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  • The Ancestral Logic of Politics: Upper-Body Strength Regulates Men’s Assertion of Self-Interest Over Economic Redistribution

    Author(s)
    Petersen, Michael Bang
    Sznycer, Daniel
    Sell, Aaron
    Cosmides, Leda
    Tooby, John
    Griffith University Author(s)
    Sell, Aaron N.
    Year published
    2013
    Metadata
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    Abstract
    Over human evolutionary history, upper-body strength has been a major component of fighting ability. Evolutionary models of animal conflict predict that actors with greater fighting ability will more actively attempt to acquire or defend resources than less formidable contestants will. Here, we applied these models to political decision making about redistribution of income and wealth among modern humans. In studies conducted in Argentina, Denmark, and the United States, men with greater upper-body strength more strongly endorsed the self-beneficial position: Among men of lower socioeconomic status (SES), strength predicted ...
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    Over human evolutionary history, upper-body strength has been a major component of fighting ability. Evolutionary models of animal conflict predict that actors with greater fighting ability will more actively attempt to acquire or defend resources than less formidable contestants will. Here, we applied these models to political decision making about redistribution of income and wealth among modern humans. In studies conducted in Argentina, Denmark, and the United States, men with greater upper-body strength more strongly endorsed the self-beneficial position: Among men of lower socioeconomic status (SES), strength predicted increased support for redistribution; among men of higher SES, strength predicted increased opposition to redistribution. Because personal upper-body strength is irrelevant to payoffs from economic policies in modern mass democracies, the continuing role of strength suggests that modern political decision making is shaped by an evolved psychology designed for small-scale groups.
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    Journal Title
    Psychological Science
    Volume
    24
    Issue
    7
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612466415
    Subject
    Criminology not elsewhere classified
    Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified
    Psychology
    Cognitive Sciences
    Publication URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10072/54292
    Collection
    • Journal articles

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