I’ll take it as more likely that an evo psych researcher pointed out the obvious, than an evo psych researcher pointed out the obvious because of his evo psych theory.
But I reject (what seems to be) the intended connotation—that having an evo psych theory would not have a dramatic influence on the probability that a prominent researcher would point out this particular instance of the obvious.
It may be useful to focus on the ‘pointed out’ part. Even allowing that a fact is ‘obvious’ enough that it occurs to everyone, when it comes to pointing things out—particularly in the form of presenting it in a formal research context—incentive matters.
Most people who have proven their ability to gain academic credibility are wise enough to not go around making controversial claims unless they have a personal stake in it. Their intellectual territory must somehow be expanded by the pronouncement. An evo psych researcher potentially gains status by showing a new area where his theory can claim authority.
A non-evo psych researcher is less likely to gain from spouting step-parent risk factors. He or she may even benefit from rejecting the step-parent influence in order to support an entirely situational based model of social behaviour. Whatever it takes to make the situation look more like the kind of ‘nail’ that their clique’s ‘hammer’ is built to handle.
I rather agree with you fully, but you are elaborating ‘because of his evo psych theory’ differently than I intended. The OP’s point appears to be that no one [or at least expert] was aware of the connection, until evo psych created a framework that generated a prediction along those lines, that then allowed people to begin focusing on that connection. That’s the sense I used.
Your political story, along the lines of gravestone to gravestone, I find reasonable and likely.
One would hope so!
But I reject (what seems to be) the intended connotation—that having an evo psych theory would not have a dramatic influence on the probability that a prominent researcher would point out this particular instance of the obvious.
It may be useful to focus on the ‘pointed out’ part. Even allowing that a fact is ‘obvious’ enough that it occurs to everyone, when it comes to pointing things out—particularly in the form of presenting it in a formal research context—incentive matters.
Most people who have proven their ability to gain academic credibility are wise enough to not go around making controversial claims unless they have a personal stake in it. Their intellectual territory must somehow be expanded by the pronouncement. An evo psych researcher potentially gains status by showing a new area where his theory can claim authority.
A non-evo psych researcher is less likely to gain from spouting step-parent risk factors. He or she may even benefit from rejecting the step-parent influence in order to support an entirely situational based model of social behaviour. Whatever it takes to make the situation look more like the kind of ‘nail’ that their clique’s ‘hammer’ is built to handle.
I rather agree with you fully, but you are elaborating ‘because of his evo psych theory’ differently than I intended. The OP’s point appears to be that no one [or at least expert] was aware of the connection, until evo psych created a framework that generated a prediction along those lines, that then allowed people to begin focusing on that connection. That’s the sense I used.
Your political story, along the lines of gravestone to gravestone, I find reasonable and likely.