Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39097569›Full record

ArticleNature communications2024

The evolution of democratic peace in animal societies.

K L Hunt, M Patel, D P Croft, D W Franks, P A Green, F J Thompson, R A Johnstone, M A Cant, D W E Sankey

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. The Evolutionary-Ecological Basis of Xenophilia.Human nature (Hawthorne, N.Y.) · 2026
    Article
  2. Close encounters of the friendly kind: pacific between-group interactions in primates.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025
    Review
  3. Collective self-assessment in banded mongoose intergroup contests.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

K L HuntCentre for Ecology and Conservation, Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall, UK. klh238@exeter.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0003-4967-0550
M PatelCentre of Excellence for Data Science, Artificial Intelligence and Modelling and Department of Biology, University of Hull, Hull, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-2941-260X
D P CroftCentre for Research in Animal Behaviour, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-6869-5097
D W FranksDepartment of Biology and Department of Computer Science, University of York, York, UK.
P A GreenDepartment of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
F J ThompsonCentre for Ecology and Conservation, Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-7581-2204
R A JohnstoneDepartment of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
M A CantCentre for Ecology and Conservation, Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-1530-3077
D W E SankeyCentre for Ecology and Conservation, Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall, UK. Dan.Sankey@newcastle.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0002-6363-8023

Funding

RCUK | Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) NE/S009914/1RCUK | Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) NE/V014471/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

A major goal in evolutionary biology is to elucidate common principles that drive human and other animal societies to adopt either a warlike or peaceful nature. One proposed explanation for the variation in aggression between human societies is the democratic peace hypothesis. According to this theory, autocracies are more warlike than democracies because autocratic leaders can pursue fights for private gain. However, autocratic and democratic decision-making processes are not unique to humans and are widely observed across a diverse range of non-human animal societies. We use evolutionary game theory to evaluate whether the logic of democratic peace may apply across taxa; specifically adapting the classic Hawk-Dove model to consider conflict decisions made by groups rather than individuals. We find support for the democratic peace hypothesis without mechanisms involving complex human institutions and discuss how these findings might be relevant to non-human animal societies. We suggest that the degree to which collective decisions are shared may explain variation in the intensity of intergroup conflict in nature.

Indexed as

Biological EvolutionGame TheoryAggressionAnimalsBehavior, AnimalConflict, PsychologicalDecision MakingDemocracyHumans

Identifiers

PMID39097569
PMCPMC11297998

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.