Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T03:01:31.841Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

More than just climate: Income inequality and sex ratio are better predictors of cross-cultural variations in aggression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2017

Jaimie Arona Krems  and
Michael E. W. Varnum
Jaimie Arona Krems
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1104. [email protected]@asu.eduhttp://jkrems.wixsite.com/jaimiearonakremshttps://psychology.clas.asu.edu/research/labs/cultural-neuroscience-lab-varnum
Michael E. W. Varnum
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1104. [email protected]@asu.eduhttp://jkrems.wixsite.com/jaimiearonakremshttps://psychology.clas.asu.edu/research/labs/cultural-neuroscience-lab-varnum
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Van Lange et al. argue that variations in climate explain cross-societal variations in violence. We suggest that any approach seeking to understand cross-cultural variation in human behavior via an ecological framework must consider a wider array of ecological variables, and we find that income inequality and sex ratio are better predictors than climate of cross-societal variations in violence.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 40 , 2017 , e89
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Central Intelligence Agency (2016a) The world factbook. Available at: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html.Google Scholar
Clutton-Brock, T. H. & Parker, G. A. (1995) Sexual coercion in animal societies. Animal Behaviour 49(5):1345–65.Google Scholar
D'Alessio, S. J. & Stolzenberg, L. (2010) The sex ratio and male-on-female intimate partner violence. Journal of Criminal Justice 38(4):555–61.Google Scholar
Daly, M. & Wilson, M. (2001) Risk-taking, intrasexual competition, and homicide. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation 47:1–36.Google Scholar
Emlen, S. T. & Oring, L. W. (1977) Ecology, sexual selection and the evolution of mating systems. Science 197:215–23.Google Scholar
Fisher, R. A. (1930) The genetical theory of natural selection. Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Griskevicius, V., Tybur, J. M., Ackerman, J. M., Delton, A. W., Robertson, T. E. & White, A. E. (2012) The financial consequences of too many men: Sex ratio effects on saving, borrowing, and spending. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 102(1):69–80.Google Scholar
Grossmann, I. & Varnum, M. E. W. (2015) Social structure, infectious diseases, disasters, secularism, and cultural change in America. Psychological Science 26:311–24.Google Scholar
Kenrick, D. T. & Gomez Jacinto, L. (2013) Economics, sex, and the emergence of society. In: Advances in culture and psychology, vol. 4, ed. Gelfand, M. J., Chiu, C. & Hong, Y., pp. 78–123. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Messner, S. F. & Blau, J. R. (1987) Routine leisure activities and rates of crime: A macro-level analysis. Social Forces 65(4):1035–52.Google Scholar
Ouimet, M. (2012) A world of homicides the effect of economic development, income inequality, and excess infant mortality on the homicide rate for 165 countries in 2010. Homicide Studies 16(3):238–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schacht, R. & Mulder, M. B. (2015) Sex ratio effects on reproductive strategies in humans. Open Science 2(1):140402.Google Scholar
Thornhill, R. & Palmer, C. T. (2000) A natural history of rape. MIT Press.Google Scholar
Trent, K. & South, S. J. (2012) Mate availability and women's sexual experiences in China. Journal of Marriage and Family 74(1):201–14.Google Scholar
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) (2011) Rape [rates ascertained for 2010]. Available at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Crime-statistics/Sexual_violence_sv_against_children_and_rape.xls.Google Scholar
Van de Vliert, E. (2013a) Climato-economic habitats support patterns of human needs, stresses, and freedoms. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 36(05):465–80.Google Scholar
Varnum, M. E. W. & Grossmann, I. (2016a) Socio-ecological changes are linked to changes in the prevalence of contempt over time. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 39.Google Scholar
Varnum, M. E. W. & Grossmann, I. (2016b) Pathogen prevalence is associated with cultural changes in gender equality. Nature Human Behaviour 1:Article 0003.Google Scholar
Wilson, M. & Daly, M. (1997) Life expectancy, economic inequality, homicide, and reproductive timing in Chicago neighbourhoods. BMJ: British Medical Journal 314(7089):1271–74.Google Scholar
World Bank (2015) Income inequality [rates ascertained for 2009, 2010]. Available at: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI.Google Scholar
World Bank Group (2016b) Intentional homicide [rates ascertained for 2010]. Available at: http://databank.worldbank.org/data/reports.aspx?source=2&series=VC.IHR.PSRC.P5&country=.Google Scholar