Evolutionary explanations of human aggression Flashcards
Explain the evolutionary explanation of sexual jealousy.
Men can never be totally sure about wether or not they have fathered a child and this paternity uncertainty results in cuckoldry (having to raise a child that isn’t his own). Any investment in offspring that do not share the males genes is a waste of his resources and contributes to the survival of a rivals genes and leaves the father with fewer resources to invest in his own future offspring.
Men in our evolutionary past who could avoid cuckoldry were more reproductively successful so psychological mechanisms have evolved to increase anti-cuckoldry behaviour in males.
Name some psychological mechanisms evolved to increase anti-cuckoldry behaviour in males.
Mate retention strategies such as physical guarding and negative inducements and intimate partner violence.
Define cuckoldry
A man having to raise a child that is not his own.
What is physical guarding?
male vigilance over a partners behaviour e.g checking who they have been seeing, where they have been, tracking apps.
What are negative inducements?
issuing threats of dire consequences for infidelity e.g I’ll kill myself if you leave me.
Such behaviours are clearly linked to violence e.g Wilson found that women who reported mate retention stat guard in their partners were twice as likely to have suffered physical violence.
Evidence for intimate partner violence.
Shackleford studied intimate patner violence in heterosexual couples by having 107 married couples (married less than a year) complete different questionnaires. The men completed the Male retention inventory which assessed mate retention. The women completed the spouse influence report which measured the extent of their partner’s violence. There was a strong positive correlation between men’s reports of their mate retention strangers and women’s reports of the males physical violence. Men who used guarding or negative inducements were more likely to use physical violence.
What is the evolutionary explanation of bullying?
A more powerful individual uses aggression deliberately and repeatedly against a weaker person. Ancestors have used bullying as an adaptive strategy to increase their chances of survival. Characteristics associated with bullying behaviour are attractive to females. In males, it suggests dominance, aquisition of resources and strength and has the benefit of warding off potential rivals. Bullying associated characteristics therefore deliver the ideal combination of access to more females and minimal threat from competing males. Therefore this behaviour would be naturally selected as it would have reproductive success.
Give a strength of evolutionary explanations of human aggression. (research support).
Many research studies demonstrate that mate retention straggled are associated with sexual jealousy and aggression. For example, Shackleford’s study suggested that strategies such as direct guarding and negative increments are overwhelmingly used by males against both females and other males to assert dominance over their partner and this leads to physical aggression. This supports predictions derived from the evolutionary explanations concerning the adaptive value of aggression.
Give a strength of evolutionary explanations of human aggression. (evolutionary explanations for gender differences).
It is a common observation that males engage more often than females in more aggressive acts especially physical aggression and evolutionary theory can explain this. a female with offspring is motivated to be less aggressive because such behaviour would not only put her own survival at risk but also her child. So a more adaptive strategy for females is to use verbal aggression as a means of retaining a partner who provides resources. This would also explain why women are more likely than men to use non-aggressive methods of resolving disputes. This ability to explain gender differences is a strength of the evolutionary theory.
Give a limitation of the evolutionary explanation of human aggression. (Methodological issues).
It is extremely difficult to test hypotheses about the evolution of behaviours to solve problems of adaptation in our evolutionary past. Most research is therefore correlational for example finding links between mate retention behaviours and aggression. This method does not allow us to draw cause-and-effect conclusions.
Give a limitation of the evolutionary explanation of human aggression. (gender bias).
Most studies of infidelity and jealousy have focused solely on the male response, however women similarly engage in mate retention strategies and act violently towards partners. Sexual jealousy can also be a provoker of aggression in women e.g Felson found that women in the US were twice more likely to murder out of jealousy than men. This means that the evolutionary explanation may be simplistic as it cannot explain aggression in both men and women therefore it may have a gender bias.
