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 evol ...

. 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 ...

, 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 evol ...

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 ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Win ...

, Canada. She spent her childhood years in the Gwich'in community of

Fort McPherson Fort McPherson was a U.S. Army military base located in Atlanta, Georgia, bordering the northern edge of the city of East Point, Georgia. It was the headquarters for the U.S. Army Installation Management Command, Southeast Region; the U.S ...

, 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 Ruth ...

, 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 ...

, where she earned her

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper ''Piled Higher and Deeper'' (also known as ''PhD Comics''), is a newsp ...

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 The Human Behavior and Evolution Society, or HBES, is an interdisciplinary, international society of researchers, primarily from the social and biological sciences, who use modern evolutionary theory to help to discover human nature — including e ...

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,''. 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, r ...

. Wilson died in Hamilton 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 bl ...

. 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, '' The Globe and Mail'', 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, 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