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Violence is not a monolith: Ecologies of threat and their psychological signatures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2026

Crystal Shackleford Open the ORCID record for Crystal Shackleford [Opens in a new window]
Crystal Shackleford*
Affiliation:
Yale Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA crystal.shackleford@yale.edu
*
*Corresponding author.
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Abstract

Violence is not a uniform ecological input. This commentary argues that distinguishing between violent ecologies – diffuse crime, instrumental intergroup, and existential – clarifies why threat produces contradictory shifts in preferences foundational to human decision-making. This framework extends affordance-management theory by introducing moral affordances: opportunities to defend the group’s identity and survival that can override concerns for personal safety.

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Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 49 , 2026 , e79
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© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press

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