Textual evidence from pre-modern societies supports the prediction that status differences among men translate to variance in reproductive success. In recent years, analysis of genetic data has opened up new ways of studying this relationship. By investigating cases that range over several millennia, these analyses repeatedly document the replacement of local men by newcomers and reveal instances of exceptional reproductive success of specific male lineages. These findings suggest that violent population transfers and conquests could generate considerable reproductive advantages for male dominants. At the same time, this does not always seem to have been the case. Moreover, it is difficult to link such outcomes to particular historical characters or events, or to identify status-biased reproductive inequalities within dominant groups. The proximate factors that mediated implied imbalances in reproductive success often remain unclear. A better understanding of the complex interplay between social power and genetic fitness will only arise from sustained transdisciplinary engagement.

来自前现代社会的文本证据支持这样的预测：男性之间的地位差异会转化为生殖成功率的差异。近年来，遗传数据分析开辟了研究这种关系的新方法。通过调查数千年的案例，这些分析反复记录了当地男性被新来者取代的情况，并揭示了特定男性谱系的非凡繁殖成功的实例。这些发现表明，暴力的人口转移和征服可能会给男性统治者带来相当大的生殖优势。与此同时，情况似乎并非总是如此。此外，很难将这些结果与特定的历史人物或事件联系起来，也很难确定主导群体内存在的基于地位的生殖不平等。调节生殖成功率不平衡的直接因素通常仍不清楚。只有持续的跨学科参与，才能更好地理解社会权力和遗传适应性之间复杂的相互作用。