Summary
Coalitional value theory is an evolutionary psychology account of status. It holds that humans evolved mental mechanisms for judging how much each person adds to a group – their ‘coalitional value’ – and that people defer to those with more of it and assert themselves over those with less. Bo Winegard, Amanda Kirsch, Andrew Vonasch, Ben Winegard and David Geary put it forward in 2020.
The authors say it helps explain how human groups grew into chiefdoms and nation states. With their claim that “status striving is a fundamental human motive”, they also use it to explain in part anti-gay bias, cultural signalling, conceptions of god and ideological conflict.
Rationale
Here we differ. CVT treats deference and status-striving as evolved fixtures. Part 1 suggests competition and domination “begin to feel more natural” under an assumption of separation, a cultural pattern and so open to change.