Lecture 20 Agression

Question 1

Hobbes

Answer 1

Believed that man is inherently aggressive

Question 2

Rousseau

Answer 2

Life before civilization was peaceful
The state brought on aggression and suffering
- Noble Savage- Peaceful humans before civilization came about

Question 3

Myth of the Peaceful Savage

Answer 3

Laurence Keeley

• Battles more frequent in non state societies
• More dangerous weapons
• Higher casualties than modern societies

Question 4

Evidence for Innate Aggressive Urges

Answer 4

• ## Large percentage of individuals occasionally have homicidal tendencies

Question 5

Development of Aggression

Answer 5

Most Aggressive Age- 2 years old

Question is not when humans develop aggression, but how humans learn how to control innate aggressive tendencies

Question 6

Agression in Animals

Answer 6

Individual Agression
- Common male on male aggression, also female on female, siblingcide, infanticide, rape
Collective Agression
Rare, except in dolphins, wolves, chimpanzees
-Chimpanzees actually have mass genocide

Question 7

Brain System for Agression

Answer 7

Several circuits for different aggression (Ex. predatory vs individual conflict)
Rage circuit/ Dominance Circuit- Midbrain, hypothalamus, amygdala

Question 8

Hobbes 3 Reasons for Agression

Answer 8

1. Competition (gain)
2. Diffidence(Safety)
3. Honor, Reputation

Question 9

Competition

Answer 9

Darwinian competition over resources- food, territory
Major Source of Aggression- Competition over mates- Men can multiply offspring by monopolizing females
Tribes Fight overWomen(Abducted, raped, default on betrothal)
- Contested Resources
-Revenge
Avenge prior killings, blood feuds

Question 10

Violence predisposition

Answer 10

14 countries

• Men kill men 26 times more than females kill females
• Boys engage more in play fighting, rough and tumble play
• Men take greater risks

Question 11

Diffidence

Answer 11

The Hobbesian Trap
-Preemptive Strike
- Best defense is a good offense
-Security Dilemma- One party boosts their security by becoming more weaponized, causes others to follow suit creating tension when there was no problem
(Nuclear weapons

Question 12

Diffidence Solution

Answer 12

Deterrence
-Nuclear Version- Mutual Assured Destruction
Ancient version- Lex talionis- eye for eye, arm for arm
Policy- Won’t attack first
If we are attacked, we will retaliate severely

Question 13

Prerequisites for Lex talionis

Answer 13

• Credibility of no first strike(transparency)
• Ability to survive first attack(Dominance)
• Proportionality- Convince enemies and allies you won’t use flimsy pretax for self interested aggression

Question 14

Problem With Deterrence

Answer 14

Problem with Bluffing
How to Convince people you are not bluffing
Target can still simply refuse to comply

Question 15

Paradoxical Tactics

Answer 15

- Making the punishment involuntary
Physical restraints
-Hijacker with bomb
Emotional Restraints
-Perceived as hot head

Question 16

Revenge in Lab

Answer 16

• Ultimatum Game- Acceptor will not be treated unfairly
• Grading Lab- One person writes scathing review of test subject
• Test subject then gets to punish mean person
• Test subject enjoys it– increases punishment in the presence of an audience- asserting his status

Question 17

Revenge in MRI

Answer 17

-Subject cheated out of money
-Watches cheater get electrical shock
Females- Insula activated- feelings of empathy
Male- Mesolimbic reward system activated- feelings of pleasure

Question 18

Reputation in Males

Answer 18

Trivial Insult #1 reason for homicide- males assert their dominance and their stance
-Explanation for dueling and other violent defenses of “honor”
Partial Explanation for male violence in female infidelity- “he’s crazy enough to kill me”

Question 19

Cultures of Honor

Answer 19

-Need to maintain honor varies from culture to culture
Violent cultures of honor in regions without law
-Drug dealers, mafia
- Remote regions(Afghanistan)
In cultures where wealth is easy to steal
- Herders

Question 20

American Southwest

Answer 20

Scottish herders immigrated into American Southwest
Brought the culture of honor with them
-Persists today- South has large practice of agression
- Seen in law: corporal and capital punishment, self defense, length of sentences
Reflects in their culture, politics, sports and military
Seen in Individual Psychology
-Southerners at UMich are more easily slighted, less likely to back down

Question 21

Aggression among groups

Answer 21

Other side of kin selection 
-collective side of aggression among related men, collective revenge (blood feuds)
Ethnic Groups
-Extended gamily?
like groups of reciprocators?
-in group/ outgroup psychology

Question 22

Robbers Cave Study

Answer 22

-Took a group of similar 11-12 year old boys and split them into two groups
- Let them live apart for a week, then allowed them to compete in sports tournament
- Agression became great, real war broke out- cheating, armed themselves, raided cabins
Joint activities to reduce stress were unsuccessful- hostilities still present
Only when goals were superordinates did they work together (pulled bus out of mud, inspected mile long waterline)

Question 23

Team Dictator Game

Answer 23

When individuals split into two groups and were told they were similar, individuals worked to give team members the most money, and give other group least amount of money
-Even if test subjects were shown the random grouping, still had this tendency

Question 24

Decline of Violence

Answer 24

Over time, violence declined
Historical Shows of Violence: (Human sacrifice, torture, mutilation, capital and corporal punishment, genocide, slavery)
Why?
Rule of Law- Eliminate the need for cultures of honor and the violence that comes with them
Expanding networks of reciprocity
- Cheaper to buy things than to steal them
- People more valuable alive than dead
Expansion of moral circle
- Empathy technologies (journalism, news)
Awareness of history and psychology

Question 25

Human Nature

Answer 25

Inclination towards violence + Inclinations that counteract them

Question 26

Psychological systems for non-violence

Answer 26

Self control
Fairness
Empathy
Reason