Aggression - Evolutionary explanation Flashcards
Explain men use aggressive mate retention strategies to avoid cuckoldry as an evolutionary explanation of aggression
Men face the threat cuckoldry it is a waste of his resources because it contributes to survival of a rivals genes and leaves the father with fewer resources to invest in his own future and own offspring.
Men in our evolutionary past who avoided cuckoldry were more reproductively successful - so psychological mechanisms have evolved to increase nth - cuckoldry behaviours in men this drives the aggressive mate retention strategies men use to keep their partners and prevent them from straying - these were adaptive in our evolutionary history
Using a study explain mate retention strategies include direct guarding and negative inducements as an evolutionary explanation of aggression
Wilson and Daly (1996) identify 2 major mate retention strategies involving aggression :
- Direct guarding: mans vigilance over a partners behaviour (checking who they’ve been seeing)
- Negative inducements e.g.. threats of consequences for infidelity - ill kill myself if you leave me
Explain male retention strategies linked to physical violence as a evolutionary explanation of aggression using a study
Wilson et al (1995)
found women who reported mate retention strategies were twice as more likely to receive abuse - 73% required medical attention and 53% said they feared for their lives
Explain male retention strategies linked to physical violence as a evolutionary explanation of aggression without using a study
Men who used guarding or negative inducements were more likely to use physical violence against their partners - these retention behaviours reliably predicted husbands use of aggression against their wives
Explain bullying may be an adaptive form of aggression as an evolutionary explanation of aggression
Bulling is a power imbalance where the stronger person uses aggression against a weaker person
Researchers traditionally view bullying is maladaptive - but evolutionary ancestor may have used it as an adaptive strategy to increase chances of survival by promoting own heath and creating reproduction opportunities
Explain in men bulling ensures access to female and reduces threats from males
In men bulling suggests dominance,acquision of resources , strength and also towards of potential rivals
Characteristics associated with bulling deliver the ideal combination of access to more females and minimal threat from competing males - so aggressive bullying was naturally selected because these males would have reproductive success
Explain in women, bulling helps secure partners fidelity as a evolutionary explanation for aggression
Female bulling is normally done within a relationship as a way of controlling a partner to secure a partners fidelity meaning the partner continues to provide resources for future offspring - again such behaviour would be naturally selected because it enhanced the woman reproductive success
what are three strengths of the evolutionary explanation
research support
explains gender differences
real life applications
What are two limitations of the evolutionary explanation
there are cultural differences in aggression
there are methodological issues with the research evidence
Explain research support as a strength
Shackelford et al’s (2005) - direct guarding anf negative inducements are overwhelmingly used by males against both females and males. This suggests risk of infidelity, cuckoldry and aggression are linked and supports predictions from the explanation about the adaptive value of aggression
Explain explains gender differences as a strength using a study
Males engage more often in aggressive acts
Campbell (1999) argues that aggression in females risks the survival of their offspring + so a more adaptive strategy is verbal to retain a partner who provides resources as the explanation can explain gender differences it increases the validity
using a study explain real-life applications as a strength
Rigby (2010) reviewed several bullying interventions and despite the availability of these bullying remains prevalent, most fail as they don’t recognise that bullies bully as they gain advantage.
An evolutionary understanding of bullying as an adaptive behaviour can help us devise anti-bullying interventions - to increase the costs of bullying and rewards for prosocial behaviour
Explain cultural differences as a limitation
The evolutionary explanation predicts aggression is present in all cultures as is increases survival chances through greater reproductive success. Examples of different cultures suggests that aggression is not universal contrary to the evolutionary explanation
give examples of cultures who show there are cultural differences in aggression
The !Kung San people of Kalahari discourage aggression + those who use it loose status and reputation
The Yanomami of Venezuela use aggression to gain their status in their structured society
Explain methodological issues with research evidence as a limitation
it is very hard to test hypotheses about evolution of behaviours to some problems of adaptation in our past so research is correlational but even a strong correlation does not allow us to conclude that evolutionary related factors cause aggression ( sexual jealousy) this makes it hard to establish precisely how valid an experiment of aggression is
