The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined

by Steven Pinker

  94. Shallow discounting and life outcomes: Chabris et al., 2008; Duckworth & Seligman, 2005; Kirby, Winston, & Santiesteban, 2005.

  95. Self-reports on self-control: Tangney, Baumeister, & Boone, 2004.

  96. Benefits of self-control: Tangney et al., 2004.

  97. Crime and self-control: Gottfredson, 2007; Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990; Wilson & Herrnstein, 1985.

  98. Delay of gratification and aggression: Rodriguez, Mischel, & Shoda, 1989.

  99. Teacher ratings of impulsiveness and aggressiveness: Dewall et al., 2007; Tangney et al., 2004.

  100. Longitudinal study of temperament: Caspi, 2000. See also Beaver, DeLisi, Vaughn, & Wright, 2008.

  101. Violent and nonviolent crimes correlated in New Zealand sample: Caspi et al., 2002.

  102. Maturation of frontal lobes: Fuster, 2008, pp. 17–19.

  103. Delay discounting doesn’t correlate with juvenile delinquency: Wilson & Daly, 2006.

  104. Sensation-seeking peaks at eighteen: Romer, Duckworth, Sznitman, & Park, 2010.

  105. Testosterone: Archer, 2006b.

  106. Pushes and pulls in adolescent brains: Romer et al., 2010.

  107. All psychological traits are heritable: Bouchard & McGue, 2003; Harris, 1998/2008; McCrae et al., 2000; Pinker, 2002; Plomin, DeFries, McClearn, & McGuffin, 2008; Turkheimer, 2000.

  108. Self-control correlated with intelligence: Burks, Carpenter, Goette, & Rustichini, 2009; Shamosh & Gray, 2008. Self-control and intelligence in the frontal lobes: Shamosh et al., 2008.

  109. Intelligence and committing crimes: Herrnstein & Murray, 1994; Neisser et al., 1996. Intelligence and getting murdered: Batty, Deary, Tengstrom, & Rasmussen, 2008.

  110. Heritability of ADHD and links to crime: Beaver et al., 2008; Wright & Beaver, 2005.

  111. Force dynamics metaphor and self-control: Talmy, 2000; Pinker, 2007b, chap. 4.

  112. Fatiguing self-control: Baumeister et al., 1998; quote from p. 1254.

  113. Ego depletion studies: Baumeister et al., 1998; Baumeister, Gailliot, Dewall, & Oaten, 2006; Dewall et al., 2007; Gailliot & Baumeister, 2007; Gailliot et al., 2007; Hagger, Wood, Stiff, & Chatzisarantis, 2010.

  114. Self-control masks individual differences: Baumeister et al., 2006.

  115. Self-control and male sexuality: Gailliot & Baumeister, 2007.

  116. Ego depletion and violence: Dewall et al., 2007.

  117. Heritability of height: Weedon & Frayling, 2008.

  118. Odyssean self-control: Schelling, 1984, 2006.

  119. Self-control strategies in children: Metcalfe & Mischel, 1999.

  120. Discounting rate as an internal variable: Daly & Wilson, 2000, 2005; Wilson & Daly, 1997, 2006.

  121. Self-control and glucose: Gailliot et al., 2007.

  122. Alcohol and violence: Baumeister, 1997; Bushman, 1997. Nutritional supplements in prisons: J. Bohannon, “The theory? Diet causes violence. The lab? Prison,” Science, 325, Sept. 25, 2009.

  123. Exercising the will: Baumeister et al., 2006.

  124. Fashions in self-control and dignity: Eisner, 2008; Wiener, 2004; Wouters, 2007.

  125. Children’s interest rates: Clark, 2007a, p. 171.

  126. Variation across cultures: Hofstede & Hofstede, 2010.

  127. Long-term Orientation and homicide: The correlation between Long-Term Orientation and homicide rates across the 95 countries for which data are available is −0.325. The correlation between Indulgence and homicide is 0.25. Both are statistically significant. Long-Term Orientation and Indulgence scores are taken from http://www.geerthofstede.nl/research-vsm/dimension-data-matrix.aspx. Homicide data are the high estimates taken from International homicide statistics figures, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2009.

  128. Lactose tolerance in adulthood: Tishkoff et al., 2006.

  129. Yanomamö killers: Chagnon, 1988; Chagnon, 1997. Jivaro killers: Redmond, 1994.

  130. Assumption of little recent evolutionary change: Pinker, 1997; Tooby & Cosmides, 1990a, 1990b.

  131. Psychic unity of humankind: Brown, 1991, 2000; Tooby & Cosmides, 1990a, 1992.

  132. Mechanics of natural selection: Maynard Smith, 1998.

  133. Quantitative and single-gene evolution and evolutionary psychology: Tooby & Cosmides, 1990a.

  134. Genomic tests of selection: Akey, 2009; Kreitman, 2000; Przeworski, Hudson, & Di Rienzo, 2000.

  135. Recent selection in humans: Akey, 2009, p. 717.

  136. Selective breeding of aggression in mice: Cairns, Gariépy, & Hood, 1990.

  137. Measuring heritability: Plomin et al., 2008; Pinker, 2002, chap. 19.

  138. Danish adoption study: Mednick, Gabrielli, & Hutchings, 1984.

  139. Measures of aggression correlate with violent crime: Caspi et al., 2002; Guo, Roettger, & Cai, 2008b.

  140. Heritability of aggression: Plomin et al., 2008, chap. 13; Bouchard & McGue, 2003; Eley, Lichtenstein, & Stevenson, 1999; Ligthart et al., 2005; Lykken, 1995; Raine, 2002; Rhee & Waldman, 2007; Rowe, 2002; Slutske et al., 1997; van Beijsterveldt, Bartels, Hudziak, & Boomsma, 2003; van den Oord, Boomsma, & Verhulst, 1994.

  141. Aggression in separated twins: Bouchard & McGue, 2003, table 6.

  142. Aggression in adoptees: van den Oord et al., 1994; see also Rhee & Waldman, 2007.

  143. Aggression in twins: Cloninger & Gottesman, 1987; Eley et al., 1999; Ligthart et al., 2005; Rhee & Waldman, 2007; Slutske et al., 1997; van Beijsterveldt et al., 2003.

  144. Meta-analysis of behavioral genetics of aggression: Rhee & Waldman, 2007.

  145. Violent crime in twins: Cloninger & Gottesman, 1987.

  146. Pedomorphy and self-domestication: Wrangham, 2009b; Wrangham & Pilbeam, 2001.

  147. Heritability of gray matter distribution: Thompson et al., 2001.

  148. Heritability of white matter connectivity: Chiang et al., 2009.

  149. Making voles monogamous: McGraw & Young, 2010.

  150. Testosterone and aggressive challenges: Archer, 2006b; Dabbs & Dabbs, 2000.

  151. Testosterone receptor variation: Rajender et al., 2008; Roney, Simmons, & Lukaszewski, 2009.

  152. MAO-A knockout and violence in humans: Brunner et al., 1993.

  153. MAO-A variants and aggression: Alia-Klein et al., 2008; Caspi et al., 2002; Guo, Ou, Roettger, & Shih, 2008a; Guo et al., 2008b; McDermott et al., 2009; Meyer-Lindenberg, 2006.

  154. MAO-A specific to violence: N. Alia-Klein, quoted in Holden, 2008, p. 894; Alia-Klein et al., 2008.

  155. Effects of MAO-A depend on experience: Caspi et al., 2002; Guo et al., 2008b.

  156. Modulating factor for MAO-A may be other genes: Harris, 2006; Guo et al., 2008b, p. 548.

  157. Selection of MAO-A gene: Gilad, 2002.

  158. Dopamine receptor & transporter genes: Guo et al., 2008b; Guo, Roettger, & Shih, 2007.

  159. No evidence cited of recent selection of genes for behavior: Cochran & Harpending, 2009. See also Wade, 2006.

  160. Warrior Gene furor: Holden, 2008; Lea & Chambers, 2007; Merriman & Cameron, 2007.

  161. Problems for the Warrior Gene hypothesis: Merriman & Cameron, 2007.

  162. Failure to replicate MAO-A–violence link in nonwhites: Widom & Brzustowicz, 2006.

  163. “Genetically Capitalist?”: Clark, 2007b, p. 1. See also Clark, 2007a, p. 187.

  164. Problems for Genetically Capitalist theory: Betzig, 2007; Bowles, 2007; Pomeranz, 2008.

  165. Morality as a matter of fact: Harris, 2010; Nagel, 1970; Railton, 1986; Sayre-McCord, 1988.

  166. Moralized versus nonmoralized preferences: Haidt, 2002; Rozin, 1997; Rozin et al., 1997.

  167. Moral rationalization: Bandura, 1999; Baumeister, 1997.

  168. Unjustified norms in moral development: Kohlberg, 1981.

  169. Moral dumbfounding: Haidt, 2001.

  170. Cross-culturally recurring moral themes: Fiske, 1991; Haidt, 2007; Rai & Fiske, 2011; Shweder et al., 1997.

  171. Three ethics: Shweder et al., 1997.

  172
. Five foundations: Haidt, 2007.

  173. Four relational models: Fiske, 1991, 1992, 2004a, 2004b; Haslam, 2004; Rai & Fiske, 2011.

  174. Ritual gift exchange: Mauss, 1924/1990.

  175. Harm/Care judgments track Fairness/Reciprocity judgments: Haidt, 2007.

  176. Why Harm/Care to strangers equals Fairness/Reciprocity: Axelrod, 1984/2006; Trivers, 1971.

  177. Extension of Market Pricing to formal institutions: Pinker, 2007b, chaps. 8 & 9; Lee & Pinker, 2010; Pinker et al., 2008; Pinker, 2010.

  178. Rational-Legal reasoning and Market Pricing: Fiske, 1991, pp. 435, 47; Fiske, 2004b, p. 17.

  179. Grammar of social and moral norms: Fiske, 2004b.

  180. Nonmoralized social norms: Fiske, 2004b.

  181. Norms in Shasta County: Ellickson, 1991.

  182. Not “getting” social norms: Fiske & Tetlock, 1999; Tetlock, 1999.

  183. Sacred values and the psychology of taboo: Fiske & Tetlock, 1999; Tetlock, 1999; Tetlock et al., 2000.

  184. Rationale for taboos: Fiske & Tetlock, 1999; Tetlock, 2003.

  185. Reframing taboo tradeoffs: Fiske & Tetlock, 1997; McGraw & Tetlock, 2005; Tetlock, 1999, 2003.

  186. Life insurance: Zelizer, 2005.

  187. Cultural differences in relational models: Fiske, 1991, 1992, 2004a; Rai & Fiske, 2011.

  188. Political ideologies and relational models: Fiske & Tetlock, 1999; McGraw & Tetlock, 2005; Tetlock, 2003.

  189. Moral foundations and the liberal-conservative culture war: Haidt, 2007; Haidt & Graham, 2007; Haidt & Hersh, 2001.

  190. Logic of humor: Koestler, 1964; Pinker, 1997, chap. 8.

  191. Relational models and violence: Fiske, 1991, pp. 46–47, 130–33.

  192. Null/asocial relational model: Fiske, 2004b.

  193. Two kinds of dehumanization: Haslam, 2006.

  194. Criminal justice as in-kind retribution: Carlsmith et al., 2002; see also Sargent, 2004.

  195. Rational-Legal reasoning, Market Pricing, and utilitarianism: Rai & Fiske, 2011; Fiske, 1991, p. 47; McGraw & Tetlock, 2005.

  196. Historical shift from Community Sharing to Market Pricing: Fiske & Tetlock, 1997, p. 278, note 3.

  197. Liberals and conservatives: Haidt, 2007; Haidt & Graham, 2007; Haidt & Hersh, 2001.

  198. We are all liberals now: Courtwright, 2010; Nash, 2009.

  199. Market Pricing and utilitarianism: Rai & Fiske, 2011; Fiske, 1991, p. 47; McGraw & Tetlock, 2005.

  200. Grammar of relational models: Fiske, 2004b; Fiske & Tetlock, 1999; Rai & Fiske, 2011.

  201. Taboo, sacred values, and the Israel-Palestine conflict: Ginges et al., 2007.

  202. Red counties and blue counties: Haidt & Graham, 2007; see also http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/map.html.

  203. Communal Sharing implies the group is eternal: Fiske, 1991, p. 44.

  204. Hierarchy and history writing: Brown, 1988.

  205. Nationalism and potted histories: Bell, 2007b; Scheff, 1994; Tyrrell, 2007; van Evera, 1994.

  206. The word dumbth was coined by Steve Allen.

  207. Blaming the Enlightenment for the Holocaust: See Menschenfreund, 2010. Examples from the left include Zygmunt Bauman, Michel Foucault, and Theodor Adorno; examples from defenders of religion include Dinesh D’Souza in What’s so great about Christianity? and theoconservatives such as Richard John Neuhaus; see Linker, 2007.

  208. Historiometry: Simonton, 1990.

  209. Intelligence, openness, and performance of U.S. presidents: Simonton, 2006.

  210. Bush third-lowest among presidents: C-SPAN 2009 Historians presidential leadership survey, C-SPAN, 2010; J. Griffin & N. Hines, “Who’s the greatest? The Times U.S. presidential rankings,” New York Times, Mar. 24, 2010; Siena Research Institute, 2010.

  211. Neither the best nor the brightest: Nixon is ranked 38th, 27th, and 30th among the 42 presidents in the historians’ polls cited in note 210, and 25th in intelligence; see Simonton, 2006, table 1, p. 516, column I-C (chosen because the IQ numbers are the most plausible).

  212. The correlation and slope estimates are from a statistical analysis where battle deaths for all war-years in which the United States was a primary or secondary participant were regressed against the president’s IQ. Battle deaths are the “Best Estimate” figures from the PRIO Battle Deaths Dataset (Lacina, 2009); IQ estimates from Simonton, 2006, table 1, p. 516, column I-C.

  213. Rationality and the Holocaust: Menschenfreund, 2010.

  214. Emotional dog and rational tail: Haidt, 2001. Moral reasoning and moral intuition: Pizarro & Bloom, 2003.

  215. Moral intuition and moral reasoning in the brain: Greene, in press; Greene et al., 2001.

  216. Reason as slave of the passions: Hume, 1739/2000, p. 266.

  217. Correlation of intelligence with self-control: Burks et al., 2009; Shamosh & Gray, 2008. Self-control and intelligence in the brain: Shamosh et al., 2008.

  218. Emotional reaction to other races: Phelps et al., 2000.

  219. Relational models, mathematical scales, and cognition: Fiske, 2004a.

  220. Sadistic puppeteers: Gottschall, 2008.

  221. Godwin: Quoted in Singer, 1981/2011, pp. 151–52.

  222. Logic of morality: Nagel, 1970; Singer, 1981/2011.

  223. Systematicity of reasoning: Fodor & Pylyshyn, 1988; Pinker, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2007b.

  224. Expanding circle: Singer, 1981/2011.

  225. Escalator of reason: Singer, 1981/2011, pp. 88, 113–14.

  226. Greek epitaph: Quoted in Singer, 1981/2011, p. 112.

  227. Outstanding thinkers: Singer, 1981/2011, pp. 99–100.

  228. Flynn’s Eureka: Flynn, 1984; Flynn, 2007.

  229. Rising IQ around the world: Flynn, 2007, p. 2; Flynn, 1987.

  230. Naming the Flynn Effect: Herrnstein & Murray, 1994.

  231. Thirty countries: Flynn, 2007, p. 2.

  232. Flynn Effect began in 1877: Flynn, 2007, p. 23.

  233. Adult of 1910 would be retarded today: Flynn, 2007, p. 23.

  234. Scientists’ consensus on intelligence: Deary, 2001; Gottfredson, 1997a; Neisser et al., 1996. Intelligence as a predictor of life success: Gottfredson, 1997b; Herrnstein & Murray, 1994.

  235. Flynn Effect uncorrelated with testing fads: Flynn, 2007, p. 14.

  236. Flynn Effect not in math, vocabulary, knowledge: Flynn, 2007; Greenfield, 2009. See also Wicherts et al., 2004.

  237. Slight declines in SAT: Flynn, 2007, p. 20; Greenfield, 2009.

  238. General intelligence: Deary, 2001; Flynn, 2007; Neisser et al., 1996.

  239. Heritability of intelligence, lack of family influence: Bouchard & McGue, 2003; Harris, 1998/ 2008; Pinker, 2002; Plomin et al., 2008; Turkheimer, 2000.

  240. General intelligence and the brain: Chiang et al., 2009; Deary, 2001; Thompson et al., 2001.

  241. Flynn Effect not from hybrid vigor: Flynn, 2007, pp. 101–2. Flynn Effect not from gains in health and nutrition: Flynn, 2007, pp. 102–6.

  242. Flynn Effect not in g: Flynn, 2007; Wicherts et al., 2004.

  243. Visual complexity and IQ: Greenfield, 2009.

  244. Prescientific versus postscientific reasoning: Flynn, 2007. See also Neisser, 1976; Tooby & Cosmides, in press; Pinker, 1997, pp. 302–6.

  245. Dogs and rabbits: Flynn, 2007, p. 24.

  246. Dialogues on similarity and hypotheticals: Cole, Gay, Glick, & Sharp, 1971; Luria, 1976; Neisser, 1976.

  247. Schooling and formal operations: Flynn, 2007, p. 32.

  248. Increases in schooling: Flynn, 2007, p. 32.

  249. Reading comprehension: Rothstein, 1998, p. 19.

  250. Changes in school tests: Genovese, 2002.

  251. Shorthand abstractions: All of these terms increased in frequency during the 20th century, according to analyses of Google Books by the Bookworm program: Michel et al., 2011; see the caption to figure 7–1.

  252. “on account of the economy”: G. Nunberg, Language commentary segment on Fresh Air, National Public Radio,
2001.

  253. Concrete operations in Flynn’s father: J. Flynn, “What is intelligence: Beyond the Flynn effect,” Harvard Psychology Department Colloquium, Dec. 5, 2007; see also “The world is getting smarter,” Economist/Intelligent Life, Dec. 2007; http://moreintelligentlife.com/node/654.

  254. Difficulty with proportions: Flynn, 2007, p. 30.

  255. Thinking people are less punitive: Sargent, 2004.

  256. “cultural renaissance”: Flynn, 1987, p. 187.

  257. “squalid savages”: Roosevelt, The winning of the West (Whitefish, Mont.: Kessinger), vol. 1, p. 65. “Dead Indians”: Quoted in Courtwright, 1996, p. 109.

  258. Woodrow Wilson’s racism: Loewen, 1995, pp. 22–31.

  259. Churchill’s racism: Toye, 2010; quotes excerpted in J. Hari, “The two Churchills,” New York Times, Aug. 12, 2010.

  260. Dumb congressional testimony: Quoted in Courtwright, 1996, pp. 155–56.

  261. Literary intellectuals’ contempt for the masses: Carey, 1993.

  262. Intellectuals’ support of totalitarianism: Carey, 1993; Glover, 1999; Lilla, 2001; Sowell, 2010; Wolin, 2004.

  263. Appalling Eliot: Carey, 1993, p. 85.

  264. Intellectuals’ troublemaking: Carey, 1993; Glover, 1999; Lilla, 2001; Sowell, 2010; Wolin, 2004.

  265. Smarter people are less violent: Herrnstein & Murray, 1994; Wilson & Herrnstein, 1985; Farrington, 2007, pp. 22–23, 26–27.

  266. Superrationality in the Prisoner’s Dilemma: Hofstadter, 1985.

  267. Truckers’ IQ and the Prisoner’s Dilemma: Burks et al., 2009.

  268. University SATs and the Prisoner’s Dilemma: Jones, 2008.

  269. Politicization of social science: Haidt & Graham, 2007; Tetlock, 1994.

  270. Political liberals and fairness: Haidt, 2007; Haidt & Graham, 2007.

  271. Liberalism and intelligence in the United States: Kanazawa, 2010.

  272. Bright children become enlightened adults: Deary, Batty, & Gale, 2008.

  273. Smarter people think like economists: Caplan & Miller, 2010.

  274. Market economies as a pacifying force: Kant, 1795/1983; Mueller, 1999; Russett & Oneal, 2001; Schneider & Gleditsch, 2010; Wright, 2000 Mueller, 2010b.

  275. Zero-sum mindset & ethnic violence: Sowell, 1980, 1996.

  276. Kantian Peace: Gleditsch, 2008; Russett, 2008; Russett & Oneal, 2001.

  277. Cognitive prerequisites for democracy: Rindermann, 2008.