This article is a re-examination of Levinson's 1989 model of wife beating. Associations between social complexity, cultural support for violence, women's status, and wife beating are tested.

This article is a re-examination of Levinson's 1989 model of wife beating. Associations between social complexity, cultural support for violence, women's status, and wife beating are tested.

A general theory of conflict and violence provides a framework for understanding the relationship between internal and external political conflict and the conditions under which they are connected. This study draws on a cross-cultural sample of 90 preindustrial societies, assessing whether these two forms of conflict covary and identifies the social factors that shape their associations. Using a multiple regression analysis reveals a moderate positive relationship overall, but the strength and nature of these relationships depend on specific societal characteristics. Societies in which internal and external conflict can occur and fall together display remarkedly different patterns of cross-cutting ties compared to those in which the two forms operate independently. Structural features of social organization emerge as key determinants of whether aggression is directed inward, outward, or both. In contrast, dispositional (psychocultural) traits are strong predictors of overall conflict levels but do not distinguish between internal and external targets. Together, these findings showcases the importance of integrating structural and dispositional factors in explaining patterns of political violence.

A general theory of conflict and violence provides a framework for understanding the relationship between internal and external political conflict and the conditions under which they are connected. This study draws on a cross-cultural sample of 90 preindustrial societies, assessing whether these two forms of conflict covary and identifies the social factors that shape their associations. Using a multiple regression analysis reveals a moderate positive relationship overall, but the strength and nature of these relationships depend on specific societal characteristics. Societies in which internal and external conflict can occur and fall together display remarkedly different patterns of cross-cutting ties compared to those in which the two forms operate independently. Structural features of social organization emerge as key determinants of whether aggression is directed inward, outward, or both. In contrast, dispositional (psychocultural) traits are strong predictors of overall conflict levels but do not distinguish between internal and external targets. Together, these findings showcases the importance of integrating structural and dispositional factors in explaining patterns of political violence.

A general theory of conflict and violence provides a framework for understanding the relationship between internal and external political conflict and the conditions under which they are connected. This study draws on a cross-cultural sample of 90 preindustrial societies, assessing whether these two forms of conflict covary and identifies the social factors that shape their associations. Using a multiple regression analysis reveals a moderate positive relationship overall, but the strength and nature of these relationships depend on specific societal characteristics. Societies in which internal and external conflict can occur and fall together display remarkedly different patterns of cross-cutting ties compared to those in which the two forms operate independently. Structural features of social organization emerge as key determinants of whether aggression is directed inward, outward, or both. In contrast, dispositional (psychocultural) traits are strong predictors of overall conflict levels but do not distinguish between internal and external targets. Together, these findings showcases the importance of integrating structural and dispositional factors in explaining patterns of political violence.

This study examines husband-wife relationships, specifically rooming and sleeping arrangements, as they relate to variables such as infant care, subsistence, residence, and cultural complexity. Several hypotheses are tested and all are supported.

This paper supports Beatrice B. Whiting's (1965) sex-identity conflict hypothesis which suggests a relationship between males' early identification with their mothers and male violence. Authors find that, in addition to socialization aggression, frequency of homicide/assault is significantly related to father-infant sleeping distance, particularly when residence is not matrilocal and/or warfare is more than occasional.

This study investigates variation in rates of violence against women, primarily interested in two main hypotheses: the Culture of Violence Hypothesis and the Functional Violence Hypothesis. Using the SCCS along with variables from Broude & Greene (1976) and Ember & Ember (1992), the study concluded that warring societies were associated with a greater intolerance of rape, contradicting the Culture of Violence Hypothesis, whereas wife beating, as well as tolerance towards rape, increased with scarcity of women, in line with the evolutionary Functional Violence Hypothesis.

This paper presents empirical tests of two theories put forth to explain violence toward women. The first predicts that warfare promotes socialization for aggression and legitimizes violence toward women, while the second predicts that violence works as a way to control potential for female infidelity. An association is found between high male-to-female sex ratio and violence towards women, suggesting support for the second theory over the first, which is consistent with more narrowly-focused studies by Avakame (1999), Bose et al. (2013), and D'Alessio & Stolzenberg (2010).

This study investigates variation in rates of violence against women, primarily interested in two main hypotheses: the Culture of Violence Hypothesis and the Functional Violence Hypothesis. Using the SCCS along with variables from Broude & Greene (1976) and Ember & Ember (1992), the study concluded that warring societies were associated with a greater intolerance of rape, contradicting the Culture of Violence Hypothesis, whereas wife beating, as well as tolerance towards rape, increased with scarcity of women, in line with the evolutionary Functional Violence Hypothesis.