Chapter 10: Aggression and Warfare Flashcards
huamns form aggressive ____-bonded coalitions in whcih members support each other in a mutual quest to aggress against others
male-bonded
How does aggression “defend” against attack?
aggression can prevent the person from being attacked themselves. aggression can be used to cultivate a reputation that deters other would be aggressors. Can be used to prevent the loss of status and honor
T/F: aggression always leads to status and power increases
false. it depends on cultural context. Some cultures do prize fighting, but if you fought at your office job, you’d most likely experience a decline in status.
male ___ ___ is the primary cause leading to spousal battery
male sexual jealousy is the primary cause leading to spousal battery. Male aggression towards their long-term mates may deter their future infidelity by the mate.
Cost of aggression?
retaliatory aggression. Usually if you aggress, the person will aggress back.
Other than defense, why may retalitory aggression be a thing?
to prevent status loss.
factor that may deter aggression (especially in spouses)
the density of genetic relatives will deter aggression. ex/ a husband will probably not beat his wife if he knows she has 4 large brothers living near by
species that show higher variance in the reproduction of one sex compared to the other tend to be sexually ____
dimorphic. (ex/ different in size and shape)
men who are ___ and ___ are more likely to kill.
poor and unmarried (less resources)
However, men at the “top” and “bottom” hierarchies engage in the most violence compared to men in the middle
Top men engage in violence to maintain status and access, bottom men engage in violence to move up the ladder.
men are in competition primarily with:
other men
why do women engage in less risky aggression
they must pace a HIGHER VALUE on their own lives than do men on theirs, given the fact that infants depend on maternal care more than on paternal care.
recalibration theory of anger
proposes that feeling and expressing anger functions to increase the value that the target of your anger places on your welfare.
body differences in design for combat
men have 61% more muscle mass than women, and they are usually more interested in using their bodies for physical competition in sports
T/F: there is absolutely no evidence that women in ANY society have ever approached the level of same sex violent conflict prevailing among men in the same society
true
percentage of boys in middle school to report bullying people vs girls
54% of boys bully
34% of girls bully
number of sex partners relationship with being bullied (sex differences)
male victims of bullying had less sex partners, but female victims of bullying had more sex partners.
In terms of bullying: Males are more likely to use ____ aggression (e.g., stealing, tripping, hitting, revenge) whereas
girls use more ____ methods
Males are more likely to use DIRECT aggression (e.g., stealing, tripping, hitting, revenge) whereas
girls use more INDIRECT methods
cross culturally, boys show more than ___ times the rates of physical aggression that girls
3x
Findings in aggression in an autralian aboriginal community
men overwhelmingly resorted to more dangerous aggression that women did.
Men accounted for 97% of all the aggressive episodes in which a dangerous weapon (knives, spears, guns) was used
Young Male Syndrome
not all men engage in risky aggressive tactics. Young men seem more prone to use more aggressive tactics than older men.
at age ten, the rates of homicide in males and females are the same. At what age do the sexes start to diverge?
killing of males start to sky rocket at adolesence and reach their peak at their mid 20s.
at age 20, males are ___ times more likely than women to be victims of homicide
6 times
some people use the explaination that mid 20s is when men had to fight and find a mate during their evolutionary history. However, this is common for many mammals. What can explain young male syndrome in humans?
HUMANS cultivate the importance of creating reputation..
Mid-20s males display the most violence in front of audiences. In addition to fighting rivals and gaining mates, they want to impress their peers and cultivate a social reputation.
The Crazy Bastard hypothesis
men who take physical risks are perceived by society to be larger, stronger, and more violent prone.
What influences the levels of coalitional aggression?
a higher percentage of males in the age group from 15- 29 = higher levels of coalitional aggression.
Marital and Employment status as a context for triggering men’s aggression against men
Killers and victims share some characteristics:
i. Unemployed
ii. Unmarried
b. Lack of resources may be a context linked to aggression. Tougher to attract a mate if have fewer
resources, so may engage in riskier strategies.
Status and Reputation as a context for triggering men’s aggression against men
Men but not women reacted with greater direct aggression after their motive for status was activated.
iWe evolved in small groups and loss of status and reputation might have had dire
consequences in mating.
Aggressive acts may be triggered by situations that cue status reduction.
Cultural evidence from ecuadorian amazon tribes that demonstrate the link between aggression and status
ferocity as a warrior appears to be closely linked with one’s social status within the group
Sexual Jealousy and Intrasexual Rivalry as a context for triggering men’s aggression against men
Evidence: Love-triangle homicides: 92% male-male homicides.
Mate-Guarding: threats are more typically made to rivals who show interest in their
mates
females tend to use __ ___ as a primary strategy of getting rid of their female competitoes
social exclusion (ostracism)
T/F women engage in more verbal aggression than men
false. They engage in the same amounts but the content is different. Women insult physical appearances of their competitor.
the function of female aggression is primarily to :
inflict cost in intrasexual rivals.
they fight over each other to attract mates, fend off mate poachers and retaliate for social contract violations.
men kill their girlfriends/wives over two conditions
1) when the girlfriend wants to terminate the relationship
2) when he suspects infidelity
T/F: younger women are more likely to be killed by their husbands than older women
true. because the main motive for spousal killing is sexual jealousy, it makes sense that women are killed when they are the most reproductively valuable.
In spousal reports of slapping, spitting, hitting, and name calling male and female victims are roughly the ___
SAME.
women kill their boyfriends/husbands over two conditions:
1) woman is defending herself or her children against an abusive husband
2) women sees no way out of the abusive relationship
War is a highly ___ act
cooperative. You need alliances among men on either side.
4 essential conditions that must be met for warfare adaptations to evolve.
1) the average long term gain in reproductive resources must be sufficiently large to out weight the reproductive costs of engaging in warfare over evolutionary time
2) members of coalitions must believe that their group will emerge victorious
3) 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
4) men who go into battle must be cloaked in a “veil of ignorance” about who will live or die. Everyone going into battle must have an equal chance at surviving or living.
what is often a central resource that flows to the victors of wars?
sexual access to women
___ and ___ are critical to maintaining credible reputations, which is why war often happens
retaliation and revenge
___ and ___ are critical to maintaining credible reputations, which is why war often happens
retaliation and revenge
Predictions Based on Tooby and Cosmides Risk Contract Model:
- Men, but not women, will have evolved psychological mechanisms for warfare.
- Sexual access to women will be the primary benefit of warfare.
- Men should have evolved psychological mechanisms to protect them (panic and defect) when death
appears to be near. - Men should be more likely to go to war when the odds of success appear high.
- Men should have evolved psychological mechanisms designed to detect and punish cheaters,
defectors, and traitors. - Men should have evolved psychological mechanisms designed to detect, prefer, and enlist men in the
coalition who are willing to contribute to its success.
correlation between a man’s upper body strength and judgments of his fighting abiltiy
0.97
most males think about their fighting ability how often?
once a week
Explain how war affects sexual access to females.
usually killers and winners get most sexual access.
Gang members have more sex partners in a month than non-gang members
In the Yanomamo, distinction are made between killers (unokais) and non-killer (nonunokais).
The unokais have more wives than the non-unokais, and likely more extramarital
affairs.
T/F: Men seem to select coalition members in part on the basis of qualities that will help the coalition succeed in group on group aggression and defense.
TRUE. Women and men coalition allies do have some similarites: they want hardworking, intelligent, kindness, open-mindedness, good motivator, knowledge,
sense of humour, dependable people in their coalition.
Men more than women found that being brave in danger, being physically
strong, being a good fighter, being able to protect others from harm, able to tolerate pain, being
able to defend oneself, and being physically able to dominate others are also desirable coalition traits.
Slip up hypothesis as to why men fantasize about homicide more than women
the idea that males have evolved an EPM for violence as a means of coercive control and eliminating sources of conflict instantly.
Homocide adaptation theory of homicide fantasy?
the idea that fantasizing about homicide allows people to work through the emotions and weight out the costs and benefits before actually going through with the act.
anthropological studies show that ___ % of all adult deaths were caused by violence
30% (in our evolutionary history)
