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Sexual selection does not provide an adequate theory of sex differences in aggression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2009

Alice H. Eagly  and
Wendy Wood
Alice H. Eagly
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-4609. eagly@northwestern.eduhttp://www.wcas.northwestern.edu/psych/people/faculty/faculty_individual_pages/eagly.htm
Wendy Wood
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708. wwood@duke.eduhttp://www.duke.edu/~wwood
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Abstract

Our social role/biosocial theory provides a more adequate account of aggression sex differences than does Archer's sexual selection theory. In our theory, these sex differences arise flexibly from sociocultural and ecological forces in interaction with humans' biology, as defined by female and male physical attributes and reproductive activities. Our comments elaborate our theory's explanations for the varied phenomena that Archer presents.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 32 , Issue 3-4 , August 2009 , pp. 276 - 277
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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