Margo Wilson (1942–2009) was a Canadian

evolutionary psychologist Evolutionary psychology is a theoretical approach in psychology that examines cognition and behavior from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify human psychological adaptations with regards to the ancestral problems they evolv ...

. She was a professor of psychology at McMaster University in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

, Canada, noted for her pioneering work in the field of

evolutionary psychology Evolutionary psychology is a theoretical approach in psychology that examines cognition and behavior from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify human psychological adaptations with regards to the ancestral problems they evolv ...

and her contributions to the study of violence.

Biography

Wilson was born on October 1, 1942, in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Canada. She spent her childhood years in the Gwich'in community of Fort McPherson, where her mother, a nurse, provided medical services. She attended the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

, graduating with an undergraduate degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

in 1964. She then studied behavioural endocrinology at the University of California and, after winning the a

Commonwealth Scholarship The Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP) is an international programme under which Commonwealth governments offer scholarships and fellowships to citizens of other Commonwealth countries. History The plan was originally proposed b ...

, at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where she earned her PhD in 1972. From 1972 through 1975, she was a visiting assistant professor at the University of Toronto, where she met her future husband, fellow psychologist Martin Daly. Together, they moved to Hamilton in 1978 after Daly was hired by McMaster University. In the 1980s, Wilson was appointed professor of Psychology at McMaster, where she remained for the rest of her career. Wilson was elected president of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society in 1997. With Daly, she was, for 10 years, the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the journal ''

Evolution and Human Behavior ''Evolution and Human Behavior'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering research in which evolutionary perspectives are brought to bear on the study of human behavior, ranging from evolutionary psychology to evolutionary anthropol ...

,''. In 1998, she was named a fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. Wilson died in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

on September 24, 2009, of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. In 2009, the Human Behavior and Evolution Society established the Margo Wilson Award (for best paper published in the previous year) to honour her contributions to the field.

Research

In 1978, Wilson proposed the idea to Daly that they could analyze patterns of homicide to better understand humans' social behaviours from an evolutionary perspective. For the next 30 years, Wilson and Daly collaborated on this research, authoring several books and over 100 academic papers and book chapters in this area."Margo Wilson's research shed light on evolutionary psychology"
by

Julia Belluz Julia Belluz is a Canadian journalist who specializes in health and science reporting. She is the senior health correspondent for American news website '' Vox'', as of August 2020. Belluz is known for her reporting on various public health issu ...

, ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', October 1, 2009 Their first book on this topic, ''Homicide'' (1988), has been described as a "founding" and "classic" text for the field of evolutionary psychology. Their second book on homicide, ''The truth about Cinderella'' (1999), summarized their findings on the

Cinderella effect In evolutionary psychology, the Cinderella effect is the phenomenon of higher incidence of different forms of child abuse and mistreatment by stepparents than by biological parents. It takes its name from the fairy tale character Cinderella, whi ...

, which suggests that stepparents are more likely to mistreat children than biological parents.

Selected bibliography

(All books co-authored with Martin Daly) * ''Sex, Evolution, and Behaviour'', Brooks Cole, 1978 (2nd edition 1983), * ''Homicide: Foundations of Human Behavior'', Aldine Transaction, 1988, * ''The truth about Cinderella: A Darwinian view of parental love'', Yale, 1999,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Margo 1942 births 2009 deaths Evolutionary psychologists Human evolution theorists Human Behavior and Evolution Society Canadian women psychologists Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada University of Alberta alumni Alumni of University College London McMaster University faculty People from Winnipeg Scientists from Manitoba 20th-century psychologists 20th-century Canadian women scientists Deaths from cancer in Ontario

Biography

Research

Selected bibliography

See also

References