Evolutionary Explanations Flashcards
What is the evolutionary explanation?
focuses on the changes in species over millions of years based on the idea of natural selection - any behaviour that enhances survival and ultimately successful reproduction is perpetuated
What is sexual jealousy ?
- Jealousy that occurs because men can never be sure about whether they are the biological father of their child
- major motivator of aggressive behaviour in males
What is paternity uncertainty?
is a result of the real threat for the male of cuckoldry - having to raise offspring that is not his own.
Why would raising another man’s child be maladaptive?
Any investment in offspring who do not share the male’s genes is a waste of his resources. It contributes to survival of a rival’s genes and leaves the ‘father’ with fewer resources to invest in his own future offspring.
In sexual jealousy why do men adopt anti cuckoldry behaviours/ strategies?
Men adopt aggressive strategies men employ to retain their partners and prevent them from straying. These strategies were adaptive in our evolutionary history.
What are the male mate retention strategies?
Strategies to keep partner loyal (retain)
1. Direct guarding
2. Negative inducements
3. Physical violence
What is direct guarding?
involves male vigilance over a partner’s behaviour, for example checking who they’ve been seeing, coming home early, keeping tabs on their whereabouts, installing tracking apps on their mobiles, etc.
What is negative inducements?
Involves issuing threats of dire consequences for infidelity (i’ll kill myself if you leave me)
What is physical violence?
Involves Physical assault
- Women who mostly agreed with the statements 2 x more likely to have experienced physical violence by their partners.
- Of these women, 73% required medical attention and 53% said they feared for their lives.
Why does bullying occur?
Bullying occurs because of a power imbalance a more powerful individual uses aggression deliberately and repeatedly against a weaker person.
How might bullying be adaptive?
our ancestors may have used bullying as an adaptive strategy to increase chances of survival by promoting their own health and creating opportunities for reproduction.
Why do males bully?
- It is attractive to females-characteristics associated with bullying behaviour are attractive to females e.g. dominance and strength
- Prevents threats from potential rivals - bullying behaviour would be naturally selected due to greater reproductive success.
- Bullying may benefit the bully’s health - those at the top of a dominance hierarchy experience less stress
Why do females bully?
- Used usually in relationships as a method to control partner
- Used to secure partners’ fidelity - so that partners continue to provide resources for future offspring.
What is a strength of the evolutionary theory in explaining gender differences in aggression?
P: One strength is that evolutionary theory can explain why males and females differ in their uses of aggression.
EE: Lots of research shows that there are gender differences in aggression. Such differences could be due to socialisation but some can be explained in terms of adaptive strategies. E.g. Campbell (1999) argues that it is not adaptive for a female with offspring to be physically aggressive because such behaviour would put her own survival at risk and that of her child. So a more adaptive strategy for females is to use verbal aggression to retain a partner who provides resources. This would explain why women tend to
display verbal rather than physical aggression.
L: Therefore such arguments can provide support for the evolutionary approach to explaining aggression.
What is a limitation of evolutionary theory in regards to culture differences?
P: One limitation is that there are substantial cultural differences in aggressive behaviour.
EE: Theory is not universal. There are some cultures where aggression appears to be almost non-existent.
E.g. the lung San people of western Botswana were studied by the anthropologist Thomas (1958) who called them the ‘Harmless People’. She found they have very negative attitudes towards the use of aggression.
Aggressive behaviour is discouraged from childhood in both boys and girls and is therefore rare. Those who do use it have their status and reputation within the community diminished. Cultural and social norms powerfully constrain aggressive behaviour in this society.
L: Therefore, since some cultures do not show aggressiveness, such behaviour may not necessarily be adaptive.
What is a counterpoint of evolutionary theory in regards to culture differences?
P: counter
EE: However, there is a lot of controversy over how ‘harmless” the lung really are. E.g Lee (1979) described the homicide rate as surprisingly high for such a peaceable people. These contradictions in findings may be due to the fact that what an observer ‘sees” is biased by their own expectations and also by the particular sample of people they observe.
L: These methodological issues mean that observations by ‘outsiders’ may not be useful (lacks validity).
What is a strength of evolutionary theory in regard to real world application?
P: A strength is that evolutionary explanations can be used to reduce bullying.
EE: One approach to reducing bullying is to address a bully’s perceived deficiencies (assuming that they bully because they feel inferior). However, although there are several interventions based on this assumption, bullying is still prevalent. Ellis et al. (2016) suggest an alternative strategy based on the view that bullying is adaptive (i.e. bullies stand to gain advantages for themselves). The ‘meaningful roles’ anti-bullying intervention aims to increase the costs of bullying and the rewards of prosocial alternatives.
E.g. by giving bullies roles and responsibilities in school that provide an alternative source of status.
L: Therefore viewing bullying as an adaptive behaviour may lead to more effective anti-bullying interventions.
What is a limitation of the evolutionary explanation in regard to being deterministic?
P: The evolutionary argument is biologically determinist
EE: We are aggressive because of adaptations that increased the survival chances of our ancestors and are beyond our control. This implies that aggression is inevitable and is not our ‘fault’. People are biologically determined to be aggressive in one way or another. e.g. Bullying is bound to happen because it brings advantages for the bully. We cannot be held responsible for our aggressive behaviour if it is completely
determined by evolutionary or wider biological factors. However, humanistic psychologists argue aggression is subject to us exercising our free will. They view aggression as a matter of choice. Also, cognitive factors allow us to think about the consequences of our behaviour. This is supported by research into cultural differences. (Lun Sang)
L: Therefore a balanced position is soft determinism. We may be predisposed to aggression by evolutionary influences but actual aggressive acts depend on other factors.
