Star Man
02-02-2013, 02:44 PM
Male Age Composition and the Severity of Conflicts.
Mesquida, C.G. and Wiener, N.I. (1999) Politics and the Life Sciences, 18, 181-189.
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Abstract. From a behavioral ecology perspective, all forms of warfare are instances of collective aggression perpetrated predominantly by coalitions of young men. Such coalitions are manifestations of cross-cultural sex differences in aggressive behavior and may be conceptualized as a form of intrasexual competition, occasionally to obtain mates, but more often to acquire resources for the attraction and retention of mates. All societies have young males, yet wars are discrete events that can take place even after long periods of peace. Therefore, an additional factor is needed to explain the episodic nature of the phenomenon. We have proposed (Mesquida and Wiener, 1996) that the most reliable factor in explaining episodes of coalitional aggression is the relative abundance of young males. In this article, we present additional evidence to that effect. The ratio of the number of men ages 15 to 29 years of age versus men 30 and older in a population appears to be associated with the occurrence and severity of conflicts as measured by the number of war casualties. A series of analyses of demographic and war casualty data indicates that the relative prevalence of young men consistently accounts for more than one third of the variance in severity of conflicts.
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Anthropological studies of war have demonstrated that for infrahuman, primate species like chimpanzee and for human beings, one prominent predictor of the eruption of war and of the severity of the warfare is the size of the population of males between the ages of 15 and 29 years of age.
We humans ought to consider that our impulses to attack our neighbors, whether it's the U.S. attacking Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan, the Israelis attacking the Palestinians, or the Crips attacking the Bloods, is motivated as much by our biology as it is by any policy differences, boundary disagreements, or religious conflicts we may have with the "enemy."
We live on the planet of the apes, and the apes are us.
Star Man
Mesquida, C.G. and Wiener, N.I. (1999) Politics and the Life Sciences, 18, 181-189.
Downloaded February 2, 2013 from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDQQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fearthops.org%2Fimmigration%2FMesquida_Wiener99.pdf&ei=qZINUYGHBcXw2QXT-4DQDA&usg=AFQjCNFkUE33fkQk7BCbtVY-S5xqTdfuBg&sig2=woxgbIDLF5CjGeiMElKwZA&bvm=bv.41867550,d.b2U
Abstract. From a behavioral ecology perspective, all forms of warfare are instances of collective aggression perpetrated predominantly by coalitions of young men. Such coalitions are manifestations of cross-cultural sex differences in aggressive behavior and may be conceptualized as a form of intrasexual competition, occasionally to obtain mates, but more often to acquire resources for the attraction and retention of mates. All societies have young males, yet wars are discrete events that can take place even after long periods of peace. Therefore, an additional factor is needed to explain the episodic nature of the phenomenon. We have proposed (Mesquida and Wiener, 1996) that the most reliable factor in explaining episodes of coalitional aggression is the relative abundance of young males. In this article, we present additional evidence to that effect. The ratio of the number of men ages 15 to 29 years of age versus men 30 and older in a population appears to be associated with the occurrence and severity of conflicts as measured by the number of war casualties. A series of analyses of demographic and war casualty data indicates that the relative prevalence of young men consistently accounts for more than one third of the variance in severity of conflicts.
* * * * * * * * *
Anthropological studies of war have demonstrated that for infrahuman, primate species like chimpanzee and for human beings, one prominent predictor of the eruption of war and of the severity of the warfare is the size of the population of males between the ages of 15 and 29 years of age.
We humans ought to consider that our impulses to attack our neighbors, whether it's the U.S. attacking Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan, the Israelis attacking the Palestinians, or the Crips attacking the Bloods, is motivated as much by our biology as it is by any policy differences, boundary disagreements, or religious conflicts we may have with the "enemy."
We live on the planet of the apes, and the apes are us.
Star Man