Strong sexual selection frequently favours males that increase their reproductive success by harming females, with potentially negative consequences for population growth. Understanding what factors modulate conflict between the sexes is hence critical to understand both the evolution male and female phenotypes and the viability of populations in the wild. Studies addressing the evolution of sexual conflict have so far considered direct effects on male and female reproductive success along with indirect genetic benefits (e.g. good genes) to females. Here, we model the evolution of male harm while incorporating male-induced maternal effects on offspring quality. We show that, because male harm can induce maternal effects that reduce the quality of a harming male’s own offspring, maternal effects can partially align male and female evolutionary interests and significantly curb the evolution of male harm. These effects are independent of population structure and whether male harm comes before (i.e. harassment) or during/after (i.e. traumatic inseminations or toxic ejaculates) mating, and are particularly salient when maternal effects influence offspring ability to inflict (sons) or resist (daughters) harm. Our results fit broadly with available evidence across the tree of life, opening a novel avenue to unravel the evolution of sexual conflict.

Systematic literature search (details provided in the manuscript).