evolutionary explanation Flashcards
what does this mean
The brain is physical structure that has evolved in the face of natural selective pressures. We are not fully aware of all our cognitive processes; which is an issue because our mind has not adapted as rapidly as our social world has.
what does male aggression derive from
Male aggression derives from need to acquire and defend resources such as mates or territory or to establish status within social groups.
what 2 things is evolution essential for
survival
reproduction
what are aggressive men able to do better
compete for food and female attention
leads to reproductive success
what does this lead to in terms of females and genes
Females look for males with resources.
Aggressive males more successful.
Therefore, aggressive genes are passed on to subsequent generations.
what is sexual jealousy
Male violence against partners motivated by jealousy to ensure own paternity and genetic success.
the emotions and behaviors involved in the perception (real or imagined) that one’s partner is engaging in infidelity (cheating) or may be attracted to other males/females
what genders aggression derives from this (u got this gng)
men
what are 2 male retention strategies
Buss [1988]
Direct guarding
Negative inducements linked to aggression.
what is direct guarding
Involves male watching over a partner’s behavior e.g. checking who they’ve been seeing, coming home early, keeping tabs on their whereabouts, installing tracking apps on their mobiles, etc.
what are negative inducements
letting her know the potential consequences of her leaving him (e.g. I’ll kill you/myself/the children if you leave me) which may (and, sadly, inevitably do) lead to physical violence (intimate partner violence, IPV)
Inflicting costs on other humans will enhance your survival chances and offer reproductive benefits.
(not rlly a flashcard?)
what are inter-sexual negative inducements
focus on the manipulation of one’s partner
what are intra- sexual negative inducements
Behaviors aimed at same-sex rivals opposed to one’s partner
who made this distinction
Starratt and Shackleford [2010]
who studied homicide
Daly and Wilson (1988)
what type of study was this (may not use as flashcard up to you dawg)
Used statistics and cultural comparisons
what 4 things did they find that homicides occur between men for (most likely to occur between men)
Status or honor
Resources
Perceived slights or respect
To establish dominance
what age range are disproportionately involved in homicides
Men in their teens and 20s are the most violent – as they are at peak fertility
what did they find in different cultures
Daly and Wilson observed that these patterns of male aggression and homicide rates are consistent across cultures, but specific triggers vary. Where there is resource inequality or weak legal systems, the rates of male aggression and homicides are often higher.
who studied how gangs relate to this
Campbell’s (1968)
what did Campbell’s (1968) find and how does it link to evolution
work on Gangs suggested that they see status and dominance by securing territory, defend against threats and then competing for mates
Gangs are doing evolutionary and instinctive things
Status / territory / reproduction
what percentage of murders are about jealousy
17%
who discovered this (think ur laptop g)
Dell [1984]
shakelford (2005)- what was the study method
Q 461m and 560f in heterosexual relationships.
Male assessed against how often they performed each of 26 different types of violent acts towards their partners.
Women answered questions about their partner’s use of mate retention strategies
Including the frequency of violence used towards them.
findings of this
A positive correlation between two specific retention techniques and the amount of violence they displayed towards their partner
direct guarding
inter-sexual negative inducements
The use of emotional manipulation by men consistently predicted men’s violence against women.
Buss and Shackleford (1997)
men use ++ punishment when they suspect cheating
whats 2 weaknesses of all evidence
data correlational- cause and effect?
cipline is sceptical of this evidence. This is because there is not enough evidence to establish a direct cause and effect relationship here. There is the potential for a host of intervening variables, and this makes it less credible as a body of evidence.
people may make generalisations about human beh
evidence based on questionnaires- Respondents may underreport aggressive behaviors or overreport socially acceptable behaviors to present themselves in a better light, leading to inaccurate data as they may be scared of potential consequences
strengths (2)
there is research supporting the link between sexual jealousy and aggression. The
main example of this would be Shackleford’s 2005 study which found that male retention
strategies are a method of expressing sexual jealousy, which leads to aggressive behaviour both
towards females and other partners. This increases the reliability of evolutionary theories as a
method of explaining aggression, due to this supporting evidence.
extensive empirical data, including homicide records, to back their claims. This empirical approach lends credibility to their conclusions by grounding them in real-world observations. shows its universal and can be generalized to other cultures so allows for predictions about when and why aggression is likely to occur
