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Within a small village in Trinidad, anthropologists found that the proportions of interactions that

involved conflict over mating opportunities were higher for competing men than women (DS 1A). This

could be an evolutionary strategy as men can only pass along their genes with the cooperation of a female

and overtly demonstrating their physical prowess or verbally communicating their favorable attributes

could serve as a display of their overall fitness. Men bear a high risk in seeking a potential mate because

the female may not remain monogamous. Men with “fecund” mates were more likely to engage in

conflict with other males rather than those with “infecund” mates (DS 1B). This further suggests that

males are receptive of the potential of their mates to become pregnant with another suitor and are thus

more likely to engage in aggressive behavior to demonstrate some form of overt companionship.

Men and women typically have disputes when they agree to a sexually non-exclusive

relationship, which implies that issues arise due to extra-pair sex (DS 2A). Males may initiate these

conflicts because they lose the opportunity to pass along their genes if the female becomes pregnant with

another male. When the woman can potentially become pregnant, males spend more time with them and

often engage in more conflict (DS 2B). The overall strategy behind this phenomenon is that males

actively limit the mate’s ability to pursue other males for reproductive purposes and want to ensure that

the child that she bears is his own. By choosing to pick an argument, the male is directly questioning the

female’s faithfulness and attempts to appease his own doubts.

The issues brought up between spouses regardless of the intensity of violence of an altercation

involve sexual matters (typically the suspicion of extra-pair sex or outright refusal to have sex on the

female’s part) (DS 3B). The initiator of a homicide is more likely to be the male spouse in a heterosexual

relationship; even when the wife ends up killing the husband, the first to use physical force is typically the

male slightly more than 70% of the time (DS 3A). The male’s primary motivation is to have a child with

his genes, so the stakes may be higher for men. Physical confrontation could serve as a tool to intimidate

the woman from engaging in extra-pair sex.

Male killers do not typically intend to go as far as they did; rather, it is the progression of

interpersonal tensions that lead to further violence (DS 4A). One survey suggests that men who instigated
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spousal homicide suffer from severe guilt and have a significantly higher probability of committing

suicide following the event than women do (DS 4B). From an evolutionary sense, males may be acting

out of “passionate anger” as a way to challenge the female to either confirm his suspicions or prove him

wrong; if he fails to invoke some form of agreement and remain in favor with his mate, then he will

ultimately fail to pass along his genes in the future.

In an industrialized society, the proximity of the family and value of a woman’s personal

resources appear to reduce the level of spousal violence (DS 5 and 6). Males are held more accountable

for their treatment of their spouses (due to the pressure of genetic kin), which translates into protection for

women. In traditional societies, certain cultural norms enable the wives’ relatives to house the couple.

Additionally, women may develop close ties with non-kin community members, which establishes a

strong social network that can be relied upon to intervene if a violent altercation begins. Policy makers

could assign a female social worker to districts as a leader of the internal community of women. These

workers could be responsible for checking in periodically with the group of females.

A question that I would like to further pursue is whether there is a generational difference

between the rate of spousal conflict. The hypothesis in this potential study is that younger couples

(between the ages of 18 – 44) will engage in more violent conflicts than older couples (between the ages

of 45 – 70). Given that women who are younger are typically more interested in having children, their

spouses may initiate disputes at a higher rate. Similar to DS 5, I would collect data on spousal homicides

within a specific U.S. city (Chicago for instance) and sort each case into one of two categories based upon

the age of the woman in the relationship: if she is between the ages of 18 and 44, she will be placed in one

category and if she is older than 44, she will be placed in the other. 45 is the cut off point because women

typically reach menopause after 45 years old. If my hypothesis holds true, then the number of homicides

that involve a younger woman should be higher than ones with an older woman (see Figure 1). If my

hypothesis is false, then there either should be no comparable difference between the number of

homicides or younger woman are involved in less spousal homicides than older women (see Figures 2

and 3).
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Exhibits

Figure 1: If the hypothesis is true, the number of homicide cases involving women who are less than
45 years old should be higher.    

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Number of Homicide Cases
Women < 45 yrs. Old Women ≥ 45 yrs. Old

Figure 2: The number of homicide cases does not vary between the two age groups. The hypothesis
is not supported by the data.

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Number of Homicide Cases
Women < 45 yrs. Old Women ≥ 45 yrs. Old
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Figure 3: If the hypothesis is not supported, the number of homicide cases involving older women
should be higher than those involving younger women.

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Number of Homicide Cases
Women < 45 yrs. Old Women ≥ 45 yrs. Old