I originally intended to be a lawyer, but then I took a class with Ross Buck. It was then I realized I wanted to pursue a career in research. After I completed my B.A. in Political Science and Communication Sciences and my M.A. in Communication Sciences at the University of Connecticut, I got my Ph.D. in Psychology at New Mexico State University. After graduation, I taught Personality Psychology, Social Psychology, Evolutionary Psychology, and Introductory Psychology at the University of West Florida and the University of South Alabama. Now I am at Western Sydney University where I specialize in Evolutionary Psychology, Statistics, and Research Methods. In 2014, I won the Ig Nobel award in psychology for my research into the "dark side" of human nature. In 2015, I served visiting scholar positions at Lomonosov Moscow State University and the University of Western Ontario. In 2016, I became a fellow at the Secular Policy Institute and an Affiliated Associate Professor at Florida Atlantic University. In 2018, I served a visiting scholar position at Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński (Warsaw, Poland).
By training I am a social-personality psychologist who uses evolutionary theory to derive predictions and account for observable phenomena in personality, individual differences, mating strategies, and sexuality (see my GoogleScholar Profile). At heart, I am an inter-disciplinarian; I draw upon Psychology, Economics, Biology, Primatology, Anthropology, and Ethology to understand human nature. Concurrently, I collaborate far and wide; one colleague describes me as "promiscuous" in my collaborations (see my CV). Feel free to contact me if you are interested in collaboration (pkjonason@gmail.com).
Peter (PK) Jonason, Ph.D.