Project description
A look at warfare from an evolutionary perspective
Anthropologists, archaeologists, economists, political scientists, primatologists and psychologists debate whether humans have evolved psychological adaptations to small-scale war. The ERC-funded AWAR project will conduct lab experiments and surveys in 40 countries to address this question. If humans are adapted to small-scale war, then our psychology should be equipped with specialised adaptations designed for the effective navigation of war. The project will probe the existence of such adaptations. It will also explore their potential real-world implications, particularly in the context of modern political violence, for example armed civil conflicts. As such, the project will advance a novel perspective in the study of contemporary political violence.
Objective
Have humans evolved psychological adaptations to war? This question has generated major scientific debate involving anthropologists, archaeologists, economists, primatologists, psychologists, and political scientists. It has shaped popular perceptions of human nature and influenced the views of political leaders.
Observing the limits of archaeological, ethnographic, and comparative evidence, I posit that only evidence of special design, obtained from an integrated program of psychological experiments, can conclusively answer this fundamental question. If humans are adapted to war, then human psychology must be equipped with specialized adaptations designed for the effective navigation of war: planning, executing, and defending against coalitional attacks.
AWAR probes the existence of such adaptations. It focuses, specifically, on coalitional formidability assessment mechanisms, which likely helped ancestral humans to avoid costly fights. Such mechanisms, if revealed, likely constitute “smoking-gun” evidence that war shaped human evolution. AWAR also explores real-world implications of coalitional formidability assessment mechanisms: if they indeed exist, do they shape our attitudes and behavior today, particularly in the context of modern political violence (e.g. violent anti-government protests and armed civil conflicts)?
AWAR presents the first elaborate information-processing model of a coalitional formidability assessment mechanism. In turn, it conducts an integrated program of 20 lab experiments and surveys in 40 countries. Crucially, AWAR holds the potential to reveal the existence of a psychological adaptation in humans, contributing to the growing efforts to map the universal architecture of the human mind. The project’s results will likely appear in major multidisciplinary journals, advancing scholarly debates in at least six disciplines. Most importantly, AWAR breaks new ground for a novel perspective in the study of modern domestic political violence.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-STG - Starting Grant
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2020-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
0186 Oslo
Norway
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.