A new study published in the British Journal of Psychology provides evidence that women in the late stages of pregnancy and early motherhood do not display increased submissiveness when facing potential social threats. Contrary to the expectation that physical vulnerability would lead to conflict avoidance, the findings suggest that women in the perinatal period tend to aggressively protect resources when interacting with threatening-looking men. The rationale behind this investigation is rooted in the evolutionary history of human development. Human infants are born in a state of high dependency, requiring significant time and energy from caregivers to survive. Throughout history, high rates of infant mortality likely necessitated specific cognitive adaptations in parents to help them assess and manage dangers in the environment. Psychological theories, such as protection motivation theory, propose that people constantly weigh potential threats against their ability to cope with them. When the perceived threat outweighs the ability to cope, individuals typically adopt protective or avoidant behaviors. This calculation is particularly relevant during pregnancy. The perinatal period, defined as the months leading up to …