Reply to Mealey and Young

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/25827/1/0000390.pd

Those who can do: Wealth, status, and reproductive success on Ifaluk

People everywhere require and therefore value resources. On Ifaluk, an atoll in the Western Carolines, salaried men, men of high status, and adults with living parents have more resources than other members of the population. The issue addressed here is whether differential success at acquiring resources leads to differential reproductive success. Analysis of Ifalukese age-specific fertility rates indicates the following: 1. 1. Men who receive or once received salaries have greater reproductive success than any other category of men. Reasons include that they begin reproducing at especially young ages, have shorter than average birth intervals, and only rarely fail to reproduce altogether.2. 2. As a group, men with high status (chiefs, and their advisors and probable successors) have greater reproductive success than all never-salaried others. Reasons include shorter than average birth intervals and a somewhat lower than average chance of failing to reproduce altogether.3. 3. Individuals with longer-living parents achieve higher than average lifetime reproductive success.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/25828/1/0000391.pd

The Evolutionary Significance of Red Sox Nation: Sport Fandom as a Byproduct of Coalitional Psychology

Sport fandom has received considerable attention from social scientists, yet few have considered it from an evolutionary perspective. To redress this gap, we develop the hypothesis that team sports exhibit characteristics that activate mechanisms which evolved to facilitate the development of coalitions in the context of small-scale warfare. Based on this by-product hypothesis, we predicted a correlation between fandom and binding (i.e. group-relevant) concerns, especially loyalty. To test this prediction, we administered the Sport Spectator Identification Scale (SSI) and the Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ) to 495 undergraduates. The MFQ measures three binding concerns, including loyalty, and two individualizing ones, harm and fairness. As predicted, fandom correlated significantly with loyalty ( r = .27) and, within men, the two other binding concerns, authority ( r =.22) and purity ( r = .24). By contrast, fandom did not significantly correlate with harm or fairness. In addition, we predicted and found that men reported significantly higher levels of fandom (Cohen's d =.45) and loyalty ( d = .27) than did women. In conclusion, this study presents data supporting the coalitional by-product hypothesis of fandom and should spur further research using fandom as a window into our evolved psychology