Life History Predicts Perceptions of Procedural Justice and Crime Reporting Intentions

Evolutionary life history theory (LHT) is a powerful organizing framework central to the life sciences. Interest in biosocial criminology is growing, and adoption of LHT may accelerate progress toward an integrative evolutionarily informed human science. We examined the relationship of life history to attitudes toward the police using data from a demographically representative community-wide survey in a Midwestern county with an urban center exhibiting high rates of violent crimes. As expected, life history was associated with demographic characteristics. Controlling for demographics, slower life history was associated with greater perceptions of procedural justice and police legitimacy, i.e., intentions to contact the police. LHT may promote an integrative human science and a deep theoretical framework for understanding modern social patterns.