Evolutionary Explanations

• Buss and Duntley


  Buss and Duntley claim aggression is an evolved behaviour that serves multiple functions e.g. mate selection, competing for resource, defeating sexual rivals and increasing status or dominating hierarchies

  Aggression therefore considered to be adaptive as it's beneficial for different reasons

  One of main assumptions -> sexual jealousy.
• Sexual jealousy


  Motivator for aggression & also an adaptive trail that may have evolved over time, as a way to ensure male genes are pass down on their offspring

  One evolutionary reason why men may experience sexual jealousy is they can never be as certain as women, their offspring is genetically theirs

  paternal uncertainty stems from cuckolding fears where men may fear investing their resources, time & emotion into a child that's not genetically theirs, whilst being unaware of this

  sexual jealousy may have evolved as an adaptive way to ensure that cuckoldry doesn't happen, to prevent their partner from cheating or being tempted by other men

  in addition to strategies to prevent cuckoldry, evolutionary explanation claims that mate retention strategies are also adaptive response that are likely to lead to aggression

  Wilson found that women who reported their partner using mate retention strategies, were also more likely to have experienced domestic violence at the hands of their partners
• Direct guarding


  males being vigilant about their partners behaviours, routine or social interactions e.g. checking phones, following their partner or tracking who they speak to
• Negative inducements


  making threats about the consequences of the female partner or breaking up the relationship, such as threatening to harm themselves or others
• Evolutionary explanation of bullying - men

  Argue a bullying behaviour in men are attractive to opposite sex as it suggests the ability to dominate, move up a social hierarchy + accumulate resources -> demonstrate traits -> more likely to be successful in reproducing

  Bullying removes threat of status + potential competition for mates
• Evolutionary explanation of bullying - women

  bullying often takes place within a relationship, having the function of controlling male partners + ensure he continue to provide resources
• Strength - research support between mate retention strategies and aggression

  Shackelford et al studied intimate partner violence in 107 heterosexual, married couples who had been married less than a year. The males completed a mate retention behaviours survey, whilst the women completed a survey about extent of violence their partner demonstrated towards them.

  There was a strong + positive correlation between the results of the male and female surveys, suggesting that the more the male partner engaged in mate retention strategies, the more likely they were to exhibit aggressive behaviours.

  this supports the evolutionary basis of aggression and sexual jealousy as an adaptive behaviour
• Strength - can account for gender differences in aggression

  there are different types of aggression exhibited by men and women, with women more likely to engage in verbal aggression and men more likely to engage in physical aggression. This is adaptive because by avoiding physical aggression, women can ensure their safety and survival as well as their child's.

  by using non-aggressive methods of solving disputes, and mostly using verbal aggression in conflict situations, women show a clear gender difference in aggression. This suggests the evolutionary explanation is able to explain such a difference, where other explanations can't
• Weakness - could be regarded as socially sensitive

  this is because the explanation attempts to offer scientific explanations for why men behave more aggressively than women, and why men may commit domestic violence towards their partners. The explanation suggests these behaviours are adaptive and inherited from ancestors, rather than free will and choice, which incidentally suggests that men aren't responsible for their behaviours

  this isn't compatible with the justice system, or rehabilitation programmes where previously abusive males would be expected to hold themselves accountable for their actions and change
• Weakness - hard to falsify concepts e.g. natural selection and adaptive behaviours

  in addition, a lot of research is reliant on correlations and therefore can only establish a relationship between 2 variables such as aggression and mate retention strategies, rather than cause and effect. At best, the explanation is only able to suggest that aggression may be influenced by evolution and ancestor genetics

  explanation isn't compatible with the aims of science, which require a theory to be testable and falsifiable