The present study tests the theory that intrasexual selection or male attraction may explain variation in male aggression in a sample of 78 societies. Measures of intrasexual selection include: male subsistence, male war mortality, polygyny, sex ratio, and wives variance. The authors claim support for the theory.

Research sampled 143 societies from the Standard Cross Cultural Sample to test the relationship between honor culture, social rewards for warriors, and intergroup conflicts. Using mediation analysis based on multiple regression, and structural equation modeling, the research supported the theory that honor culture was positively associated with intergroup conflict, and that this relationship was mediated by social rewards for warriors.

"This paper describes how the "sex-ratio" explanation of polygyny compares with some alternative, supposedly causal explanations. The results suggest that polygyny is best predicted by two statistically independent factors--high male mortality in warfare…and delayed age of marriage for men."

This paper suggests that polygyny may be best explained by uneven sex ratios, particularly an excess of women while men are engaged in warfare. The author also considers Whiting’s 1964 theory that used post-partum sex taboos to explain polygyny. These two theories are tested cross-culturally and results suggest that polygyny is a response to an unbalanced sex ratio in favor of women.

Previous research into the origins of human violence and warfare has oftentimes been inconclusive and controversial. This paper examines two alternative theories as to the evolution of human violence using archaeological records on sharp force trauma (SFT) and blunt force trauma (BFT). The study is limited to 13 different California ethnolinguistic groups. Researchers find that violence is not predicted by sociopolitical complexity, but rather by environmental productivity. This supports the idea that in contexts of resource scarcity, the perceived benefits to engage in lethal aggression may outweigh perceived costs.

This article uses logistic regression analysis to examine pathogen stress and male mortality in warfare as predictors of nonsororal polygyny. Differences between state and non-state societies are observed. The authors also retest variables from White and Burton's 1988 study on causes of polygyny, finding only fraternal interest groups and absence of plow significant.

Why did headhunting- the practice of taking human heads for ritualistic reasons- emerge in many societies? Through phylogenetic comparative analyses of Austronesian societies, the authors find that headhunting developed as a cultural response to frequent inter-tribal conflict and warfare. When warfare declined, the frequency of headhunting did as well.

This article examines resource problems and warfare in a sample of societies from eastern Africa. The frequency and predictability of resource problems are examined, as are two other dimensions of warfare: resource-taking and commission of atrocities. Differences between state and nonstate societies, as well as pacified and non-pacified societies, are also examined and shown to affect associations between resource and warfare variables.

This article offers an exploratory study of the fitness costs of warfare on women. The author examines stories of inter-group conflict cross-culturally and finds that warfare exerts significant selection pressure on women, such as killing or capturing women, or killing their offspring or mate. The author suggests that future research should examine female cognition in relation to these selective pressures.

This study uses Bayesian phylogenetic regression modelling across 131 largely non-industrial societies to test how variation of punishment is impacted by social, economic, and political organization. The authors focus on the presence of norm violations and types of punishments, and explores their relationships. The norm violations include adultery, rape, religious violations, food violations, and war cowardice. While the types of punishment are reputational, material, physical, or education. This study suggests a hypothesis for each type of punishment in relation to socioecological variables.