Purpose and agency in evolutionary biology and psychology

For more than 100 years, the prevailing perspective on evolution has been gene centric. It is a perspective from which random genetic mutations that happen to lead to naturally selected adaptive phenotypes are seen as the causes of evolution. According to this "modern synthesis," "selfish genes" are insulated from any influences of organisms or their environments and function autonomously. This article presents recent molecular and biological research that has led to an "extended evolutionary synthesis" in which an organism's development and purposive agency are the drivers of evolution. In addition to the influence of development on evolution, the focus moves to understanding how the relations between evolution and psychology change when evolutionary biologists describe humans, and all organisms, as purposive agents in evolutionary change. The extended synthesis has far-reaching implications for psychology, including the possible roles that psychological factors can play in shaping an evolutionary future. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).