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A history of war: The role of inter-group conflict in sex differences in aggression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2009

Dominic D. P. Johnson  and
Mark van Vugt
Dominic D. P. Johnson
Affiliation:
Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9LD, Scotland, United Kingdom. [email protected]://www.dominicdpjohnson.com/
Mark van Vugt
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Kent at Canterbury, Canterbury CT2 7NP, England, United Kingdom. [email protected]://www.kent.ac.uk/psychology/department/people/van-vugtm/
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Abstract

Human aggression has two important dimensions: within-group aggression and between-group aggression. Archer offers an excellent treatment of the former only. A full explanation of sex differences in aggression will fail without accounting for our history of inter-group aggression, which has deep evolutionary roots and specific psychological adaptations. The causes and consequences of inter-group aggression are dramatically different for males and females.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 32 , Issue 3-4 , August 2009 , pp. 280 - 281
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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