Do Criminals Live Faster Than Soldiers and Firefighters?

Abstract

A high risk of morbidity-mortality caused by a harsh and unpredictable environment is considered to be associated with a fast life history (LH) strategy, commonly linked with criminal behavior. However, offenders are not the only group with a high exposure to extrinsic morbidity-mortality. In the present study, we investigated the LH strategies employed by two groups of Polish men: incarcerated offenders (N = 84) as well as soldiers and firefighters (N = 117), whose professions involve an elevated risk of injury and premature death. The subjects were asked to complete the Mini-K (used as a psychosocial LH indicator) and a questionnaire which included a number of biodemographic LH variables. Although biodemographic and psychosocial LH indicators should be closely linked with each other, the actual connection between them is unclear. Thus, this study was driven by two aims: comparing LH strategies in two groups of men with a high risk of premature morbidity-mortality and investigating the relationship between the biodemographic and psychosocial LH dimensions. The study showed that incarcerated men employed faster LH strategies than soldiers and firefighters, but only in relation to biodemographic variables (e.g., number of siblings, age of sexual initiation, life expectancy). No intergroup differences emerged regarding psychosocial LH indicators. Moreover, the correlation analysis showed a weak association between biodemographic and psychosocial LH indicators. The results strengthen the legitimacy of incorporating biodemographic LH traits into research models and indicate the need for further research on the accuracy of the Mini-K. The possible explanations for the intergroup differences in LH strategies are discussed.

Environmental Harshness, Life History, and Crystallized Intelligence of Chinese Adolescents

“…Although both the behavioral and physical indicators used in this study are conceptually related to slow LH in humans, they might be largely independent from each other, as indicated by the low magnitudes of correlation between behavioral and physical indicators. This finding is also consistent with those of other studies demonstrating that biodemographic and psychometric LH dimensions are only weakly correlated (e.g., Kwiek & Piotrowski, 2020).…”

“…Researchers have also observed a positive association between birth weight and childhood cognitive abilities (Shenkin et al, 2004). Overall, environmental adversity can erode one's crystallized cognitive abilities by encouraging fast behavioral traits (commonly assessed using psychometric methods; Figueredo et al, 2007Figueredo et al, , 2017 and fast physical traits (reflected in biodemographic measures; Kwiek & Piotrowski, 2020) as independent pathways.…”

Life History Strategies of Male Criminal Offenders: Verifying Traditional Life History Patterns

“…A possible explanation for the lack of association between mating and parenting effort could be that LH trade-offs associated with reproduction might be no longer visible due to factors like improvement in healthcare system, the existence of government benefits for families, and the prevalence of contraception (see Kwiek & Piotrowski, 2020 ). With regard to the latter, many recent studies conducted in developed countries have shown the pattern of higher fertility rate among individuals with slower LH strategies ( Richardson et al, 2017 ; Woodley of Menie et al, 2017 ; ), suggesting that at least in the modern world having a child tends to be more often a decision, rather than a side effect of promiscuity.…”

“…For instance, with regard to the trade-off between quality and quantity of offspring, many recent study results have shown that at least in relatively developed countries, people with slow LH strategies tend to have more offspring when compared to individuals with faster LH strategies ( Richardson et al, 2017 ; Woodley of Menie et al, 2017 ; Mathes, 2018 ; Međedović & Petrović, 2019 ; Međedović, 2019a ). The fact that the quality-quantity trade-off might no longer influence fertility patterns, seems to result partly from the prevalence of contraception (see Kwiek & Piotrowski, 2020 ), but may be also a consequence of many individuals owning enough resources to invest both in the quality and quantity of children ( Richardson et al, 2017 ).…”