Research

Selected publications are listed below. See my CV for full record.

Students interested in getting involved in my research can fill out an application.

Peer-reviewed articles

Tyner, A. H., Abatayo, A. L., Daley, M., Field, S., Fox, N., Haber, N. A., Hahn, K. M., Kline Struhl, M., Mawhinney, B., Miske, O., Silverstein, P., Soderberg, C. K., Stankov, T., … 280 alphabetically-listed contributors including Durkee, P. K., … Nosek, B. A., & Errington, T. M. (2026). Investigating the replicability of the social and behavioral sciences. Nature.

Durkee, P. K., Graves^†, P. A., Rodriguez^‡, N. R. (2026). Toward a mechanistic account of personality: A case study of competitor derogation accuracy and the Dark Triad. Evolution and Human Behavior.

Costello, W., Sedlacek, A. G. B., Durkee, P. K., Crosby, C. L., Hahnel-Peeters, R. K., & Buss, D. M. (2026). Beyond falsifiability: Evolutionary psychology’s many theoretical strengths. American Psychologist. [Response to commentaries]

Costello, W., Sedlacek, A. G. B., Durkee, P. K., Crosby, C. L., Hahnel-Peeters, R. K., & Buss, D. M. (2026). Evolutionary psychology hypotheses are testable and falsifiable. American Psychologist. [Target article]

Durkee, P. K., Buss, D. M. (2025). Hierarchy navigation: Individual differences in tactics, strategies, and traits. Human Nature.

Durkee, P. K. (2025). Measuring personality traits: Simulations exploring (mis)alignment between methods and measurands. Journal of Research in Personality.

Alger, I., Gavrilets, S., Durkee, P. K. (2024). Proximate and ultimate drivers of norms and norm change. Current Opinion in Psychology.

Landers, M., Sznycer, D., Durkee, P. K. (2024). Are self-conscious emotions about the self? Testing competing theories of shame and guilt across two disparate cultures. Emotion.

Durkee, P. K., Lukaszewski, A. W. (2024). Deconstructing “dominance” to refine leadership research. Evolution and Human Behavior.

Alberhasky, M., Durkee, P. K. (2024). Songs tell a story: The arc of narrative for music. PLoS ONE.

Durkee, P. K. (2023). Status in Himba pastoralists: Are causal claims warranted? Evolution and Human Behavior.

Lukaszewski, A. W., Patton, J. Q., Durkee, P. K., Zerbe, J. G., & Bowser, B. J. (2023). Calibration and fitness-linked correlates of personality in Conambo, Ecuador. Evolution and Human Behavior.

Durkee, P. K., Lukaszewski, A. W., Buss, D. M. (2023). Status-impact assessment: Is accuracy linked with status motivations? Evolutionary Human Sciences.

Manson, J. H., Chua, K. J., Rodriguez, N. N., Barlev, M., Durkee, P. K., Lukaszewski, A. W. (2023). Sex differences in fearful personality traits are mediated by physical strength. Social Psychological and Personality Science.

Durkee, P. K., Lukaszewski, A. W., von Rueden, C., Gurven, M., Buss, D. M., Tucker-Drob, E. M. (2022). Niche diversity predicts personality structure across 115 nations. Psychological Science.

Michaelides, M. P., Durkee, P. K. (2021). Self-regulation versus self-discipline in predicting achievement: A replication study with secondary data. Frontiers in Education.

Durkee, P. K., Ayers, J. D. (2021). Is facial width-to-height ratio reliably associated with social inferences? Evolution and Human Behavior.

Crosby, C. L.*, Durkee, P. K.*, Sedlacek, A. G. B., Buss, D. M. (2021). Mate availability and sexual disgust. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology.

Durkee, P. K., Lukaszewski, A. W., Buss, D. M. (2021). Reply to Cheng et al.: Benefit generation dominates cost infliction in explaining cross-national status allocations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Durkee, P. K., Lukaszewski, A. W., Buss, D. M. (2020). Psychological foundations of human status allocation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Lukaszewski, A. W., Lewis, D. M. G., Durkee, P. K., Sell, A., Sznycer, D., Buss, D. M. (2020). An adaptationist framework for personality science. European Journal of Personality.

Buss, D. M.*, Durkee, P. K.*, Shackelford, T. K., Schmitt, D. P., Bowdle, B. F., Brase, G. L., Choe, J. C., Trofimova, I. (2020). Human status criteria: Sex differences and similarities across 14 nations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Crosby, C. L., Durkee, P. K., Meston, C. M., Buss, D. M. (2020). Six dimensions of sexual disgust. Personality and Individual Differences.

Durkee, P. K., Lukaszewski, A. W., Buss, D. M. (2019). Pride and shame: Key components of a culturally universal status management system. Evolution and Human Behavior.

Durkee, P. K. (2019). Do the Maasai perceive weak walkers to be stronger and more attractive than strong walkers? A re-analysis of Fink et al. (2019). Biology Letters.

Durkee, P. K., Polo, P., Muñoz-Reyes, J. A., Rodríguez-Ruiz, C., Losada-Pérez, M., Fernández-Martínez, A. B., Turiégano, E., Buss, D. M., Pita, M. (2019). Men’s bodily attractiveness: Muscles as fitness indicators. Evolutionary Psychology.

Durkee, P. K.*, Goetz, A. T.*, Lukaszewski, A. W. (2018). Formidability assessment mechanisms: Examining their speed and automaticity. Evolution and Human Behavior.

* Shared first authorship  ·  ^† Undergraduate mentee  ·  ^‡ Graduate mentee

Edited volume contributions

Durkee, P. K. (2024). Emotions and status hierarchies. In The Oxford Handbook of Evolution and the Emotions (eds. L. Al-Shawaf & T. K. Shackelford). Oxford University Press.

Durkee, P. K., Lukaszewski, A. W. (2023). Pride and the psychology of prestige. In The SAGE Encyclopedia of Leadership Studies (eds. G. R. Goethals, S. T. Allison, G. J. Sorenson). SAGE Publications.

Preprints and working papers

Durkee, P. K. (2023, June). Measuring a personality trait is harder than I thought: Simulations exploring the interplay between measurands, mechanisms, and measurement in personality research. SSRN.

Durkee, P. K., Lukaszewski, A. W., Buss, D. M. (2021, April). Status foundations: Further consideration of the role of ‘dominance’ and the relative importance of cost infliction and benefit generation. PsyArXiv.

Other

Durkee, P. K. Instructor’s manual and test bank for Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind. Routledge, 2024.