Document de travail

On the evolution of male competitiveness

Ingela Alger

Résumé

Since a man’s reproductive success depends on his ability to outcompete other men, male competitiveness may be expected to have been exposed to strong selective pressure throughout human history. Accordingly, the relatively low level of physical violence observed between men has been viewed as a puzzle. What could have limited the eagerness of men to out-compete each other? I study the evolution of male competitiveness in a model where men compete for both reproductive and productive resources. I show that high levels of male competitiveness are then consistent with evolution by natural selection if (a) the ecology is generous enough for men to supply little or no food to their children, (b) competing is not too costly in terms of productive resources, and (c) relatedness among males is low enough.

Mots-clés

male-male competition; competitiveness; evolution; monogamy; polygyny; parental care;

Codes JEL

  • D13: Household Production and Intrahousehold Allocation
  • Z1: Cultural Economics • Economic Sociology • Economic Anthropology
  • C73: Stochastic and Dynamic Games • Evolutionary Games • Repeated Games

Voir aussi

Publié dans

IAST working paper, n° 21-121, février 2021