Agression in Jealousy and Infidelity (Evolutionary theory)

Question 1

What motivates aggression?

Answer 1

Feelings of resentfulness and suspicion of infidelity (emotional or physical)

Question 2

What is emotional infidelity?

Answer 2

Confiding in another person who is not your partner

Question 3

What do women get jealous of? Why?

Answer 3

Emotional infidelity
-Women invest heavily in pregnancy and need their man to spend time and resources on them. Emotional infidelity lowers this time the chance of resources

Question 4

What do men get jealous of? Why?

Answer 4

Physical infidelity
–Men can’t be sure of the paternity of their child and do not want to be cuckholded

Question 5

What type of aggression do women show?

Answer 5

Verbal aggression. Putting down the other woman’s attractiveness as attractiveness is a sign of fertility

Question 6

What type of aggression do men show?

Answer 6

Physical aggression to other men and their partner- mate guarding

Question 7

AO3 research evidence for this theory

Answer 7

Buss et al-
-Asked US students to imagine their partner having s– with someone else or forming a deep emotional bond, then asked which would distress them more? + measures heart rate
-Males chose s–, women chose emotional bond
-validifies the theory

Question 8

Eval of AO3 research evidence (Buss et al)

Answer 8

-Questionaires are vulnerable to social desirablity bias
-However overcome by measuring heart rate

Question 9

AO3 of this theory

Answer 9

-Can be applied to modern society. E.g. marriage is a form of mate guarding. And laws reflect this- infidelity reducing murder charge
-However ignores individual differences. Some men respond to infidelity by begging their partner to stay. Shows that theory is not a complete explanation of aggression

Question 10

What is the IDA of this theory?

Answer 10

-Deterministic
-Says aggression is an instinctual response. Removes responsibility of people’s actions from themselves. This goes against the justice system.