There is a strong intuitive expectation in both popular lore and conventional evolutionary thinking that more males lead to more violence. Here, we untangle the logic behind this widely held notion with a specific focus on humans. We first review the relation between the intensity of sexual selection in human populations and the adult sex ratio (ASR), and find that it is more in line with recent reformulations of sexual selection theory than with conventional models. We then turn directly to the patterning of violence across human societies in relation to the sex ratio. Although the 'more men, more violence' expectation is not met, it is clear that the patterning of violence is undertheorized and we offer recommendations for steps forward.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 374. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 01 May 2026.
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#106,362
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Outputs from Trends in Ecology & Evolution
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#683
of 266,522 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Trends in Ecology & Evolution
#1
of 31 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,559,526 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 3,768 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 30.6. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 31 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 96% of its contemporaries.
