Evaluate Hormones (8 marks)

Answer 1

• Men are more aggressive than women; it could be that aggression is at least in part the result of hormones testosterone.
• Raine found that 5% of males to be characterised by a pattern of anti-social behaviour; and these men are set to commit 50-60% of all violent crimes
• although both males and females produce testosterone, this largely male hormone and males experience greater exposure to this hormone in the womb.

Answer 2

• People who commit violent crimes have high levels of testosterone
• Dabbs et al (1987) measured levels of testosterone in the saliva of 89 male prisoners involved in violent and non-violent crime. They found the level if testosterone was higher in then those who had been involved in violent crimes (10/11 prisoners).
• Those with high level of testosterone were rated by their prisoners as being tough. These findings suggest that a high level of the hormone testosterone links to aggressive behaviour in humans

Answer 3

• Human studies generally support the link between testosterone and aggression.
• For example boys are generally more aggressive than girls; boys have higher exposure to testosterone both pre-and post- Nataly.
• Testosterone levels increase during early teens and there is a strong positive correlation with aggressive behaviour and inter- male fighting. (Mazur, 1983)

Answer 4

• Animal studies also support the link between hormones and aggression.
• Rachel Adelson (2004) used rats test subjects and used electricity to stimulate the hypothalamus; this lead to the release of the stress hormone called corticosterone which is part of the aggressive response.
• This shows a feedback loop in aggression. The hypothalamus triggers the release of hormone but the hormone also activates the hypothalamus. This might explain the phenomenon of rage, when aggression spirals out of control.

Answer 5

• There is gender bias in this research due to the different Uni natures and effects of testosterone in males in females.
• Studies suggest that the associating between testosterone and aggression is higher for female samples rash for male ones.
• Due to these gender differences, research done on males should not be generalised to females and vice versa.