evolutionary explanations of aggression

Question 1

what is the main principle of the evolutionary explanation of aggression?

Answer 1

an account of the changes in species over millions of years; characteristics that enhance survival and reproduction are naturally selected

Question 2

explain how men use aggressive mate retention strategies to avoid cuckoldry

Answer 2

• men face the threat of cuckoldry and so any investment in offspring that do not share a man’s genes is a waste of his resources- it contributes to the survival of a rival’s genes and leaves the ‘father’ with fewer resources to invest in his own future offspring
• so men in our evolutionary past who could avoid cuckoldry were more reproductively successful = psychological mechanisms have evolved to increase anti-cuckoldry behaviours in men e.g. sexual jealousy is more strongly experienced by men than women
• this drives the often aggressive mate retention strategies men employ to keep their partner from ‘straying’ as these were adaptive in our evolutionary history

Question 3

what are the 2 major mate retention strategies involving aggression and physical violence?

Answer 3

• direct guarding: a man’s vigilance over a partner’s behaviour e.g. checking who they’ve been seeing and keeping tabs on their whereabouts
• negative inducements: such as issuing threats of consequences for infidelity e.g. “I’ll kill myself if you leave me”

Question 4

who found a strong positive correlation between men’s reports of their mate retention behaviours and women’s reports of their partners’ physical violence?

Answer 4

Shackelford et al= male retention strategies linked to physical violence

Question 5

explain how bullying may be an adaptive form of aggression

Answer 5

• bullying is a power imbalance in which a stronger individual uses aggression deliberately and repeatedly against a weaker person
• researchers have traditionally viewed bullying as maldaptive behaviour e.g. result of poor social skills
• but our evolutionary ancestors may have used bullying as an adaptive strategy to increase their chances of survival by promoting their own health and creating opportunities for reproduction

Question 6

explain how in men, bullying ensures access to females and reduces threats from males

Answer 6

• in men, bullying suggests dominance, acquisition of resources and strength along with the benefit of warding off potential rivals
• characteristics associated with bullying deliver the ideal combination of access to more females and minimal threat from competing males
• so aggressive bullying would be naturally selected because these males would have greater reproductive success

Question 7

explain how in women, bullying helps secure partner’s fidelity

Answer 7

• female bullying more often takes place within a relationship and is a method of controlling a partner
• women use bullying behaviour to secure their offspring’s fidelity, which means they continue to provide resources for their future offspring
• again, such behaviour would be naturally selected because it enhanced reproductive success

Question 8

what are the evaluation points?

Answer 8

• research support for the central concepts

- methodological issues with the research evidence

Question 9

explain how there is research support for central concepts-

Answer 9

• many research studies demonstrate that mate retention strategies are associated with sexual jealousy and aggression
• the study by Shackelford et al is particularly dramatic example- strategies such as direct guarding and negative inducementsare overwhelmingly used by males, against both females and other males
• this indicates a clear link between the greater risk of infidelity and cuckoldry and aggression
• this supports predictions derived from the evolutionary explanation concerning the adaptive value of aggression

Question 10

explain how there is methodological issues with the research evidence

Answer 10

• it is extremely difficult to test hypotheses about the evolution of behaviour to solve problems of adaption in our evolutionary past
• most research is therefore correlational between male retention behaviours and aggression
• but even a very strong correlation between aggressive behaviours and evolutionary-influenced characteristics does not allow us to conclude that sexual jealousy for example causes aggressive behaviour
• this makes it very difficult to establish precisely how valid an evolutionary explanation of aggression is