AGGRESSION

AGGRESSION

1. EVOLUTIONARY

   • INDIVIDUAL LEVEL
     • Evolution occurs through three key types of selection. If a trait, characteristic, ability etc. is advantageous to either survival, reproduction or close family, the genes underlying that trait characteristic ability etc. will be more likely to be passed on than others.
       • SEXUAL SELECTION --> survival of the prettiest.
       • NATURAL SELECTION --> survival of the fittest.
       • KIN SELECTION --> survival of the family.
     • EVOLUTIONARY ADVANTAGES IN THE EEA
       • Defending against attack.
       • Gaining others resources and protecting them.
       • Climbing social ladders through fear. Higher status leads to greater access to mates.
       • Deter rivals from future aggression.
       • DALEY AND WILSON (1988) men want to avoid “cuckoldry”. Aggression could therefore be a very useful male mate-retention strategy (deter females from having sex with anyone else and deter potential male rivals) in response to imagined or actual sexual infidelity.
     • BUSS ET AL (1992)
       • Conducted a cross-cultural questionnaire investigating whether in a hypothetical situation where their partner cheated they would be more distressed and jealous if the person had formed a deep emotion attachment with the other, or were just having sex. Found gender differences in attitudes to infidelity, with males being far more upset by sexual infidelity.
         • +Cross-cultural --> no cultural bias. Should be expected if seen in evolution.
         • -Questionnaire --> can lie due to social desirability bias. Subjective since sensitive area.
         • -Can’t generalise to homosexual relationships.
         • -Hypothetical situation does not demonstrate actual behaviour.
     • MILLER (1980)
       • Conducted a meta-analysis of studies into battered women, and found that 55% women cited jealousy as the main cause of the aggression they experienced towards them from their spouses.
         • +Meta-analysis --> cross-cultural, universal, large sample size.
         • -Only 55%.
         • -Self-report --> sensitive area therefore subjectivity.
         • -Gender bias --> women who are aggressive towards men?
         • -Only physical aggression.
     • DALY & WILSON (1985)
       • Looked at homicide rates in marriage between 1974 and 1984 in Canada. Found that 58/214 cases of murder motivated by sexual jealousy. Later also looked at step-parent vs. genetic parent households and aggression levels.
         • -Gender bias --> focus on males. Felson (1997) examined murders in the US and found that women were twice as likely to murder out of jealousy than men.
     • EVALUATION
       • +Often seen across cultures – universalisable – makes sense because everyone evolved from the same EEA. Not ethno-centric.
       • +Has face validity. Likely evolution would have played a part as evolution is a fact.
       • +Practical applications --> easier to spot the signs of jealousy.
       • +Accounts for why men are more aggressive than women.
       • -EDLUND AND SAGARIN (2009) --> research doesn’t tell us whether the degree of perceived infidelity is important, or whether the locus of responsibility (e.g. whether the perceived infidelity is initiated by the female partner or the male rival). Limited explanation.
   • GROUP LEVEL

2. BIOLOGICAL

3. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOCAL

   • DEINDIVIDUATION
   • SOCIAL LEARNING

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