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Study Explains Why Women Miscarry More Males During Tough Times
sciencehabit writes In times of trouble, multiple studies have shown, more girls are born than boys. No one knows why, but men need not worry about being overrun by women. An analysis of old church records in Finland has revealed that the boys that are born in stressful times survive better than those born during less challenging periods. The work helps explain why women may have evolved a tendency to abort certain males and could lead to a better understanding of miscarriages.
...and one of the other things it found was that pregnant women who found out their loved ones were killed during the Winter War and Continuation War were more likely to have children who exhibited certain psychological conditions and behavioral pathologies.
This is an unfortunate and common misunderstanding of evolution. It isn't remotely competitive. The environment is competitive. The method of evolution can indeed exist and flourish without any competition between fellows. Natural selection can find many ways to improve the reproductive fitness of organisms, and in many cases, too much intraspecies competition can indeed be a negative pressure.
Yes. The data was showing that a traumatic emotional event for a pregnant mother was literally causing neurological effects in the developing fetus.