evolutionary explanations of aggression

• The evolutionary explanation of aggression suggests in the age of prehistoric man, aggression was an adaptive behaviour that helped us survive and reproduce and through the process of natural selection we have evolved to display aggression.
• An advantage of aggression for prehistoric men is that it helped men gain access to women and resources, such as food. This helped early men survive and reproduce, so that they could pass on their genes. Also, aggression was beneficial for prehistoric men so they could assert dominance over other men and helped prevent infidelity.
• The evolutionary explanation of aggression suggests cavewomen are likely to select more aggressive cavemen, because they can protect them and provide the resources that they need to keep their babies alive.
• The evolutionary explanation of aggression suggests cavewomen didn’t face competition for reproductive partners, so women haven’t evolved to be aggressive.
• Supporting evidence for evolutionary explanation. Buss et al 1992 conducted a questionnaire investigating whether men or women were more upset by sexual or emotional infidelity and found 51% of men said they’d be more upset by sexual infidelity, compared to 22% of women. This is positive it supports the evolutionary explanation of aggression in men. However, the study was based on questionnaires with a hypothetical scenario meaning results may lack validity.
• Evolutionary explanation ignores environmental factors which may contribute to aggression. Prinz argued that sex differences in aggression are caused by differences in social norms that girls and boys are taught by adults. This is problematic as it is a reductionist explanation of aggression.
• Gender bias. the evolutionary explanation overexaggerates the differences in aggression between men and women, stating that men are all aggressive and jealous, whereas women are not aggressive. This is problematic because the theory has alpha bias.