A common thought that runs through the social sciences is that there is no such thing as human nature, but that if there is, it plays such a miniscule role in our daily lives that it can be all together forgotten about (Archer, 1996). Archer (1996) goes on to say that human behavior can be understood in terms of social roles and socialization, that is to say that our behavior is simply a reaction to our environment, social roles (for example mother, father, teacher) and our socialization or culture.
             However sociobiology and later evolutionary psychology came about in opposition to this theory. Sociobiology and took a more biological route claiming that behavior of both humans and animals are due to biological and evolutionary factors. It is mostly interested in the evolution of physical structures. (Archer, 1996). Evolutionary psychology differed from the genetic control orientated sociobiology by stating that behavior was due to current psychological mechanisms and our ability to respond. Evolutionary psychology is more interested in the evolution of behavior. (Archer, 1996). This essay will focus on sociobiology and evolutionary psychology and their principles regarding human nature and behavior.
             Before we explore sociobiology and evolutionary psychology we must clearly understand exactly what human nature is. There is no cut and dry definition, but rather nature can be understood in this context as human behavior and interaction and culture (Smille, 1985). The age old question that sociobiology and evolutionary psychology attempt to answer is 'are humans born with their nature or do humans make their nature?' That is to say that humans are born pre-programmed with how to behave and so on, or are they active agents in forming, molding and changing their behavior day to day?
             Masters (1985) explains that sociobiology and part of evolutionary psychology (also known as the modern Darwinists) consists of five levels. T...