The Heart of the Matter Valerie M. Hudson, - MIT Press Journals

The Heart of the Matter 31
and Trumbore’s ªndings that domestic norms centered on equality and respect
for human rights reduce international conºict. 84 In sum, this body of work
demonstrates that the promotion of gender equality goes far beyond the issue
of social justice and has important consequences for international security.
Rose McDermott and Jonathan Cowden examine sex differences in aggression
within the context of a simulated crisis game. 85 In these experiments, allfemale
pairs proved signiªcantly less likely than all-male pairs to spend
money on weapons procurement or to go to war in the face of a crisis. In further
research, McDermott and her coauthors ªnd that in simulation, males are
more likely to display overconªdence prior to gaming and are more likely to
use unprovoked violence as a tactic. 86 These types of simulations, despite their
constraints, permit the inclusion of sex-based psychological variables in theories
concerning the micro processes by which gender differences might affect
resulting state security processes and outcomes. 87
Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris, though not researching nation-state behavior
per se, examine psychological attitudes toward women across “civilizations”
deªned more traditionally in terms of religion or ethnicity. They ªnd
that, contrary to popular impression, beliefs about democracy and other political
values are not very different between, say, Islamic and Christian cultures.
Beliefs about gender equality, however, differ markedly, which they take to be
evidence that the conceptualization of culture, or the nation-state, or civilization
must be redeªned to include a gender perspective. Furthermore, they ªnd
strong associations between psychological attitudes about women and indicators
such as the percentage of women elected to national legislatures. 88
These ªndings are encouraging: using conventional methodologies, aspects
and Peter F. Trumbore, “Ethnic Discrimination and Interstate Violence: Testing the International
Impact of Domestic Behavior,” Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 40, No. 1 (January 2003), pp. 5–23.
84. David Sobek, M. Rodwan Abouharb, and Christopher G. Ingram, “The Human Rights Peace:
How the Respect for Human Rights at Home Leads to Peace Abroad,” Journal of Politics, Vol. 68,
No. 3 (August 2006), pp. 519–529.
85. Rose McDermott and Jonathan Cowden, “The Effects of Uncertainty and Sex in a Crisis Simulation
Game,” International Interactions, Vol. 27, No. 4 (2002), pp. 353–380.
86. Dominic P. Johnson, Rose McDermott, Emily S. Barrett, Jonathan Cowden, Richard
Wrangham, Matthew H. McIntyre, and Stephen Peter Rosen, “Overconªdence in Wargames: Experimental
Evidence on Expectations, Aggression, Gender, and Testosterone,” Proceedings of the
Royal Society (Biology), Vol. 273 (June 2006), pp. 2513–2520.
87. Natalie B. Florea, Mark A. Boyer, Scott W. Brown, Michael J. Butler, Magnolia Hernandez,
Kimberly Weir, Lin Meng, Paula R. Johnson, Clarisse Lima, and Hayley J. Mayall, “Negotiating
from Mars to Venus: Gender in Simulated International Negotiations,” Simulation & Gaming, Vol.
34, No. 2 (June 2003), pp. 226–248.
88. Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris, “The True Clash of Civilizations,” Foreign Policy, No. 135
(March/April 2003), pp. 63–70; and Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris, Rising Tide: Gender Equality
and Cultural Change around the World (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003).