7. aggression and warfare

Question 1

aggression definition
-> four distinctions

Answer 1

actions designed to harm another person, while benefiting yourself
-> evo theory -> should have (+) impact on fitness

distinctions
- physical / verbal
- direct / indirect
- reactive / proactive
- interpersonal / intergroup

Question 2

adaptive benefits of aggression
-> obtaining valuable resources that others have

Answer 2

Humans steal resources valuable for survival and reproduction from others
- Mates / territory / water / food / tools / weapons / money, drugs

Co-opting resources that others have
- Childhood aggression about toys and territory sets in at an early age
- Stealing, robbery, fraud, and drug killings are commonplace in modern
society
- Homicide date per country

Sex differences in aggression
- Boys are more physically and verbally aggressive than girls
10x more likely to be involved in antisocial behaviour and violent crime
during adolescence
Girls: covert forms of hostility - undermining / ignoring
- Men have a body for combat
61% more muscle mass ..

Question 3

adaptive benefits of aggression
-> self-defence

Answer 3

to defend against an attack
act of aggression may be framed as a ‘pre-emptive’ strike

Question 4

adaptive benefits of aggression
-> eliminating sexual competition

Answer 4

inflict costs on intra-sexual rivals
- same sex-rivals -> competing for same resources
- reducing the desirability of victims to opposite sex

Question 5

adaptive benefits of aggression
-> climbing up status hierarchy of group

Answer 5

• dominance strategy
• bullying
  men: more bullying, joined bullying, physical hurt, taking belongings
  women: name-calling, spreading rumours
• kiss-up, kick down

Question 6

adaptive benefits of aggression
-> deferring rivals from future aggression

Answer 6

• aggressive reputation may deter others from co-opting
• honour cultures -> invest in an aggressive reputation

Question 7

adaptive benefits of aggression
-> deferring sexual infidelity

Answer 7

• domestic violence
• jealousy as mate guarding -> can lead to aggression
• sexual jealousy
  largely towards spouses, mates, girlfriends
  when: observation / suspicion of infidelity / woman terminates relationship

Question 8

why has aggression declined in modern society?
-> increases in four motives

Answer 8

empathy

self-control

moral sense

reason

Question 9

status by warriorship

Answer 9

men who are judged to be the best warriors
-> same men who in high social status

Question 10

war = collective action problem
-> prisoner’s dilemma

Answer 10

apparent free-rider problem

why go to war?
- long-term gain in reproductive resources must be sufficiently large to
outweigh the reproductive costs
- members must believe that their group will emerge victorious
- the risk that each member takes and the importance of each member’s
contribution to the success must translate into a corresponding share of
benefits
- people who go into battle must be cloaked in a ‘veil of ignorance about who
will live or who will die

Question 11

male warrior hypothesis

Answer 11

men have evolved various psychological adaptations that enable them to form aggressive coalitions, designed to exploit and kill members of rival groups

suicide terrorism
- a by-product of adaptive warrior psychology

Question 12

male warrior hypothesis
-> six predictions

Answer 12

1. men experience more intergroup conflicts
2. more likely to show aggression in war-games
3. score higher on intergroup dominance
4. more likely to make spontaneous tribal associations
5. male warriors make more desirable sexual mates