Conflict Domains, Gendered Statistical Tendencies, and the Limits of Strong Cultural Determinism: An Evolutionary–Cognitive Framework for Media Genre Patterns

This work proposes an evolutionary–cognitive framework for understanding why media genres exhibit robust, recurring patterns in conflict structure, character dynamics, and narrative resolution. Drawing on probabilistic sex-differentiated deep schemas—statistical tendencies shaped by evolutionary pressures rather than deterministic rules—the paper explains why male-oriented narratives often emphasize intragroup competition and personal duels, while female-oriented narratives more frequently foreground communal protection and external threats. The framework further clarifies the limits of strong cultural determinism by demonstrating that narrative preferences and genre regularities cannot be fully explained by socialization alone. Instead, they emerge from flexible cognitive biases that creators may follow, invert, or subvert to generate emotional resonance or thematic complexity. To prevent misinterpretation, the appendices distinguish between non-human animal fitness behaviors (e.g., infanticide in lions) and human social problems, emphasizing that harmful human behaviors such as abuse or crime are not adaptive, not biologically predetermined, and not transmitted through genetic determinism. Empirical research shows that neither criminality nor abusive behavior is inherited or inevitable, and that early recognition, education, and supportive environments play a crucial role in preventing maladaptive outcomes. Note: The three-layer structure of “deep,” “middle,” and “surface” employed in this paper is an independent framework designed specifically for the analytical aims of the present study. Readers should interpret the arguments in this paper according to this framework alone; there is no need to compare it with, or reinterpret it through, alternative hierarchical models proposed in later research. Because multiple hierarchical models can legitimately coexist depending on analytical purpose, the three-layer structure used here constitutes a self-contained theoretical system appropriate to the objectives of this paper.