Citation

Barber N. Aggress. Violent Behav. 2008; 13(3): 237.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.avb.2008.04.002

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Evolutionary Social Science unites evolutionary psychology and social science. Its core assumptions are that: (1) modern societies owe their character to an interaction of hunter–gatherer adaptations with the modern environment; (2) some changes in societies reflect change in individuals; (3) historical changes and cross-societal differences can be due to similar adaptational mechanisms, and (4) different social contexts modify development through adaptive mechanisms. Preliminary research is reviewed concerning historical and cross-national variation in violent crime to illustrate the new research strategy. Societal differences in violence can be partly explained in terms of reduced parental investment and increased mating aggression.

Keywords: Evolutionary Social Science; Violent crime; Mating competition; Adaptive development

Language: en