Evolutionary approaches to
sex differences in physical aggression weigh the potential benefits of
aggression against the likely costs to inclusive fitness, with some authors
focusing on the damage physical injury would do to female inclusive fitness,
and others on the extent to which success in physical competition may
particularly enhance male fitness.
This study tested a hypothesis derived from
these approaches: that parents would be less physically aggressive than
non-parents because of the damage any physical injury would do to their
inclusive fitness. Analysis was carried out using the United States federal
sentencing records for 1994-1999 (22,344 individuals).
The proportion of theft
convictions which were violent (robbery; vs. larceny) was significantly greater
for men than women (odds ratio 7.7). As predicted, non-parents were
significantly more likely to be violent than parents (odds ratio 1.6).
Parenthood had a similar effect on relative rates of violence in men and women,
although the baseline was considerably higher for men. There was also a
significant effect in men of marital status, which interacted with parental
status such that parenthood was only associated with a reduction in rates of
violence in males recorded as partnered.
The results are interpreted in terms
of both evolutionary theory and recent work on the hormonal impacts of marriage
and parenthood.
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By:
- 1Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom.
- 2The School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, United Kingdom.
- Aggress Behav. 2016 Mar 22. doi: 10.1002/ab.21652.
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