Group and intergroup processes

Evolution and the Psychology of Intergroup Conflict:The Male Warrior Hypothesis

McDonald, M. M., Navarrete, C. D., & Van Vugt, M. (2012). Evolution and the Psychology of Intergroup Conflict: The Male Warrior Hypothesis. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society-Biological Sciences, vol. 367 no. 1589 670-679; doi: 10.1098/rstb.2011.0301 Download Abstract: The social science literature contains numerous examples of human tribalism and parochialism -- the...

Social Laughter is Correlated With An Elevated Pain Threshold

Dunbar, R, Baron, R., Frangou, A., Pearce, E., van leeuwen, E., Stow, J., Partridge, G., Macdonald, I., Barra, V., & van Vugt, M (2011). Social laughter is correlated with an elevated pain trhreshold. Proceedings of the Royal Society-B doi: 10.1098/rspb.2011.1373 Download Abstract: Although laughter forms an important part of human nonverbal communication, it has received rather less...

Guns, Germs, and Tribal Social Identities (2009)

Van Vugt, M, & Park, J. (2009). Guns, Germs, and Tribal Social Identities: Evolutionary Perspectives on the Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations. Invited paper for: Social and Personality Psychology Compass. Download Abstract: A phenomenon of perennial interest to social psychologists is people’s tendency to categorize others on the basis of group membership and to exhibit a preference...

Sex differences in leadership emergence during competitions within and between groups (2008)

Van Vugt, M., & Spisak, B. R. (2008). Sex differences in leadership emergence during competitions within and between groups. Psychological Science, 19, 854-858. Download Abstract: This experiment investigated potential gender biases in the emergence of leadership in groups. Teams played a public-goods game under conditions of intra- or intergroup competition. We predicted and found...

The Male warrior hypothesis (2008)

Van Vugt, M., Johnson, D. D. P., McDermott, R., O'Gorman, R., Spisak, B, & G. Tendayi Viki. The Male warrior hypothesis: Sex differences in intergroup aggression. (Manuscript under review) Download Abstract: A number of studies tested various predictions emanating from the Male Warrior Hypothesis (MWH) in the domains of inter-group and intra-group behaviour, tribal political attitudes, and...

The tribal instinct hypothesis (2008)

Van Vugt, M., & Park. J. (2008). The tribal instinct hypothesis: Evolution and the social psychology of intergroup relations. In S. Sturmer & M. Snyder, New Directions in Helping and Intergroup Behavior. London: Blackwell. Download Abstract: The social science literature abounds with examples of people’s tendency to categorize others on the basis of group membership and...

Gender differences in cooperation and competition (2007)

Van Vugt, M., De Cremer, D., & Janssen, D. (2007). Gender differences in cooperation and competition: The male warrior hypothesis. Psychological Science, 18, 19-23. Abstract: Evolutionary scientists argue that human cooperation is the product of a long history of competition among rival groups. There are various reasons to believe that this logic applies particularly...

From fault line to group fission (2006)

Hart, C. M., & Van Vugt, M (2006). From fault line to group fission: Understanding transformations in small groups. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 392-404. Download Abstract: Group fissions occur when two or more members leave a parent group to either form a new group or join an existing group. This article investigates the interplay between two factors: the...

Professor in Evolutionary Psychology, Work and Organizational Psychology