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Ultimate and proximate influences on human sex differences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2009

Drew H. Bailey
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211. dhbd45@mizzou.edujkoc52@mizzou.eduGearyD@missouri.eduhttp://web.missouri.edu/~gearyd/
Jonathan K. Oxford
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211. dhbd45@mizzou.edujkoc52@mizzou.eduGearyD@missouri.eduhttp://web.missouri.edu/~gearyd/
David C. Geary
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211. dhbd45@mizzou.edujkoc52@mizzou.eduGearyD@missouri.eduhttp://web.missouri.edu/~gearyd/

Abstract

We agree with Archer that human sex differences in aggression are well explained by sexual selection, but note that “social learning” explanations of human behaviors are not logically mutually exclusive from “evolutionary” explanations and therefore should not be framed as such. We discuss why this type of framing hinders the development of both social learning and evolutionary theories of human behavior.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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