War, Sports and Aggression: An Empirical Test of Two Rival Theories¹

Sex Differences in Sports Across 50 Societies

“…Third, historical reviews of sports in large, literate societies document that many societies had substantial female participation, but males are reported as being substantially more involved in most or all cases (Craig, 2002;Guttmann, 1991Guttmann, , 2004. Finally, as noted above, cross-cultural ethnographic studies of sports appear consistent with the prediction of greater male participation (e.g., Chick, 1984Chick, , 1998Chick et al, 1997;Roberts et al, 1959;Sipes, 1973), and this is true of the one study that provided the most direct evidence (Schlegel & Herbert, 1989).…”

“…Previous studies have revealed, for example, that games of chance are associated with supernatural involvement in human affairs (Roberts et al, 1959), combative games correlate with the frequency of homicide (Chick, Loy, & Miracle,1997) and warfare (Sipes, 1973; see also Chick et al,1997;Schlegel & Herbert, 1989), and games of strategy are associated with the severity of child training (Roberts & Sutton-Smith, 1962) and societal complexity (Chick, 1998;Roberts et al, 1959;Roberts & Barry, 1976;Sutton-Smith & Roberts, 1970).…”

“…The reason is that this hypothesis was developed by evolutionarily oriented scholars in reference to warfare and cooperatively hunting large game (e.g., Chick et al, 1997;Lombardo, 2012;Sipes, 1973), and females rarely participate in these activities in any society (Adams, 1983;Gat, 2006;Keeley, 1996;Marlowe, 2007;Murdock & Provost, 1973). Nonetheless, if this hypothesis is conceived more broadly, namely that sports foster skills for physically or socially demanding activities, then it becomes quite plausible (see Schlegel & Herbert, 1989).…”

“…First, we classified each sport as a combat sport, a hunting sport, or "other" (see Chick & Loy, 2001;Chick et al, 1997;Sipes, 1973). A combat sport was defined here as one emphasizing actions that would occur during actual combat for the purpose of subjugating an opponent and/or inflicting substantial physical harm.…”

An Exploration of the Relation between Hunting and Aggressiveness: Using Inmates Networks at Prison Secondary School as an Illustration

“…Nevertheless, the relation of aggressiveness specifically with hunting was not insightfully discussed. [31] has tried an insightful approach to the relation of war, sport and aggression, suggesting, though, a comparison of theories and without strongly focusing on determinants or any particular typology of behavioral parameters and patterns. [32] have provided a quite original and specific comparative analysis between hunters and non-hunters regarding the weapons effect.…”