Cheatin' Hearts & Loaded Guns: The High Fitness Stakes of Country Music Lyrics

Abstract

Humans spend tremendous amounts of time producing and consuming narratives about people who have never existed doing things that have never been done. These narratives often concern actions that would, in the real world, have very large fitness consequences, such as the forming and dissolving of sexual relationships and committing acts of serious interpersonal violence. Country music lyrics capture listeners' attention, in part, with narratives depicting social interactions with big evolutionary stakes.