Too many bachelors

The fear is that too many boys today means too many bachelors in the future, which also means too many unhappy, unattached men looking for a place to fit in. If this is true, researchers warn, it's not hard to predict a startling increase in violent activity that could affect overall social stability and derail China's economic progress.

It is a scientifically provable theory, said political scientist Valerie Hudson of Brigham Young University. And it's backed up by what any high school graduate can recall: "When guys got together, did they sometimes do stupider and more reckless things than when they were alone?" she asked.