How Does the Slow Life History Strategy Influence Trait Aggression Under High Uncertainty? The Serial Mediating Roles of Social Alienation and Intolerance of Uncertainty

The slow life history (LH) strategy is considered an adaptive approach. Within the current era of high uncertainty, what outcomes might this strategy yield? Accord- ingly, a cross-sectional study of 1,729 college students investigated associations between the slow LH strategy and trait aggression (T-Agg)—including its dimensions—physical aggression (PhyAgg), verbal aggression (VerAgg), Anger, and Hostility—through the serial mediating roles of social alienation (SA) and intolerance of uncertainty (IU). Findings revealed a competitive dual-path model in which the slow LH strategy directly increases IU yet indirectly decreases it through reduced SA. Consequently, two distinct pathways link this strategy to T-Agg: a cognitive vulnerability pathway that promotes T-Agg through heightened IU and a social buffering pathway that inhibits T-Agg through diminished SA. Furthermore, SA and IU exerted the strongest positive effect on Hostility, while the slow LH strategy demonstrated the strongest inhibitory effect on Anger. Regarding PhyAgg, slow LH strategists typically suppress it to avoid adverse consequences. In contrast, they utilize VerAgg as a low-cost, high-control tool. These findings suggest that slow LH strategists may be dual-tactic users, exhibiting both prosocial and coercive tendencies. The results provide empirical evidence for under- standing the behavioral plasticity and inherent contradictions individuals exhibit within high-uncertainty environments and enrich the theoretical framework of LH theory. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.