Definition
Males are likely to be equipped with psychological mechanisms for estimating their own fighting ability, thereby enabling them to compare their own ability to that of competitors and to opt out of interpersonal conflicts in which their likelihood of success is low.
Introduction
Interpersonal conflict, particularly among males, can be quite costly in terms of risk of injury. Individuals are likely to be equipped with psychological mechanisms for self-assessment of fighting ability in order to determine whether to participate in the conflict as a function of their predicted likelihood of success. The likelihood of success is estimated by combatants through the approximations of one’s own strength relative to those with whom they are in competition. The strategies that are employed in order to gauge the fighting prowess of the self and competitors have been observed and documented by...
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Houtz, J., McDonald, M. (2018). Self-Assessment of Fighting Ability. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_938-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_938-1
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