Aggression: Human Aggression

Aggression: Human Aggression

1. Infidelity

   • Infidelity/Adultery • Daly et al – detection or suspicion of infidelity is a key predictor of partner violence. • BBC online survey (2006) – men more likely to engage in extra marital affairs » More opportunities to reproduce » 1 in 10 women admitted to being unfaithful to their husbands.
   • Violence towards Pregnant Partners • Pregnancy from women’s infidelity – if child is born, long term mate risks investing in another man’s child and lowering own reproductive success. » Function of violence = to terminate pregnancy and eliminate offspring of rival.
     • AO2: Supported by Shackleford et al. • Analysed 500,000 homicides, selecting 13,760 where men killed their wife. » Younger women had higher risk of uxoricide regardless of partner’s age because more able to reproduce with other men. • Pipat Lueprasitkul in Thailand » Admitted to battering his wife to death in a jealous rage. Given 2 year suspended sentence. » Nearly half of all women in Thailand subjected to physical/sexual abuse at some point.
       • AO3: • Culture bias. • Non-western, individualistic and rural culture means » Cannot be generalised to non-western, collectivist and urban cultures. • Different cultures treat women differently » May be more accepting of abuse towards women.
   • Uxoricide • Guard against infidelity by offering rewards e.g. buying gifts, or inflicting costs. • Not all men can provide rewards so some turn to violence. • Daly and Wilson – death of partner from violence may be unintended outcome of adaption to control infidelity.
     • AO2: Supported by Talieu and Bownbridge. • Women abused whilst pregnant were more likely to be carrying another man’s child. • Valladares et al – in Nicaragua, half of pregnant women sampled who were physically abused suffered blows directly to the abdomen. » Supports the elimination of the child to leave the woman free to bear his offspring.
       • AO3: • Theory is deterministic. • Evolutionary explanation suggests we cannot control innate aggressive instincts. » Unable to exercise free will and choose not to terminate the pregnancy. • Does not explain why some men help raise another man’s child. » Not all pregnancies as a result of infidelity result in termination of the child through violence.

2. Jealousy

   • Sexual Jealousy and Cuckoldry • Man may unwittingly raise another man’s child as a result of wife’s infidelity o Invest his resources in offspring that are not his own • Sexual jealousy to deter female’s infidelity and minimise risk of cuckoldry.
     • AO2: Supported by Takahashi et al • Neural response to imagined scenes of sexual infidelity and emotional jealousy was different for men and women. » Brain imaging techniques showed men had greater activation of hypothalamus (area of brain associated with aggression) when presented with images of sexual infidelity. • Suggests that anger is a natural reaction to infidelity and results in an increase in aggressive behaviours.
       • AO3: • Theory is reductionist. • Only considers evolutionary approach for why people are aggressive. • Fails to consider biological explanations like physiology » May affect why aggression occurs and the form it takes. • Could explain why men and women show aggressive behaviours differently, and different people act differently to the same situation.
   • Mate Retention and Violence • ‘Direct guarding’ – males attempt to restrict partner’s independence by preventing interactions with other men. » Protecting partner to make sure they don’t leave. • ‘Negative inducements’ – offering threats e.g. men threaten other men with physical violence and comment on women’s physicality and appearance. Women use verbal possession signals and comment on men’s intellect. • Sexual jealousy – primary cause of violence against women. » Those perceived to threaten infidelity more at risk of violence.
     • AO2: Supported by Shackleford et al • Tested mate retention strategies in predicting female directed violence. » 461 men and 560 women from USA. • Use of negative inducements and direct guarding positively correlated with violence scores in mates. » Emotional manipulation also predicted violence against women. • Results from female ppts confirmed trend but relationship duration made no difference. • Suggests mate retention strategies are a key predictor of violence against a mate.
       • AO3: • Methodological issues. • Surveys and self-report techniques lack internal validity as may be subject to demand characteristics and social desirability bias. » Ppts may not admit to everything they have done as want to be seen as socially desirable. » Means unrepresentative of all relationships, as some people may use violence without mate retention strategies.