Darwin in the Classroom: Incorporating an Evolutionary Perspective into Tourism and Hospitality Education

Researchers are making increasing use of an evolutionary perspective to understand the behaviors of tourists and residents, yet the implications of our evolved psychological mechanisms for classrooms and education remain underexplored. The purpose of this research is therefore to highlight and analyze the vast untapped potential of evolutionary psychology for tourism and hospitality education. The authors provide researchers and educators with a guide to evolutionary psychology as well as demonstrate the utility of an evolutionary perspective through three education cases. These three applications are complemented by a process model that illustrates how to use and test evolutionary theory in tourism and hospitality education empirically. We conclude by providing future research avenues with the aim to advance tourism and hospitality education.