School of Psychology, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, United Kingdom.
Psychol Bull. 2013 Mar;139(2):403-40. doi: 10.1037/a0029114. Epub 2012 Jul 9.
The article's aim is to evaluate the application of the evolutionary principles of kin selection, reproductive value, and resource holding power to the understanding of family violence. The principles are described in relation to specific predictions and the mechanisms underlying these. Predictions are evaluated for physical violence perpetrated by (a) parents to unrelated children, (b) parents to genetic offspring, and (c) offspring to parents and between (d) siblings and (e) sexual partners. Precise figures for risks have been calculated where possible. The major conclusions are that most of the evidence is consistent with evolutionary predictions derived from kin selection and reproductive value: There were (a) higher rates of violence to stepchildren, (b) a decline in violence with the age of offspring, and (c) an increase in violence with parental age, while (d) violence between siblings was generally at a low level and concerned resource disputes. The issue of distinguishing evolutionary from alternative explanations is addressed throughout and is problematic for predictions derived from reproductive value. The main evolutionary explanation for male partner violence, mate guarding as a result of paternity uncertainty, cannot explain Western studies where sex differences in control and violence between partners were absent, although other aspects of male partner violence are consistent with it, and it may explain sex differences in traditional cultures. Recurrent problems in evaluating the evidence were to control for possible confounds and thus to distinguish evolutionary from alternative explanations. Suggestions are outlined to address this and other issues arising from the review.
本文旨在评估亲缘选择、生殖价值和资源持有量这三个进化原则在理解家庭暴力问题上的应用。本文结合具体预测及其背后的机制对这些原则进行了描述。对以下几种情况下的身体暴力行为进行了预测：（a）父母对无血缘关系的孩子，（b）父母对亲生子女，（c）子女对父母和（d）兄弟姐妹以及（e）性伴侣实施的暴力行为。在可能的情况下，还计算了风险的具体数据。主要结论是，大多数证据都与从亲缘选择和生殖价值推导出来的进化预测一致：（a）继子女遭受暴力的比率较高，（b）随着子女年龄的增长，暴力行为减少，（c）随着父母年龄的增长，暴力行为增加，而（d）兄弟姐妹之间的暴力行为通常处于较低水平，涉及资源争端。在整篇文章中都讨论了区分进化解释和其他替代解释的问题，这对于生殖价值推导的预测来说是一个难题。男性伴侣暴力的主要进化解释是由于父权不确定性而进行的配偶守护，但无法解释西方研究中伴侣之间控制和暴力的性别差异不存在的情况，尽管男性伴侣暴力的其他方面与这一解释相符，它可能解释了传统文化中性别差异的原因。评估证据时反复出现的问题是控制可能的混淆因素，从而将进化解释与其他替代解释区分开来。本文概述了一些建议，以解决评估中出现的这些问题和其他问题。
