Hormonal - Cortisol

Hormonal - Cortisol

1. AO1

   • Cortisol appears to have a mediating effect on other aggression related hormones such as testosterone. This may be because it increases anxiety and the likelihood of social withdrawal.
   • It has an inverse correlation as lower levels of cortisol are associated with higher levels of aggression. Higher levels of cortisol inhibit testosterone levels and so reduce aggression.

2. AO2

   • McBurnett et al conducted a longitudinal study (4 years) of 38 boys aged 7-12 with behavioural problems. Found that those with consistently low cortisol levels began anti-social acts at a younger age and exhibited three times the number of aggressive symptoms compared to boys with higher cortisol levels. Suggests that cotrisol levels were strongly and inversely related to aggressive conduct disorder.
     • There's an issue of gender bias as only boys were used. It could be said that boys have overall lower levels of cortisol because it's in their nature. Research hasn't been conducted on girls so see whether the same aggressive symptoms were seen in those with low cortisol levels and therefore this research is unable to be generalised to other groups of people.
   • Although some studies have found evidence of lower cortisol levels in aggressive samples, many other studies have found no significant different compared to control groups. A study by Gerra et al has reported high cortisol concentrations in pts with higher levels of aggression. This suggests that not all research can support the theory of cortisol on aggression and it could be argued that high levels of cortisol increases anit-social behaviour.
     • However, it could be said that individual differences can play a part in the reason why this research is so abstract from the rest. Levels of cotisol may overall be higher in one individual seen carrying out aggressive behaviour, compared to an individual who is committing the same act but may have lower levels of cortisol. They could have been born with these high levels and they may remain while pursuing an aggressive act, suggesting that differences in levels of hormones will bring about contrasts in findings.