Aggression: Evolutionary explanations Flashcards
Sexual jealousy
A major motivator of aggressive behaviour in males - men can never be totally sure of whether or not they have truly fathered a child - paternity uncertainty is a result of the threat for male of cuckoldry (having to raise offspring that isn’t his). Any offspring that doesn’t have the same genes - waste of his resources - contributes to survival of a rival’s genes + leaves ‘father’ with less resources to invest into his own future offspring.
Men in our past who could avoid cuckoldry - more reproductively successful. Psychological mechanisms - evolved to increase anti-cuckoldry beh. in males. Sexual jealousy more common in men - drives agg. strategies men employ to retain partners + prevent them from leaving, strategies - adaptive in our evolutionary history.
MRS
Wilson + Daly - several mate retention strategies that involve aggressive + physical violence:
Direct guarding - male vigilance over partner’s behaviour (checking who they’ve been seeing, tracking where they are).
Negative inducements - issuing threats of dire consequences for infidelity (I’ll kill myself if you leave me).
Such behaviours are linked to violence:
Wilson et al - women who reported MRS in partners - 2x likely suffered physical violence. 73% of the women required medical attention + 53% said they feared for their lives.
IPV
Shackleford et al - intimate partner violence in heterosexual couples - men + women in 107 married couples - different questionnaires - all married less than a year.
Men - completed Mate Retention Inventory - assessed MRS in categories (direct guarding).
Women - completed Spouse Influence Report - measured extent of partner’s violence.
Strong positive correlation - men’s reports of MRS + women’s reports of partner’s violence. Men who used guarding or negative inducements - more likely to use physical violence against their partners. The retention behaviours reliably predicted husbands’ use of violence against their wives.
Bullying
Bullying - due to a power imbalance - more powerful person uses aggression deliberately + repeatedly against a weaker person.
Traditional view - result of poor social skills or childhood abuse.
Evo. - adaptive strategy to increase chance of survival by promoting their own health + creating opportunities for reproduction.
Volk et al - characteristics of bullying behaviour - attractive to opposite sex. Males - dominance, acquisition of resources, strength. It has the benefit of warding off potential rivals - leading to access to more females + minimal threat from competing males. Such behaviours would be naturally selected as males would have greater reproductive success.
Females - often takes place in a relationship, method of controlling a partner - to secure partner’s fidelity which means they continue to provide resources for future offspring. Same as males - behaviours naturally selected - more reproductive success.
AO3 - Research support for aggression + sexual jealousy
Strength - Research support - Many studies have demonstrated that MRS are associated with sexual jealousy + aggression.
Shackleford et al - particularly dramatic example of this.
MRS - direct guarding + negative inducements are overwhelmingly used by males against both females + other males.
This indicates a clear link between greater risk of infidelity + cuckoldry, + aggression.
AO3 - Evo. exp. account for gender differences
Strength - Gender differences - It is a common observation that males engage more often than females in most aggressive acts, usually physical - so there are gender differences. The evolutionary theory can explain this.
Campbell - A female with offspring - motivated to be less aggressive as such behaviour would put not only her own survival at risk, but also her child’s.
A more adaptive strategy for females - verbal aggression as a means of retaining a partner who provides resources + to avoid becoming involved in life-threatening situations involving physical aggression. This would explain why women are more likely than men to use non-aggressive methods of resolving disputes.
This ability to explain gender differences - strength of evolutionary theory.
AO3 - Real-life applications
Strength - Real-life applications - Evolutionary understanding of bullying as an adaptive behaviour can help us to devise more effective anti-bullying interventions.
Rigby - reviewed several established interventions based on assumption that bullying is a maladaptive behaviour that can be eradicated by addressing the bully’s perceived deficiencies. Despite the availability of these strategies, bullying is still prevalent.
Evolutionary approach acknowledges that bullies bully because they stand to gain advantages for themselves, so it makes no sense for them to voluntarily give up the power they have over others without some form of compensation.
Volk et al - anti-bullying interventions need to increase costs of bullying + rewards of prosocial alternatives. One method could be to encourage bullies to compete aggressively but fairly in sport (rugby). It would give them the opportunity to display prowess (skill, expertise), strength + other attractive qualities, including some not available to them through bullying.
