Men are more Violent when they are Outnumbered by Women

A surplus of women in a society leads to more violence among men: when there are more women around, men tend to have more testosterone-fueled violence, such as murders, assaults and sex related crimes – according to a comprehensive analysis from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

Researchers compared sex ratio data of women and men of reproductive age in all 3082 US counties, provided by the US Census Bureau in 2010 with crime data issued by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation for the same year. They found that higher rates of offence analysed occurred in areas where there were more women than men, even when other contributing factors such as poverty were accounted. Results suggests that any policy to defuse violence by reducing the amount of men in male-dominated areas may backfire.

SPONSORED: Leave Your Worries Behind With Life Insurance!

When women are in short supply in a society, it becomes a necessity for men to do all they could to win for themselves a partner. But, men are spoilt for choice when women are in surplus: this makes them to be at war with other men or lures them into committing sex-related offences.

Ryan Schacht of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, who is also the lead researcher, said:

[irp posts=”3953″ name=”So, Rule-breakers Are Right After all”]

When women are rare they become a valued resource and this gives them more bargaining power over what they expect from a relationship. But when women are abundant, men become less committed to single partners and more interested in pursuing multiple relationships. This brings men into conflict with each other in response to their more uncommitted, promiscuous mating orientation.

In conclusion, men change their behavior in accordance with the conditions of supply and demand.

REFERENCE

Ryan Schacht, Douglas Tharp, Ken R. Smith. Marriage Markets and Male Mating Effort: Violence and Crime Are Elevated Where Men Are Rare. Published in the journal Human Nature. DOI: 10.1007/s12110-016-9271-x

3 thoughts on “Men are more Violent when they are Outnumbered by Women”

  1. Yea, you hit it right on the head. Gbam!
    Hmm, that reminds me of how I almost strangulate myself in school days where I cheapishly gave out my position as a Head of Class, to a girl who later gained uper arm over me by being bestowed the highest CGPA – Distinction.
    My most awkward experience in life, cos by now I’d have been the one in that position.
    hmm, well thanks. *_*

  2. … Did it occur to the writer that more violent areas have less men because men kill each other in them?

    Really “great” study from the University of Utah.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top