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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–7Cite as

Decline of Violence

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Synonyms

Civilization; Pacification; Self-domestication

Definition

A great deal of evidence indicates that human society has experienced a slow and steady decline in both interpersonal and intergroup violence as cooperation, empathy, and peaceful resolution of conflict have become more dominant.

Introduction

The emergence of Homo sapiens sapienswas a watershed moment in the natural history of the planet. Highly mobile populations of modern humans quickly replaced all of the other contemporary hominins they encountered, probably through a combination of violent and nonviolent means, and dramatically reshaped every environment they entered. However, human social groups are marked by extensive intraspecific cooperation, empathy, and nonviolent resolution of conflict, at least compared to our closest relatives, the other extant apes. There are several theories that have been developed to explain the decline of violence in the human species that are not mutually exclusive; in fact,...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sciences, John Jay College, The City University of New York, New York, NY, USA

    Nathan H. Lents

Authors
  1. Nathan H. Lents
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nathan H. Lents .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, MI, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University, Beaver, Monaca, PA, USA

    Kevin Bennett

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Lents, N.H. (2019). Decline of Violence. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3021-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3021-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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