Research Finds Lower Levels of Violence in Societies Where Men Outnumber Women

Research conducted at the University of California at Davis has found that societies with more men than women tend to be less violent than societies where women are in the majority. The study found that rates of rape, sexual assault, and homicide are lower in societies with more men than women.

Kristin Liv Rauch, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California Davis and a co-author of the study gave a possible explanation for the phenomenon: “When men are abundant, rather than rare, they often switch their strategy to compete in nonviolent rather than violent ways. They tend to pursue females in more of a courtship manner that would lead to long-term relationships and marriage, in an attempt to secure a partner in a depleted market.”

Dr. Rauch is a summa cum laude graduate of Pennsylvania State University. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of California at Davis.

The article, “Too Many Men: The Violence Problem?” appears in the April issue of the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution. It may be purchased here.

Below is a video with two of the three authors of the study discussing their results.