Agression

Question 1

Social psychological approaches to explaining aggression - SLT. A01

1) What do Bandura and other psychologists say about SLT and aggression?
2) According to social learning theorists, What 4 factors increase the likelihood of a person behaving aggressively in particular situation>

Answer 1

1) Bandura and others believed that social learning could explain how children develop aggressive and violent behaviours. Children observe the actions of significant others model their own behaviour on what they see, often imitating specific behaviours. One context for this could be if a child watches their parents’ response to being frustrated or threatened by someone. If it is an aggressive response, the child stores it as a mental representation and uses it as a model for their own behaviour in similar situations. Often TV characters or celebrities can become a childs role model; simple being exposed to the models behaviour is sufficient for learning to occur as was demonstrated by
- observing a role models aggressive behaviour will lead to the child ‘learning’ the behaviour, but imitations is far more likely to occur if the child feels sufficiently motivated to do so, and a key motivation is the prospect of being rewarded. Children’s vicarious experience of an aggressive act being reared insufficient enough reinforcement for them to want to imitate the behaviour themselves.

2) a) Previous experience (witnessing aggression)
b) If the behaviour is reinforced or punished
c) Chance of behaviour now reinforced or punished
d) Environment can make it more or less likely.

Question 2

Social psychological approaches to explaining aggression - SLT. AO2

1) Bandura..
2) Comstock and Paik
2) - One thing to note about SLT is that it cannot explain all incidents of aggression (two people exposed to the sam amounts of aggression in childhood may not both become aggressive). Other theories offer alternative explanations such as….

Why does the !Kung San community represent evidence that the social learning theory is good at explaining cultural differences?

Answer 2

BANDURA pointed to the distinction between learning of aggression - the cognitive aspect - and the actual reproduction of what has been learned - the behavioural aspect. His study found that children who observed aggressive behaviour, would only mimic it themselves, if they had observed the role model being rewarded for their actions. This supports the idea of vicarious reinforcement.

Paik & Comstock did a meta-analysis and found a strong effect size for the effect of television violence on aggressive behaviour. They also found that it affects males and females equally.

The triangulated results from a lab experiment, and meta analysis makes it strong and reliable evidence for the role of social learning in aggression.

1) Ethological theory (Lorenz): This approach considers aggression to be instinctive in all species, and important in the evolutionary development of the species. Lorenz defined aggression as ‘…the fighting instinct in beast and man which is directed against members of the same species…’ Aggressiveness is important in competing successfully for limited resources, in defending territory and for basic survival.
Evaluative point: This theory would struggle to account for individual differences as it claims aggression is instinctive in all species, it doesn’t account for individual experiences,

2) Aggressive-cue theory (Berkowitz) - This is the view that frustration over time leads to anger and anger will lead to aggression if certain environmental stimuli are present. Such cues are things that are associated with aggression and violence that activate their chema of aggression, drawing out residual anger.
Evaluative point: This theory is successful in explaining the individual differences as people may find different external stimuli frustrating. It is also therefore good at explaining cultural differences.

IDA: CULTURAL DIFFERENCES: !Kung San community parents do not use physical punishment and aggression is devalued by the society as a whole. The absence of aggressive models means there is little opportunity for !Kun San children to learn aggressive behaviour.

Question 3

1) Deindividuation is what?

2) There are several features involved in deindividuation, what are they?

Answer 3

1) The process of decreased self-assessment and awareness that occurs when identification of an individual is difficult or impossible - people lose their sense of socialised identity and engage unsocialised behaviours.

2) - Individuals in a group do not pay attention to others as individuals and correspondingly do not feel they are being singled out, shedding the associated norms of behaviour, and instead merge with the crowd which reduces as SELF AWARENESS.
- This adoption of a group identity results in the individual feeling anonymous meaning they are not bound and their self-assessment is consequently reduced. Thus more primitive urges are acted on.
- Anonymity also reduces their concerns about others evaluation of them. Under normal conditions individuals’ behaviour is controlled by fear os guilt shame and punishment but the anonymity serves to weaken these controls by again reducing self-assessment.

Question 4

Evaluation of Deindividuation - A02

1) Research evidence for

Answer 4

1) Malamuth and Check (1981) questioned male students at an American university and found that almost one-third of them admitted that there was a chance they might commit rape if there was no chance of their being identified.
- However it can be accused of Beta bias - we would have to be caution in generalising the results.
- In addition their is a potential problem of validity when using interviews as the research is so sensitive and the men may not admit how they truly feel in front of an interviewer.
- Because it was a controlled experiment, it is easier to identify the cause and effect and results are likely to be reliable. However this also means it lacks ecological validity as its in an artificial environment.

• Robert Watson looked at real-world anthropological data on the extent to which warriors in 23 societies changed their appearance prior to going to war, and whether this correlated with aggression levels. He found that of the 13 societies that killed, tortured and mutilated their victims, all but one significantly changed their appearance prior to battle. Of the 10 that were less brutal towards their enemies, 7 did not change their appearance and thus were not de-individuated
  . However, the Human relations area files from which the data was drawn has been accused of bias of misapplying the norms of a face-conscious individualistic culture? Alternatively they could just be mimicking or honouring the gods or creating team colours for battle field identity.

Question 5

Evaluation of Deindividuation - A02

1) Research evidence against.

Answer 5

1) Postmes and Spears performed a meta-analysis of 60 studies of Deindividuation and concluded that there is insufficient support for the major claims of Deindividuation theory. They found little evidence that Deindividuation is associated with reduced self-awareness and suggest an alternative explanation: Individuals in a crown do not lose their identity but instead take on a collective identity. The collective identity comprises a set of normative rules and the crowd members behave according to those norms.

Question 6

Evaluation of Deindividuation - A02

1) IDA

Answer 6

1) Deindividuation theory is useful as it can explain real life phenomena such as ‘baiting crowd’ behaviour. - This is explored by Mann who analysed 21 incidents of suicides reported in newspapers in 60s and 70s usa and found that 10 out of 21 cases where a crowd had gathered, baiting occurred e.g the crowd urged the potential suicide to jump. These incidents tended to occur at night when the crowd was large, it was dark and the individual was far away from the taunting crowd.
- Practical applications for the formation of social policy as a way of reducing crime. For example increased street lighting will increase self-awareness of individuals or introducing rules that individuals have to remove their hoods in shopping centres will make them easier to identify.

(- Hogg and Vaughan suggest that Deindividuation can also lead to peaceful, pro-social behaviour. During crowd events such as carnivals and public funerals like that of Diana, people often show very uncharacteristic levels of public emotion and express immense joy or sadness on a level that they would not ‘normally,’ but it does not turn to aggression. )

Question 7

• Explanations of Institutional aggression. - The deprivation model AO1
  1) Describe the model?

Answer 7

1) The model holds, in brief, that the prison environment and loss of freedom cause deep psychological trauma so that, for reasons of psychological self-preservation, prisoners create a deviant subculture that promotes violence. Gresham Sykes talked about the 5 pains of imprisonment which include deprivation of liberty, deprivation of goods and services, deprivation of heterosexual relationships, deprivation of autonomy and deprivation of security.
- Deprivation of liberty means the loss of freedom, both by confinement to the prison and by confinement within the prison. Confinement also brings the loss of personal relationships, increased loneliness and boredom and inmates feel isolated from society, leading to frustration and despair.
- Deprivation of autonomy means the inmate is subject to a vast body of rules and commands which are designed to control his behaviour at every minute of the dat. Skye’s suggest that the bureaucratic nature of the rules, with no explanation as to why they are enforced, leads the prisoner feeling helpless and frustrated.

Question 8

Explanations of Institutional aggression. - the importation model.

1) describe the model.

Answer 8

The importation model explains prison aggression in terms of what prisoners being into the institution. It says that inmate aggression is primarily the result of offenders attitudes, values, beliefs and behaviours that form outside prison walls and are brought into or imported into the institution. (Irwin and Cressy)
Irwin and Cressy argue that prison inmate populations consist of multiple subcultures, all of which have their own values and norms that developed outside prison and are imported in. Two such subcultures are 1) Thief subcultures - career criminals whose code of conduct comes from the wider criminal works. 2) Convict subcultures - inmates who have been raised in punitive institutions most of their life whose inmate code is based on manipulation and exploitation of other inmates. Subcultures also tend to share common background experienced and inmates bring with them socio-demographic characteristics such as age and ethnicity such as age and ethnicity.

The middle predicts that aggression results from patterns of behaviou that were learned from a young age. Prisons are characteristically tough, competitive environments, so prisoners who have learned aggressive responses to conflict are likely to imitate that behaviour in prison.

Question 9

Explanations of institutional aggression - A02

1) research evidence to support D Model

Answer 9

Support for the deprivation model -
1) NACCI - 1997 - found that inmate population density correlated with assaults more that non-violent deviance e.g. escapes/ attempts to escape - saying that the environment causes the aggression.

There is empirical evidence by Johnston (1991) supporting the deprivation model as an explanation for institutional aggressive behaviour.(E) Johnston used prison records and accounts from prisoners to conclude that there is a strong correlation between the deprivation of resources and the level of aggression in prisons.(C) The findings support the the theorys suggestion of that a deprivation of resources will lead to aggression and thus the findings act as supporting empirical evidence and increase the internal validity of the deprivation model as an explanation into institutional aggression.

Question 10

Explanations of institutional aggression - A02
1) research evidence to support I Model

2) Make a comment about institutional reseach?

Answer 10

DeLisi et al 2004 - investigated the importation model as an explanation for prison violence. He found that some of the strongest predictors of prison violence were the ‘criminal career’ variables, especially violence history, confinement history and escape history. Also significant were the effects of ethnicity, education, familial ties and social support. Inmates from racial and ethnic groups were significantly more violent than white inmates and inmates who had completed fewer years in formal education committed significantly more acts of prison violence. He also found that age was a factor and inmates engage in more misconduct when they were young and then gradually desist as they age.

2) Poole and Regoli challenge the deprivation model. They found that among juvenile offenders in 4 different institutions, pre-institutional violence was the best predictor of inmate aggression, regardless of the particular features of the institution. This supports the D model suggesting that violence is brought into prisons.

COMPARISON OF THE MODELS:
Jiang and Fisher-Giorlando (2002) - They aimed to compare the effectiveness of deprivation and importation models in explaining violent incidents against correctional staff, and incidents against other inmates in prison. Based on a sample of 431 disciplinary reports from a mens state prison in the southern states of USA. Interiviews and observations were done. They found that both models help explain violent incidents - Deprivation model was slightly better at explaining incidents against prison staff whereas the I model contributes to explaining incidents against other inmates. Overall however the deprivation model was slightly better predictor of violent incidents than importation model.

Nature of institutional aggression – very hard to control all the variables – often occur in natural environment – no causal relationship I

Question 11

I and D models - A03 - IDA.

1) Gender bias?
2) Nature-nurture debate?
3) Given that the model is reliably supported by empirical evidence, in what way is it of practical value to prison Governors and policy makers?
4) There is an optional alternative theory - what is it?

Answer 11

1) Research into institutional aggression is gender biased
Much of the research into institutional aggression focuses on interactions between members of prison populations or the armed forces which, by their very nature, consist of predominately male populations. Generalising from these institutions to other institutions, such as work places, should therefore be treated with caution.

2) Nature nurture debate
The importation model of institutional aggression considers both the underlying personality of the individuals within an institution as well as their pre-prison environment, however the deprivation model only considers the environment an individual finds themselves in. Ireland says that the most useful model for describing bullying behviour is one that takes into account environmental and individual characteristics and views bullying and aggression as a in interaction between them. ‘ The environment of a prison acts to influence and reinforce the behaviour of prisoners who are predisposed to bullying others.’

3) When deciding which criminals to manage in each prison, prison managers can avoid too many career criminals concentrated in one prison.

4) The ‘Lucier’ effect - Zimbardo 2007
- The effect explains the aggression shown by those in a position of authority (guards) towards their subordinates in unusually stressful circumstances. It describes several factors that contribute to that sort of violent and abusive aggression shown in Abu Ghraib and other institutions of detainment. 1) Dehumanisation of others - creating the view that others are somehow less than human which makes it easier to treat them badly. 2) Deindividualisation of self - feeling less identifiable makes people feel less self-conscious and makes them more likely to act in an extraordinary manner; this can include displaying aggression which would normally be restrained. 3) Uncritical conformity to group norms: the pressure felt by individuals to join with the majority results in them enacting aggressive behavior if that is prevailing culture of the institution.

Question 12

The role of genetic factors in aggressive behaviour - A01

1) Aggression as an hereditary behaviour - How would twin studies demonstrate this?
2) What is a meta-analysis?
) How can adoption studies demonstrate that aggression is an hereditary behaviour?

Answer 12

1) Twin studies - Mason and Frick - These studies involve comparing the correlations from MZ and DZ twins. The rationales for these studies in that MZ twins are twice as similar genetically as DZ twins. If a trait were inherited genetically we would expect MZ twins to be similar than DZ twins.
.
3) Adoption studies are a form of natural experiment in which the environment is held constant and genetics varies. Unrelated adoptive siblings can be compared and this allows an estimate of the effects of the shared environment. Adoptive children can also be compared to their adoptive and genetic parents. This allows estimates of the effect of both genetics and the shared environment.

Question 13

How may genes be involved in aggressive behaviour? A02

1) Mason and Frick (1994)?
2) Hutchings and Mednick?
3) Rhee and Waldman?

Answer 13

1) Mason and Frick did a meta-analysis: twin and adoption studies and measured the variance. They found that the extent of the role of genes was 50%.
EVALUATION: Meta-analysis means much larger sample than singular study. Irons out methodogical weaknesses in any one study. However it is criticised for the shared environmental problem: something other than shared genes might account for the higher correlation for MZs than for DZ twins.

2) H and M did an adoption study and found a significant positive correlation between no. convictions for criminal violence among the biological parents and the no. of convictions for criminal violence among their adopted sons. EVALUATION: - Correlational means we cannot identify a cause and effect and it was a Danish study with only boys therefore we cannot generlaise across cultures however it did use a large sample of 14 000 adoption cases.

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IDA- (cardwell photo)

Question 14

The role of genetic factors in aggressive behaviour.
Is there a gene for aggression? A01
1) Brunners research showed what?

Answer 14

1) A ‘marker’ in this case, is a defective of ‘mutant’ gene with a known location on a chromosome. Because its location if known, scientists can look at the same marker on the chromosomes of other family members. In this case, the defective gene was one responsible for building MAOA.
MAOA is an enzyme that breaks down 3 neurotransmitters: Nor-adrenaline, serotonin and dopamine. (Nor-adrenaline raises blood pressure and actives flight or fight response whilse serotonin and dopamine imbalances are common in aggressive patients ) If the gene responsible for producing MAOA is defective, these are not broken down, leaving excess amounts in the body. Low levels of MAOA could lead to excesses of these neurotransmitters, leading to aggression.

Question 15

The role of genetic factors in aggressive behaviour.
Is there a gene for aggression? A01
What did Caspi et al (2002) find?

Make an IDA point?
Evaluation A02?

Answer 15

Caspi - The results showed that the effect of MAOA alone had no significant difference and the combined effect of the absence of childhood matreatment and either normal or mutant MAOA was not significant either. However. the effect of maltreatment during childhood was significant and the combined effect of severe childhood maltreatment and either normal or mutant MAOA was significant.

He concluded there was an interaction effect - Low MAOA activity did not lead on its own to aggression and maltreatment during childhood only weakly associated with later aggression. In combination, they led to higher levels of aggression.

— Nature nurture debate - drawing on the evidence of twin studies which showed both a biological and environmental cause to agression, this demonstrates that moth nature and nurture how a role in determining the agression of an individal
—- It also has real-world application - A study on the Maoris tribe found that they each had the MAOA gene - the ‘warrior’ gene - Claims scientists that Maori carry a gene linked to a range of anti-social behaviours have been labelled appalling and said it was unheard of to link a gene to race-based behaviour.
It is pretty contentious to be tagging a gene, especially with that type of behaviour, to an ethnic race. There are huge ethical behaviours behind it. I was appalled.You have to be very careful. It is quite a big leap to be able to connect it to a type of behaviour. “

Bradely Waldroup - 2009 conviction for shooting his wife 8 times and killing her friend, an argument was made that he had the warrior and gene and been abused as a child which meant he avoided being convicted of man slaughter. But was this justified? Historically courts have not paid much attention to the background of the accused when deciding on guilt or innocence. Central to the legal concept of guilt is the notion that whatever we have suffered, we excercise free will tp choose between right of wrong. But the genetic data seems to undermine the concept of internal free agent - in those who have the MAOA gene and an abusive upbringing, do they really have free will? And what will societies role be if we can take a simple blood test to discover if a baby will have the potential to be a murderer?

A02 : positives: studies in the neurotransmitter MAOA have been shown to cause a syndrome that includes violence and impulsivity in humans (Trembley). Studies of the molecular genetic pathways are leading to the production of pharmaceuticals to fix the pathway problems and hopefully show an observed change in aggressive behaviour (Nelson and Chivagetto 2001)

Question 16

Neural mechanisms in causing aggression - A01
What is the role of serotonin in aggression?

What did Lenard say?

Answer 16

1) Many serotonergic neurons are located at the base of the brain in the raphe nucleus, whose main function is to release serotonin to the rest of the body. The raphe nucleus interacts with almost every pertinent region of the brain - serotonin thus plays an important role in the control of emotions and motivation.
Serotonin exerts a calming inhibitory effect on neuronal firing in the brain. Serotonin neural circuits help counterbalance the tendency of brain dopamine and noradrenaline circuits to encourage fear, aggression and tension.

2) Lenard said that low serotonin levels in the brain can result in impulsive behaviour, aggression, depression and violence.

Question 17

Neural mechanisms in causing aggression - A02

Name two studies with humans, and one with animals.

Answer 17

1) Brown 1982- did a correlational study and found that the major metabolite (waste product) of serotonin tends to be low in people who display impulsive or aggression.
2) Mann 1990 - administrated the drug dexfenfluramine to 35 healthy adults . The drug is known to deplete serotonin levels in the brain - the researcher then assessed hostility and levels of aggression and noted a significant rise after treatment with the drug ( However aggression may of been the side effect of the drugs).
1) Ferrari - allowed a rat to fight at the same time for 10 days but on the 11th day, the rat was not allowed to fight but in anticipation, his dopamine levels increased and serotonin levels dropped. (HOLISTIC - looks at the whole scenario with biology and learning approaches.

Question 18

Neural mechanisms - alternative to neurotransmitters - BRAIN STRUCTURE. - A02

• Neurostransmitters on their own, out of the context of the wider physiology of the brain, ignore the influence that brain structure has on demonstrating aggressive behaviour’
• Definition?
• One research for hypothalamus and one for frontal cortex.

Answer 18

-The brain consists of many different anatomical ‘regions’ and structures, all of which have been shown to have distinct functions. When there are irregularities in brain structure. either through injury or inherited differences there are consequences for brain functioning.
The amydgala is responsible for the analysis and preparation of emotional responses e.g. fear and empathy. Therefore if it is damaged then we have lower levels of these emotions and are more likely to act aggressively.
The frontal cortex is another area that mediates and controls impulsive behaviors. If damaged or under-active, an individual is more likely to demonstrate these behaviors.

• HYPOTHALAMUS: Flynn - 1960’s found that stimulating the lateral hypothalamus in cats made them more likely to show ‘predatory aggression’ but when the medical hypothalamus was stimulated ‘vicious attack behavior’ was more likely.
• FRONTAL CORTEX: closely connected to the functioning of the amygdala and hypothalamus and therefore in a good position to influence the other brain areas that stimulate aggressive responses. One of the best examples of brain injury is that of a railway worker called Phineas Gage. A tamping iron entered the left side of Gages face, passed through his jaw, up and behind his left eye and exited through the top of his head. Amazingly he stayed alive for 11 years however he had short temper, irratible and

Question 19

Neural mechanisms - alternative to neurotransmitters - BRAIN STRUCTURE. - A02

• Neurostransmitters on their own, out of the context of the wider physiology of the brain, ignore the influence that brain structure has on demonstrating aggressive behaviour’
• Definition?
• One research for hypothalamus and one for frontal cortex.

To assume that aggressive behaviour has just one cause - either genetic or hormonal is too simplistic. Such a narrow focus ignores the myriad of other factors that contribute to aggressive behaviour.

Answer 19

• The brain consists of many different anatomical ‘regions’ and structures, all of which have been shown to have distinct functions. When there are irregularities in brain structure. either through injury or inherited differences there are consequences for brain functioning.
• HYPOTHALAMUS: Flynn - 1960’s found that stimulating the lateral hypothalamus in cats made them more likely to show ‘predatorily aggression’ but when the medical hypothalamus was stimulated ‘vicious attack behaviour’ was more likely.
• FRONTAL CORTEX: closely connected to the functioning of the amygdala and hypothalamus and therefore in a good position to influence the other brain areas that stimulate aggressive responses. One of the best examples of brain injury is that of a railway worker called Phineas Gage. A tamping iron entered the left side of Gages face, passed through his jaw, up and behind his left eye and exited through the top of his head. Amazingly he stayed alive for 11 years however he had short temper, irratible and aggressive and easily provoked.

Question 20

Neural mechanisms - alternative to neurotransmitters - BRAIN STRUCTURE. - A02

• Neurostransmitters on their own, out of the context of the wider physiology of the brain, ignore the influence that brain structure has on demonstrating aggressive behaviour’
• Definition?
• One research for hypothalamus and one for frontal cortex and one for the Amygdala.

To assume that aggressive behaviour has just one cause - either genetic or hormonal is too simplistic. Such a narrow focus ignores the myriad of other factors that contribute to aggressive behaviour.

What did Adrian Rain find?

Answer 20

• The brain consists of many different anatomical ‘regions’ and structures, all of which have been shown to have distinct functions. When there are irregularities in brain structure. either through injury or inherited differences there are consequences for brain functioning.
• HYPOTHALAMUS: - Flynn - 1960’s found that stimulating the lateral hypothalamus in cats made them more likely to show ‘predatorily aggression’ but when the medical hypothalamus was stimulated ‘vicious attack behaviour’ was more likely.
• FRONTAL CORTEX: research has shown that it is closely connected to the functioning of the amygdala and hypothalamus and therefore in a good position to influence the other brain areas that stimulate aggressive responses. One of the best examples of brain injury is that of a railway worker called Phineas Gage. A tamping iron entered the left side of Gages face, passed through his jaw, up and behind his left eye and exited through the top of his head. Amazingly he stayed alive for 11 years however he had short temper, irratible and aggressive and easily provoked.
  BUT, this is a case study if just one individual. So generalizability is limited. Furthermore, we are relying on the accuracy of the medical notes made by Harlow.

AMYGDALA: - .The amygdala is a structure in the limbic system that is linked to emotions and aggression.
Potegal showed that hamsters have more active neurons in and around the medial nucleus of the amygdala during acts of aggression. No other increases in neural activity were recorded in any other areas. Such work does inevitably relate to work performed on animals yet Potegal argues that generalisation between animals and humans should be more viable and that human and animal differences are quantitative - the basics are the same but the details are different. ( Free will, speech e.c.t.)

Adrian Rain - did a study on 41 murderers and 41 control participants. Found that in murderers who had committed spontaneous, unmotivated murders, there was a lack of glucose in their pre-frontal cortex. However in serial killers, who has planned their murders, their brain had extensive activation in the pre-frontal cortex. This allowed them to plot clever, tactful murders which avoided the police.

Question 21

The role of hormones in aggression - A01

1) What is the role of testosterone in aggression?
2) What are the three models?

Answer 21

1) A hormone is a chemical released by a cell in one part of the body, that sends out messages that affect cells in other parts of the organism. Hormone molecules are transported from one area to another via the bloodstream. Testosterone is a principle male sex hormone. On average, an adult human male body produces about ten times more testosterone than an adult human female. Testosterone is the most influential adrogen which is produced in male testes, adrenal cortex and female ovaries.
- As with neurotransmitters, it is impossible to tell what precise role, hormones plays in any single act of aggression. It is clear that testosterone is present when aggression is present but is not clear whether or not testosterone causes the aggression.

2) - The basal model suggests that base level of testosterone determines aggression and dominance. Testosterone causes aggression
- Reciprocal model suggests that testosterone levels vary with level of social dominance/aggression. Testosterone is a consequence of dominance and aggresion. The challenge hypothesis suggests that increases in both testosterone and aggression are caused by challenges to social dominance.

Question 22

The role of hormones in aggression - A02

1 study against and 2 studys for.

4) Make 2 IDA point.

Answer 22

1) Supports the Basal model - Wagner - If a male mouse is castrated, overall levels of aggression tend to reduce. If the castrated mouse receives testosterone aggression levels increased. But this research is correlational and therefore we cannot establish a cause and effect. It cannot be stated that hormones cause aggressive behavior. In males, androgens encourage aggressive behaviour to be shown, but likewise they could encourage social dominance, impulsiveness and competitiveness.

2) Support for reciprocal model - Mazur and Booth -
They did another study over the course of a decade where over 2000 Air force veterans were monitored. They were medically examined 4x and recorded major life events. They found that TT decreased when married (settling down and removing yourself from the competitive market) and increased when divorced.
HOWEVER: only correlational.

4)
In addition, most of the research is on males and can therefore be accused of holding a beta bias - much of what we know about hormones and aggression is from male studies because men produce far more testosterone then females do. There is very little and conflicting research on the impact of testosterone in causing aggression in females. We should therefore be cautious when generalising the results.
- Simpson: testosterone is only one of a myriad of factors that influence aggression and the effects of environmental stimuli have at times been found to correlate more strongly

Question 23

Evolutionary explanations of human aggression. Theory 1 - Infidelity/jealousy A01

Answer 23

Sexual jealousy has evolved in men as an adaptive mechanism to protect the male from the threat of cuckoldry. In the environment of our evolutionary adaption, natural selection ‘favored’ aggressive tactics such as keeping a tight rein, forcing sex and fighting rivals as they helped to avoid the threat of cuckoldry, meaning they were more likely to pass their genes onto the net generation.

The theory leads to a prediction that males today who know, or suspect that their partner is being sexually unfaithful, will respond with aggressive behaviour designed to retain their partner and repel rivals

Sexually jealousy is expressed in three ways…

1) Mate-retention strategies - The male behaves in such a way as to deter the female partner in thinking of or actually cheating on him. This often involves violence and induces fear in the female, insuring exclusive sexual access.
2) Sexual coercion is when the male partner forces sex on the female partner against their own will. If this happens often, it maximises the chances that the child is his.
3) Deter/eliminate rival - reducing the threat of other males who the girl might be interested in by being aggressive towards them in hope of scaring them. e.g. hurting or killing other male rivals.

Question 24

Evolutionary explanations of human aggression. Theory 1 - Infidelity/jealousy A02

Answer 24

1) Dobash and Dobash - looked at the use of direct guarding as a mate-retention tactic. The study looked at women who were victims of domestic abuse and found that they frequently cited extreme social jealousy in the part of the male partner as a major cause of violence against them.
2) Goetz and Shackelford - found that men who had sexually coerced their partners were more likely to report that their partners were unfaithful. Women who had reported that their partners had sexually coerced them were more likely to admit to having been unfaithful.

3) Daily and Wilson summarised data from 8 studies of same sex killings that involve love triangles. 92% of these murders involved males killing male and only 8% involved females killing females.
This suggest that the use of aggression for this purpose is an adaptive trait that has evolved in males to give them greater confidence of paternity and serve as a warning to potential rivals.
IDA: However is might be socially sensitive to take such a deterministic view of human aggression as it can lead to fatalistic attitudes; men may feel justified in being abusive or aggressive because its purely an adaptive response, out of their control.

Nature-nuture debate- fails to explain why individuals might react in such different ways when faced with the dame adaptive problem. Some men when they find out that their partner has cheated will be violent but others may give in to every whim in attempt to keep her. The theory does not account for behavioural factors - SLT - casts doubt over the theory.

Question 25

Evolutionary explanations of aggression - Theory 2.

Answer 25

A01: The fact that aggression exists must mean that it is adaptive. Aggression has been present throughout human existence and evidence has gathered from fossils and artefacts, such as sharp man-made weapons from hunter gatherer societies.

Evolutionary psychologists argue that the use of aggression was a means of moving up hierarchies and achieving or maintain status. Acquisition of status is the primary motivator in male aggression, driven by both natural and sexual selection. High status males have access to resources necessary for survival and attracted females necessary for breeding and producing offspring. In the EEA, when humans lived in hunter-gatherer societies, fitness in males was directly related to success as a hunter and warrior. Good hunters accured resources and skilled fighters would ward of rivals. These successful males were attractive to females as they were seen as good provider’s and protectors. Therefore, low status males use aggression to gain access to females for reproductive success. So aggression is used to acquire and maintain status.

A02: Daly and Wilson: Did a review of conflicts that resulted in murder in Detroit. The findings revealed that the motive behind most of these conflicts was status. The victims and the offenders were most likely to be unemployed and unmarried young, men i.e. with low status and without a mate. These young men had more to gain through the potential success of a risky act of extreme aggression than a high status male. Another interesting finding was that all the males new each other, meaning they were aware of the status of their rival. Those of equal status were more likely to resort to aggression in a bid to rise above their opponent in their local community hierarchy.

Further research by Daly and Wilson supports the idea that females are attracted to males who are dominant over other males and therefore, men are shaped by evolution to seek status. They found that when there is intense competition for scarce resources the males status is more likely to be threatened than when these resources are in generous supply. D and W cite a strong correlation between degrees of income inequality and murder rates - suggesting that countries with higher inequality have higher murder rates. According to the E perspective, less of male status would have been catastrophic for the survival and reproduction of our ancestors and mechanisms to prevent loss of status still operate today when triggered by threatening events.

IDA: Approach fails to account for individual differences - fails to explain why individuals react in different ways when faced with the same adaptive problem; hence deterministic nature of the theory can be criticised; also to an extent it could be used to justify male aggression which has socially sensitive implications for out justice system e.g. Should male sentencing for murder be reduced if they were in a position of acquiring status as they can justify it as an evolutionary response that was out of their control.

• Also fails to explain existing cultural differences e.g. !Kung San tribe - aggression is associated with a loss of status; whilst their may be differences in resources distribution in these cultures, such findings seem to indicate that aggression is a learned behaviour, possibly in response to environmental demands at present rather than an innate behaviour.

Question 26

Evolutionary explanations of group display in humans - A01

Answer 26

War is an example of competing groups engaging in actual conflict which can be fatal. Engaging in war is evolutionarily adaptive as it has an effective strategy for passing on genes.
Kong proposes three distinct explanations for modern human warfare.

1) Securing access to scarce resources in order to ensure survival. During the EEA, land was an important resource as it gave you status and attracted females. These were both advantageous as it meant more a chance of passing on your genes to the next generation.
2) Reducing overpopulation finding land through war is immediately followed by the partial or total killing of the defeated original inhabitants of the territory. During the EEA, if less people populated an area, there were more food and resources to go around and individuals could thrive. The societies that were willing to fight to kill off competitors survived and were more likely to pass on their genes.
3) The aggressors forcing their own genes onto the vanquished group. The conquerors attempt to force their race and spread their culture upon the vanquished so as to ensure permanent domination for their progeny. During the EEA, by forcing their genes onto vanquished groups, they were asserting claim and giving the genetic heritage a better chance of survival.

In summary, men who are more aggressive and win wars will be the ones who pass on their genes. The benefits of showing this aggression as is that you are protected in numbers. HOWEVER, this argument also works for the opposition therefore there are 4 factors that make the winning side different.
Belligerence - trait that raises the probability of one group attacking another
Bravery - trait that increases the likelihood that a group will win a war
Self-deception - a trait that makes you believe that your group will win, encouraging group cohesion and co-operation.

Question 27

Evolutionary explanations of group display in humans - A02

Answer 27

Griskevicius - college students were exposed to one of three scenarios to encourage relevant emotions, either competitive scenario: competition for an attractive job, a courtship scenario: a perfect first date, or simply a neutral scenario. Students had to imagine a public insult and completed questionnaires with the imagined response. Men were more likely to report direct aggression in the competition scenario. This supports the idea of competition for status and resources as a motivator to act aggressively.
However this considers individual aggression and not group aggression and therefore weakens its support for the theory of evolutionary explanations of group displayEmpirical evidence from Anthropoligcal observations:

CHAGNON: found that fighting between villages of the Yanomamo people in the Amazon Rainforests was often to gain access to women or to improve the status of one tribe over the other. Success in battle can increase a warriors status and therefore increase his attractiveness to females and improve his chances of reproducing offspring to continue his genetic line. Among the tribe, the most successful warriors had more wives and children than unsuccessful warriors.
This type of evidence is especially valuable to an evolutionary explanation as such modern day tribal societies as as close as we can get to life during the EEA.

However, some effects of war are not explained by evolutionary theory. One, is why humans torture when when the opponent has surrendered and no longer poses a threat; animals in aggressive settings hardly ever do so. Also, most modern wars are decided by individuals in power, not collective citizen groups; solders are simply obeying orders and are not driven by primitive goals. This is does reflect the predictions of evolutionary theory proposed by Kong.
.Alternative theories that offer equally plausible explanations for group display suggest that its not necessarily adaptive behaviour. Milgram argued that we are socialised into obeying legitimate authority figures from an early age so solders will readily obey orders to kill given by commanding officers. This casts doubt on the theory however…. Evolutionary approaches reposne to that is that the tendency for such behaviour is itself an adaptive behaviour as groups in the EEA, whose members made the agentic shift more easily would have been a more cohesive fighting unit, perpetuating survival of the genes which code of obedience.

IDA: Evolutionary theory of group displays is deterministic and suggest that group displays of aggression are inevitable due to our evolutionary drive. It ignores the concept of free will and the possibility that individuals could decide not to act aggressively.
- It also justifies acts of aggression as ‘useful’ and ‘adaptive’ which is socially sensitive.

Question 28

Evolutionary explanations of aggression in sport. A01

Answer 28

• Sport represents a ritualised form of aggression in which opponents compete for resources within defined rules which prevent harm.
• Evolutionary theorists argue that tribal warfare has been replaced by sporting events; different teams now represent different ‘tribes’ or groups. Sport is a low risk strategy to obtain status with all the benefits of success still available to competitors, but with a reduced risk of physical harm and death.
• In the EEA high status males had more access to resources and so are more likely to survive in the harsh conditions of the EEA, thus are more likely to reach reproductive age and pass on their genes into the next generation. This perpetuates the desire to compete for status.
• High status males are also more attractive to females as they are the most successful hunters, shelter builders etc., so women want to mate with these individuals as it will enhance the chances of offspring surviving – so women pass on their genes into the next generation, and so perpetuating the desire to mate with high status individuals.
• Ultimately, in modern societies, the winning team in sports events will be seen as holding high status, making individual members of the team desirable mates for these reasons.
• Team games such as rugby show of skills that require strength and athleticism - behaviour which demonstrates hunting skills and ability to provide.
• Some players resort to unsanctional aggression i.e. acts that fall outside the rules. Evolutionary theorist suggest the concept of cheating is adaptive as teams that learn to deploy illegal moves will ultimately win and will achieve that status and rewards that victory brings.
• Victory in matches brings status not only to the players, but also to their fans. Fan/Supporters identify themselves as part of the same group as the winning sports team, with the belief that this brings status and similar benefits as for team members. If you are supporting the winning side, you are likely to be protected/not hurt by the dominant group.

Question 29

Evolutionary explanations of aggression in sport. A02

Answer 29

Maxwell and Viscek - looked at rugby players and found that the players most likely to use unsanctioned aggression were those who scored highly on professionalism and therefore placed more emphasis on winning the game than playing fairly. These players even learned how to execute illegal moves designed to take out opponents without being detected. This supports unsanctioned aggression. (but self report!!)

Cialdini et al - found that after uni football team had done well, the students showed a greater tendency to wear clothes that identified them as belonging to that particular uni. Cialdini argued that these students were displaying their connection with the winning team to enhance their status and image in the eyes of the observer. Interestingly, although supporting students were not directly involved in causing the team to win, they acted as if their presence had a direct effect on the outcome demonstrated by ‘we won!’. Supported of the loosing team used phrases such as ‘they lost’ dissociating themselves with the team.

The theory has face validity as it reflects real life observations. Famous footballers are hugely attractive for females and are seen as desirable mates e.g. Wayne Rooney and David Beckham.

IDA: Nature debate - it ignores the nuture side of the nature-nuture debate and ignores the influence of social or behavioural factors. It also causes problems cause it cannot explain individual differences and why some people respond aggressively to a situation and others dont. What would be better at accounting for ID would be SLT or other social explanations.
- Gender differences - beta bias - when women are aggressive in sport their is no evolutionary explanation.