Evolutionary Perspectives on Violence, Homicide, and War

Abstract

We review and discuss the evolutionary psychological literature on violence, homicide, and war in humans and nonhumans, and in doing so we argue that an evolutionary perspective can substantially enhance our understanding of these behaviors. We provide a brief primer on evolutionary psychology, describing basic tenets of the field. The theories of sexual selection and parental investment are explained and subsequently used to highlight the evolutionary logic underlying the use of violence by humans and other animals. Our examination of violent behavior begins with a focus on nonhuman animals, reviewing the different contexts in which violence occurs and discussing how an evolutionary perspective can explain why it occurs in these contexts. We then examine violence in humans and illustrate the similarities and differences between human and nonhuman violence. Finally, we summarize what an evolutionary perspective can offer in terms of understanding violence, homicide, and war, and we discuss directions for future research.

Physical and relational bullying and victimization: Differential relations with adolescent dating and sexual behavior

“…Specifically, individuals engage in adaptive self‐assessment to determine whether heritable traits (e.g., physical strength, personality) together with contextual factors (e.g., social status; harsh or unpredictable environments) suggest that bullying in a given situation would be adaptive (Buss, ). To do so, they may employ evolved psychological mechanisms, including those that assess attachment relationships, threats to status, or relative physical formidability (Del Giudice, ; Liddle, Shackleford, & Weekes‐Shackleford, ; Sell et al, ). Some individuals may be inclined to bully because of a developmental switch, which may occur during middle childhood or puberty, to fast life‐history strategies that increase the likelihood of survival under harsh or unpredictable conditions.…”

“…Relational victimization may also limit opportunities for dating and sex through social exclusion, or by inflicting psychosocial maladjustment in the form of anxiety, depression, loneliness, or peer rejection, which are markers of low fitness (Arnocky & Vaillancourt, ). Due to greater obligatory parental investment, as well as less variance and a lower limit in the number of offspring that can be produced, females are less likely to risk using physical aggression, and therefore, rely more heavily on relational forms that reduce the probability of physical injury (Archer, ; Campbell, ; Liddle et al, ; Vaillancourt, ). In line with this view of relational bullying, adolescent girls who are attractive, dress provocatively, or have had more sexual partners than peers, are more likely to be relationally victimized or derogated (Gallup et al, ; Leenaars, Dane & Marini, ; Vaillancourt & Sharma, ).…”

Understanding the mind from an evolutionary perspective: an overview of evolutionary psychology

“…This theory is based on the observation that, among sexually reproducing species, there is often a difference between the sexes in the minimum obligatory investment provided to offspring. This is particularly evident in placental mammals, in which females provide higher minimum obligatory investment via internal fertilization, gestation, and nursing, whereas the minimum obligatory investment for males is the contribution of sperm …”