"Upper-Body Strength and Conflict Resolution in Human Males"

Taking our departure in one of the best validated models for evaluating animal contests, namely the asymmetric war of attrition we investigate if and how the formidability of males, measured by upper-body strength can coordinate outcomes in wars of attrition. The study consists of two experimental studies. The first replicates the previous findings on assessment of male-formidability adding one crucial addition. It shows that formidability can be predicted solely via the silhouette of a body. Utilizing this finding, participants in the second study played a two-player symmetric war of attrition game where they were exposed to a body silhouette of their opponent. Our hypothesis is the exposure to cues about the opponents’ relative strength triggers a sense of asymmetry in players and lets them behave as if they faced an asymmetric war of attrition. Consistent with this, we find that whenever the difference in formidability between two contestants increases, the duration of the fight decreases.

Michael Bang Petersen & Dan Nguyen, BBS, Aarhus University

(Co-authors of the original paper: Julia Nafziger and Alexander Koch)