Evolutionary Explanation of Aggression

Question 1

what are evolutionary explanations?

2

Answer 1

explanations that focus on the adaptive nature of behaviour

modern behaviours are believed to have evolved because they solved challenges faced by our distant ancestors and so became more widespread in the gene pool

Question 2

what does the evolutionary explanation of aggression suggest?

4

Answer 2

humans have evolved adaptations designed to harm other individuals in relatively minor ways (such as competing in order to achieve status) and in more serious ways (by maiming or murdering others)

evolutionary theorists believe these adaptations are fundamental and universal components of human nature that cannot be explained in terms of learning or cultural influences

humans do not have an ‘aggression instinct’ but have actually inherited aggressive psychological mechanisms that improve their odds of passing on their genes to future generations

these have been inherited from their ancestors and particularly apply to males

Question 3

outline the evolutionary explanation of aggression

5

Answer 3

the evolutionary explanation of aggression is based on the belief that the human brain is a product of evolution by natural selection

the brain is made up of a number of adaptations to help us cope with the various challenges associated with group living

these adaptations, including those that function to inflict costs on other humans, is what makes up our human nature

aggression is a strategy that would have been effective for solving a number of adaptive problems among early humans (e.g. gaining resources, intimidating or eliminating rivals for mates and deterring mates from sexual infidelity)

solving these problems enhanced the survival and reproductive success of the individual and as a result, such aggression would have spread through the gene pool

Question 4

what are mental modules?

3

Answer 4

mental modules have evolved in response to particular selection pressures faced by ancestral humans

they tell us what to do in order to deal with situations similar to those faced by our ancestors

for example, aggressive thoughts and behaviours are found to increase among males when resources such as territory, mates and food are scarce

Question 5

features of evolutionary explanations

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Answer 5

sexual competition

sexual jealousy

aggression in warfare

ultimate and proximate causes

Question 6

causes of male on male aggression

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Answer 6

sexual competition

sexual jealousy

Question 7

theory of sexual competition

4

Answer 7

ancestral males seeking access to females would have had to compete with other males, which is known as sexual competition

one way of eliminating the competition would have been through aggression, perhaps in the form of physical competition

those individuals who use aggression successfully against competitors would have been more successful in acquiring mates and so would be more successful in passing on their genes to offspring

this would then have led to the development of a genetically transmitted tendency for males to be aggressive towards other males

Question 8

research into sexual competition

6

Answer 8

Puts (2010) argues that various male traits seem to imply that competition with others males took place in ancestral males

for example, men have 75% more muscle mass than women

Buss (2005) also found that men are far more aggressive than women and are far more likely to die violently

anthropological evidence shows that, universally, males have thicker jaw bones

Puts believes this may have come from men hitting each other, with the thickest boned men surviving and passing on their genes to subsequent generations

competition with other males may also explain why males have more robust skulls and brow ridges than women

Question 9

theory of sexual jealousy

6

Answer 9

male aggression can also occur as a result of sexual jealousy which arises due to paternal uncertainty

unlike women, men can never be entirely certain that they are the fathers of their children because fertilisation is hidden from them inside the woman

as a result, men are always at risk of ‘cuckoldry’ (i.e. not being the biological father of their child and the reproductive cost that might be inflicted on a man as a result of his partner’s infidelity)

the consequence of cuckoldry is that the man might unwittingly invest his resources in offspring that are not his own

therefore, the adaptive functions of sexual jealousy would have been to deter a mate from sexual infidelity, thereby minimising the risk of cuckoldry

Question 10

research into sexual jealousy

6

Answer 10

Buss (1988) suggests that males have a number of strategies that have evolved specifically for the purpose of keeping a mate

these include the use of violence or threats of violence to prevent the woman from straying, as well as violence toward a perceived love rival

sexual jealousy is a primary cause of violence against women — those who are perceived by their partner to be threatening infidelity (e.g. by looking at another man) are more at risk of violence than those who are not

Dobash et al (1984) conducted a study into abused women and found that, in the majority of cases, women cite extreme jealousy on the part of their husbands or boyfriends as the key cause of the violence directed toward them

Dell (1984) concluded that sexual jealousy accounted of 17% of all murder cases in the UK

men are predominantly the perpetrators and the victims

Question 11

aggression in warfare

3

Answer 11

war is undoubtedly dangerous and costly — therefore it is difficult to see why any organism selected to survive should engage in behaviours associated with such extreme personal cost and danger

an evolutionary explanation would lead us to expect that any behaviour associated with warfare would have evolved because of the adaptive benefits for the individual and their offspring

Livingstone Smith (2007) claims that human warfare originated not only to obtain valuable resources but also to attract mates and forge intragroup bonds

Question 12

research into aggression in warfare

4

Answer 12

displays of aggressiveness and bravery are attractive to females and the absence of such displays reduces the attractiveness of individual males

for example, Chagnon (1988) found that male warriors in traditional societies tend to have more sexual partners and more children, suggesting a direct reproductive benefit of aggression

aggression in combat can also increase status for individual warriors which would lead peers to respect them more and so strengthen the bond between them and other males in the group

displays of aggressiveness and bravery in battle means that individuals are more likely to share the benefits associated with status

Question 13

ultimate and proximate causes

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Answer 13

there are two types of causes of human aggression; proximate and ultimate causes

PROXIMATE CAUSES = things that are immediately responsible for a particular behaviour

for example, social scientists may be interested in why one individual decides to attack another, or the link between frustration and aggressive behaviour — these are proximate causes

ULTIMATE CAUSES = evolutionary explanations, on the other hand, concentrate on the ultimate causes of behaviour

for example, aggressive behaviour was so effective for early humans so a tendency to solve problems in this way became established in the gene pool

Question 14

x4 evaluation points

Answer 14

support for the link between aggression and status

gender bias in evolutionary explanations of aggression

evolutionary explanations do not consider how socialisation impacts aggression

aggressive behaviour may not always be adaptive

Question 15

EVALUATION
support for the link between aggression and status

6

Answer 15

the claim that increased aggression confers greater status is supported by anthropological evidence

for example, Daly and Wilson (1988) found that many tribal societies bestow increased status and honour to men who have committed murder

this phenomenon is also evident in industrialised societies such as the United States, where the most violent gang members often have the highest status among their peers

Buss (2005) also found that males display a heightened sensitivity to perceived threats to their status and reputation, leading many acts of male on male violence to be caused by one male perceiving a threat to his status from another male

this suggests that not only is aggression an important way of gaining status among males, but it is also a consequence of threats to that status

this supports the link between aggression and status

Question 16

EVALUATION
gender bias in evolutionary explanations of aggression

7

Answer 16

evolutionary explanations for physical aggression in warfare demonstrate a gender bias as they do not adequately reflect the behaviour of women in this process

Adams (1983) claimed that the idea of the woman warrior is almost unheard of within most societies

even within those societies that allow women to participate in war, they are always the rare exception

women would have considerably less to gain from fighting in near certain-death situations and considerably more to lose in terms of loss of their reproductive capacity

this explains women’s exclusion from warfare

therefore, our understanding of physically aggressive displays typically found in warfare is limited to the behaviour of males rather than females

as a whole, evolutionary explanations of human aggression tend to be very male centric and tend to ignore female aggression, meaning that the explanations lack usefulness as they cannot be applied to everyone

Question 17

EVALUATION
evolutionary explanations do not consider how socialisation impacts aggression

7

Answer 17

for example, Prinz (2012) argues that gender differences in aggressive behaviour may be the product of different socialisation experiences rather than due to evolution

it has been found that parents are more likely to physically punish boys for bad conduct but when girls misbehave, they tend to explain to them why their actions were wrong

Prinz suggests that experiences like this can increase male physical violence, which suggests that male aggression is learned rather than a result of evolution

furthermore, through socialisation, girls learn that they are less powerful than boys which may lead them to adopt more social forms of aggression rather than physical aggression

this may include behaviour that is designed to harm another person’s social status or self-esteem

this casts doubt on the claim that males alone have evolved aggression as a way of dealing with rivals, females may have simply developed a different form of aggressive behaviour

therefore, evolutionary explanations of aggression are limited as they do not seem to consider either of these possibilities

Question 18

EVALUATION
aggressive behaviour may not always be adaptive

7

Answer 18

in some cases, aggression can be more maladaptive than adaptive

violent or aggressive behaviour can have negative consequences — it can result in social ostracism, injury or even death in extreme cases

violent males might be rejected as mates and warriors might die in battle

in other words, it might be considered more maladaptive than adaptive to be aggressive in some cases

this challenges the view taken by evolutionary explanations that aggression has some form of reproductive benefit which is why it has evolved and been passed on from one generation to the next

however, Duntley and Buss (2004) point out that the benefits of aggression must only have outweighed the costs on average compared to other strategies in the evolutionary past

if this is the case, then natural selection will favour the evolution of aggressive behaviours, eventually making them fundamental components of human nature