Evolutionary Explanation

Question 1

Evolution

Answer 1

Change in frequency of characteristics over time. Aggression is adaptive as it allows individuals to secure food and females so greater reproductive success, passing the genes for aggression onto their offspring

Question 2

Cuckoldry

Answer 2

Being a husband of a cheating wife, creating paternal uncertainty. Men who avoided this were more reproductively successful. Sexual jealousy reflects attempts to avoid cuckoldry

Question 3

Mate retention strategies

Answer 3

Aggressive strategies to retain their partner including direct guarding (vigilance) or negative inducements (threats)

Question 4

Strengths of the evolutionary explanation

Answer 4

• Link between mate retention strategies and aggression (eg. Wilson found women who reported MRS in their partners twice as likely to have suffered physical abuse)
• Explains gender differences (eg. Campbell argues physical aggression not adaptive for females as puts offspring at risk so more adaptive to use verbal aggression)

Question 5

Limitations of the evolutionary explanation

Answer 5

• Cultural variations (eg. Kung San have negative attitudes towards aggression, resulting in loss of status so don’t mediate aggression)
• Difficult to test (eg. Limited past evidence to support hypothesis, relies on correlation and cannot be rigorously tested)