Scars for war: evaluating alternative signaling explanations for cross-cultural variance in ritual costs

@inproceedings{Sosis2007ScarsFW,
  title={Scars for war: evaluating alternative signaling explanations for cross-cultural variance in ritual costs},
  author={Richard Sosis and Howard C. Kress and James S. Boster},
  year={2007}
}

• Richard Sosis, Howard C. Kress, James S. Boster
• Published 2007
• DOI:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.02.007

While males in many societies endure traumatic and painful rites, in other societies male rites are mild or completely absent. To explain these cross-cultural differences, we use data collected from the Human Relations Area Files electronic databases (eHRAF) to test two sets of hypotheses derived from signaling theory. If costly male rites serve to signal mate quality, they would be expected to correlate with the intensity of mating competition. If they serve to signal group commitments, they… CONTINUE READING

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