THE HERO’S RELATIONSHIP TO FAMILY: A PRELIMINARY SOCIOBIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF SEX DIFFERENCES IN HERO CHARACTERISTICS USING CHILDREN’S FANTASY LITERATURE

Very few studies have used an evolutionary approach to help understand fictional heroes, and none have directly addressed how the sex of the author might influence the characteristics of the hero. If evolved behavioral differences in the sexes have influenced the subconscious tendencies of human males and females, these differences should be reflected in the fictional characters each creates. Based on sexual selection and inclusive fitness theory, I predicted that females will be more likely than males to create heroes who have family members, and that family members will be more important in the plotlines of female-generated stories. Information collected from twenty children’s fantasy novels published after 1994 display the predicted trends. In addition, male authors often created parents who were problematic (insane, irresponsible, or evil), something the female authors never did. Further, rebellion, revenge or anger were emotions that commonly initiated the action in male-generated stories, but not female-generated stories. If these trends represent a true difference in how males and females visualize heroes, further study into hero differences based on the sex of the author may provide information of interest to those who study gender issues and evolutionary psychology.