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Conspecific violence has been pervasive throughout evolutionary history. The current research tested the hypotheses that individuals implicitly categorize combative contexts (i.e., play fighting, status contests, warfare, and anti-exploitative violence) and use the associated contextual information to guide expectations of combative tactics. Using U.S. and non-U.S. samples, Study 1 demonstrated consistent classification of combative contexts from scenarios for which little information was given and predictable shifts in the acceptability of combative tactics across contexts. Whereas severe tactics (e.g., eye-gouging) were acceptable in warfare and anti-exploitative violence, they were unacceptable in status contests and play fights. These results suggest the existence of implicit rules governing the contexts of combat. In Study 2, we explored the reputational consequences of violating these implicit rules. Results suggest that rule violators (e.g., those who use severe tactics in a status contest) are given less respect. These are the first studies to implicate specialized mechanisms for aggression that use contextual cues of violence to guide expectations and behavior.

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Violence between intimate partners transcends culture and time. This chapter synthesizes several fronts of evolutionary-based research in order to describe and explain the primary causes of female-directed violence. Sexual conflict between men and women suggests that the sexes have unique avenues to reproductive success. Women's mating strategies, coupled with men's inability to ensure that the offspring they invest in are genetically their own, generated selective pressures for men to evolve tactics to eliminate threats to valued relationships. This chapter details how some of these tactics—executed by psychological mechanisms—lead to the violence, rape, and homicide observed among intimate partners. Using evolutionary theory, we seek to provide insight on ultimate explanations for intimate partner violence. Through this and through efforts made to understand proximate explanations of men's violence against women, we hope to contribute to a complete understanding of men's use of aggression in the relationships they value most.