Evolutionary explanations of Aggression & Group Display

Question 1

What’s the ultimate aim of human behaviour?

Answer 1

To increase the likelihood of survival. To reproduce.

Question 2

Why has jealousy evolved?

Answer 2

To aid reproduction chances. Jealousy often comes before aggressive behaviours.
By being jealous, it prevents partner from being unfaithful and allows genes to be passed on.

Question 3

Why is jealousy useful/adaptive?

Answer 3

If males lose their female partner, they lose their mating partner. Jealousy prevents female from cheating so they can make sure that the offspring is theirs.
If females lose their male partner, they lose resources that would help the survival of herself and her offspring

Question 4

Why has jealousy evolved in males?

Answer 4

To prevent cuckoldry

Question 5

What is cuckoldry?

Answer 5

When a woman deceives her male partner into investing into offspring conceived with another man.
Negative thing for males because he is losing his resources and reproductive opportunity.

Question 6

Why has jealousy evolved to prevent cuckoldry?

Answer 6

To prevent infidelity. Helps prevent males from investing resources for a child that is not his. Jealousy prevents the female from mating with another male.

Question 7

Name the mate retention tactics

Answer 7

Verbal possession signs
Threats of intra-sexual violence
Punishment of infidelity

Question 8

Example of verbal possession signs

Answer 8

‘he’s taken’

Question 9

Example of a threat of intra-sexual violence

Answer 9

A man threatening to beat another man up

Question 10

Example of a punishment of infidelity

Answer 10

‘I’ll leave you!’ ‘Don’t look at him again or we’re over’

Question 11

Why have mate retention tactics evolved?

Answer 11

To help keep their partner to therefore pass on genes

Question 12

Who is Camilleri?

Answer 12

Stated that males will be more likely to use sexual coercive tactics (such as partner rape) when the risk of cuckoldry is high.
Such sexual coercive tactics are the result of jealousy

Question 13

Why is rape a sexual coercive tactic that is used?

Answer 13

If the male rapes the female, he can be more sure the offspring is his

Question 14

Name the research studies into the evolutionary explanation of aggression

Answer 14

Buss et al
Shackelford et al
Buss and Dedden

Question 15

Research of Buss et al

Answer 15

Set up scenaarios that were mutually exclusive (‘one or the other’)
Ppts asked what would distress them most, sexual infidelity or emotional infidelity

Showed - Males were most concerned with sexual infidelity (61% compared to women 13%)
Women more concerned with emotional infidelity (87% compared to males 39%)

Question 16

Research of Shackelford et al

Answer 16

461 males and 560 women, not married to each other

STUDY 1 - Males completed the MRI (mate retention inventory) concerning tactics used in the previous 3 months against their partners
Asked how often they performed a range (26) acts of violence against their partners and how often their partners sustained injuries as a result of their violence

Found - 2 mate retention tactics were strongly associated with violence scores ‘intersexual negative inducement’ (e.g. shouting for looking at another man) AND ‘direct guarding’ (monopolising her time at a party)

STUDY 2 - results confirmed. Women asked which tactics their partner used and how violent they were towards them

Question 17

Research of Buss and Dedden

Answer 17

Found that women tended to criticise the appearance and sexual promiscuity of other women. Reducing their potential rivals attractiveness to her male partner

Question 18

Evaluation of evolutionary explanations of aggression (infidelity and jealousy)

Answer 18

Too simplistic

P.A. (counselling… reduce jealousy - reduce aggression)

Cannot explain agg in homosexual couples

Jealousy may not be useful in retaining a mate (jealousy may push the partner away… not make them stay within the relationship)

Dated (Buss et al’s research)

Question 19

What does the term ‘adaptive’ mean?

Answer 19

Increasing chances of survival

Question 20

Examples of group displays of aggression

Answer 20

Lynch mobbing

Violence at sports events (e.g. football matches)

Question 21

What is xenophobia?

Answer 21

An irrational or unreasoned fear of things that are perceived to be foreign or strange

Question 22

Name the explanations for group displays

Answer 22

Xenophobia

Power-threat hypothesis

Question 23

Group displays of aggression improve the survival and reproductive chances of the group….

Answer 23

and therefore the individual within that group

Question 24

Group aggression may lead to better access to…

Answer 24

territory, resources, food and mating partners

Question 25

Xenophobia explanation

Answer 25

Desire to eliminate opposing groups presence, aggression and suspicion of out-group’s activities. Xenophonia encourages aggression and therefore dominance. By being within the dominant group (‘in-group’) and rejecting the ‘out-group’ they feel superior over the subordinate group.
The in-group attempts to show territorial dominance by creating a home environment that is hostile for the ‘out-group’

Question 26

Xenophobia linked to sports events

Answer 26

Racist chants relating to the opposing team, racist slogans on banners etc. would scare and threaten making them stay away. Increases chances of survival and reproduction.

Question 27

Research studies for Xenophobia

Answer 27

Podaliri and Bolestri

Shwarz and Barkey

Question 28

Research of Podaliri and Bolestri

Answer 28

Assessed the behaviour of football match match crowds in Italy in terms of chants and aggressive behaviour.

Found - Aggressive chants stengthened cultural identity of different supporters so differences were emphasised. When associated with the stronger group (winning team) increased status and made people more attractive to potential partners

Question 29

Research of Shwarz and Barkey

Answer 29

Suggested that home teams win more games due to the social support of home fans and the hostility directed towards the opposing team.

Question 30

Evaluation of Xenophobia as an explanation

Answer 30

P.A. - reduce xenophobia at sporting clubs. German clubs played with a slogan on their shirts that translated to ‘My Friend is a Foreigner’

Supporting research

Is it genuine agg or more ritual agg at sports events (MARSH - harmless)

Question 31

Second explanation of group displays of agg

Answer 31

The power-threat hypothesis (proposed by Blalock)

Question 32

Blalock

Answer 32

Proposed the power-threat hypothesis

Question 33

How many lynchings took place between 1882 and 1930?

Answer 33

2805 (nearly one a week)

Question 34

Lynching linked to evolution

Answer 34

Remove competition - increases survival and reproduction
Working as a group to remove opposition
E.g. White people killing black

Question 35

Evaluation of the power-threat hypothesis

Answer 35

Contradictory research in relation to lynch mobs - CLARK researched lynching in Sao Paulo of African-Brazilians - although lynchings took place, Afro-Brazilians posed no threat to natives

Question 36

General eval of evolutionary explanation of group displays in humans

Answer 36

Too simp - Deindividuation

Group behaviour does not always lead to agg - Cassidy - Mela

Difficult to study accurately - Berk