evolutionary explanation of aggression

• sexual jealousy


  -motivation of aggressive behaviour in males due to gene succession

  -cuckoldry: paternity uncertainty - are not sure if the offspring is theirs

  -psychological mechanisms have evolved to increase anti-cuckoldry behaviours in males which drives aggression to retain their partner
• Wilson & Daly


  -found mate retention strategies (MRS) that involve aggression & physical violence

  -MRS: direct guarding (more vigilance over partners behaviour e.g., keeping tabs on location) & negative inducements (issuing threats with dire consequences e.g., death)

  
  

  Wilson et al: women who reported MRS in their partner = 2x more likely to have experienced physical violence from partner
• intimate partner violence: Shackleford et al


  -looked at violence between heterosexual couples married for under a year

  -each partner completed a questionnaire. Male = MRS; female = spouse influence report measuring partners violence

  -found a strong positive correlation between mens report of MRS & female reports of violence
• sexual jealousy in males


  Daly & Wilson: in love triangles, some-sex murders = 92% male on male due to risk of cuckoldry

  -Miller (1980): 55% of wives said jealousy was the cause of their partners aggression towards them

  -male aggression towards children links to parental investment as males are reluctant to spend energy & resources on offspring that is not theirs
• female aggression


  Campbell (1999): females with offspring = motivated to be less aggressive as these behaviours can risk hers & offsprings life

  -more adaptive strategy for females = verbal aggression, retains a partner who will provide resources
• evolution on bullying


  -happens due to a power imbalance - more powerful person uses aggression against the other person

  -researchers said bullying is maladaptive and caused by poor social skills

  -evolutionary explanation of bullying: it is an adaptive strategy to increase the chances of survival and creates opportunities for reproduction

  -Volk et al (2012): characteristics associated with bullying are attractive to the opposite sex, it suggests dominance in males and has the benefit of warding off potential rivals
• evolutionary explanation of aggression - AO3


  Strength(s):

  -supporting research of aggression being evolutionary (Volk et al; Shackleford et al), increases the validity.

  
  

  Weakness(es):

  -supporting research was done on animals (fish) so cannot be applied to how evolution impacts human aggression. Humans are more complex so lacks generalisability.

  -use of questionnaires in supporting research (Shackleford et al), ppts could have had demand characteristics which decreases the validity of findings & application to the evolutionary explanation of aggression.

  -socially sensitive to say that bullying is adaptive - can cause psychological harm to individuals & can be seen as excusing bullying behaviour.