Sports and Warfare

Sports

• Xenophobia
• Wilson - documented in all animal species
• Natural selection favoured genes that has caused humans to be selfless towards their own and intolerant towards outsiders.
• Wong and Shaw - mechanisms that prompt suspicion towards strangers favoured by natural selection.

Territoriality

• Protective response to an invasion of one's territory.
• Common in many animal species. In particular hippo,croc, hornets.
• Some sports teams display the human equivilant of this territorial displays before matches.
• Eg. Samoa - manu siva tau war chant

Warfare

• Sexual selection
• Males likely to avoid infanticide.
• Few women compared to men, therefore they must compete for mates.
• (Divale and Harris) - Agressiveness and bravery attractive to females.

Evaluations

• Research support for xenophobic displays.
• (Foldesi) - evidence for link between xenophobia and violent displays in hungarian crowds.

Limitation of territoriality

• (Pollard and Pollard)
• Crowd displays to psych up home team or distract away team?
• Original adaptive function may no longer be relevant.

Does home advantage really exist?

• Moore and Brylinsky
• Measles epidemic, 11 american basketball games played with no spectators
• Siena Saints and Hartford Hawks
• Found no increase in performance for both teams with the aid of home support.

Warfare

• Palmer and Tilley
• Research support for importance of aggression in determining sexual attractiveness.
• Youth street gang members more sexual partners.

War not in the genes

• LeBlanc and Register
• War emerged as a response to changing lifestyle.
• So therefore was not evolved adaptation.