are a function of an individual's philosophical belief systems, whether they are implicit or explicit. The biases are not unique to mainstream psychology or even researchers but, instead, may be endemic in people, more generally. We focus our attention on researchers because we wish to draw attention to biases in those who have been educated to be less biased. Assumptions pervade all of science, what matters is holding the fewest and most reasonable assumptions possible. We feel the theory of evolution offers just that, but there may be a series of psychological blocks that exclude individuals from thinking clearly about evolution in reference to humans and to eschew what evolutionary predictions/findings mean.