Male-coalition violence against outgroups yields huge reproductive fitness payoffs even when deadly

Evidence

When the insights from sexual selection theory are coupled with the logic of parental investment theory, several implications emerge that can be applied to the domain of intergroup conflict. Such implications are relevant to understanding the fundamental nature of intergroup prejudice and how gender plays a key role in its expression. As is the case with the gender asymmetry in reproductive benefits gained from engaging in violent, intrasexual conflict at the individual level, it has been argued that aggression at the group level could also yield the potential for immense gains in reproductive resources for males relative to females (Buss & Shackelford, 1997; Daly & Wilson, 1988; Tooby & Cosmides, 1988). Consider the example given by Tooby and Cosmides (1988) of a coalition of males who eliminate the males of a neighboring group and usurp their females. The males in the victorious group would experience a staggeringly steep increase in their fitness. Of course, males of other groups do not sit idly by while they are eliminated and are likely to violently resist, thereby exacting a substantial cost on the aggressors. However, even if the risk of failure among the aggressors is high and there are few survivors among male combatants, such risks are readily offset by the exponentially increasing benefits bestowed upon the victors because the reproductive rewards would be split among a smaller number of beneficiaries. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1186

Categorization

• XREF: The Tooby-Cosmides male-coalitional victory logic directly corroborates the reader’s existing thread on group prejudice mechanisms; connects to claims about how violent intergroup competition is fundamentally gendered and male-driven.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1186