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Published on: January 7, 2013
An evolutionary life-history framework for understanding sex differences in human mortality rates
Daniel J Kruger1, Randolph M Nesse2
1Prevention Research Center and Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 1420 Washington Heights, 48109, Ann Arbor, MI. kruger@umich.edu.
Abstract:
Sex differences in mortality rates stem from genetic, physiological, behavioral, and social causes that are best understood when integrated in an evolutionary life history framework. This paper investigates the Male-to-Female Mortality Ratio (M:F MR) from external and internal causes and across contexts to illustrate how sex differences shaped by sexual selection interact with the environment to yield a pattern with some consistency, but also with expected variations due to socioeconomic and other factors.
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