Evolution explaining aggression

• what is the definition of Evolution?

  refers to a change in the heritable characteristics of population over successive generations
• what does natural selection mean?

  process in which organisms who are better adapted tot heir environment will have better chances of survival
• what is the Environment of Evolutionary adaptiveness?

  conditions that were powerful in the in the environment that a species evolved to survive in
• where was the period of Environment of Evolutionary Adaptiveness for Humans?

  the stone age
• where can we gather evidence from evolutionary psychologists?

  archaeology and Anthropology
• what does Archaeology give us for evidence of how our ancestors lived?

  • evidence of weapons- flint arrows and stone axes
  • evidence of early humans and them living in groups to survive
• what evidence can anthropology give us?

  • hour glass body shape is desirable for men on women as it shows they are sexually mature for children
  • males tend to assume the roles of hunters and females tend to assume the role of looking after the children
• what did evolutionary psychologists do with the information from anthropology and archaeology?

  1. speculate
  2. suggest that some of our behaviour is genetically determined
• what did the evolutionary psychologists speculate about?

  because females invest more time into their offspring then they will be more selective of their mate
• what did the evolutionary psychologists suggest about the genetics?

  • we had highly developed prefrontal cortex as we were able to live in groups
  • dopamine in the reward pathway stimulates the adoptive behaviours
  • amygdala in limbi system evolved as we had to deal with aggressive threats
• what are the evolutionary determinates of males choosing a female mate?

  men like slim waist for the absence of pregnancy and also hour glass shape as it embodies sexual maturity.
• what are the evolutionary determinants of a female choosing a male mate?

  they want men who are wealthy and dominant, tall as they have resources and have the right qualities to protect the children they have
• what is an evolutionary determinates of diet?

  people crave sugar filled foods, and will still want these when we are thirsty/hungry
• why do we crave sugary foods?

  we as ancestors would have needed high calorie foods as food may have been short some seasons
• what is a reason for aggression from evolution (territory)?

  limited resources caused conflict and those who won is by attacking with stone axes and arrows had come quite useful for survival
• what is a modern day of aggression over limited resources in small children (hypothetical)?

  bullying and attack children for their money or sweets
• what is the reason for aggression in defence against attackers?

  aggression to protect themselves, mate and their offspring - ancient civilisations built walls around their cities e.g great Wall of China
• what is the modern day aggressive way of defence of place you live?

  gated communities, security gates
• what is the reason for aggression in status and power?

  people who are seen as aggression are seen as stronger - therefore chiefs are successful hunters and in positions of power in their tribal society
• how does aggression for power relate to the modern world now?

  aggression can be important in gaining prestige and dominance
• what is the evidence for this theory?

  Harvey et al 2004 - fond aggression in males often linked to sexual jealousy, this supports aggression to secure a mate exclusively
• what other evidence is there for this theory?

  Buss 1989 - found that across 33 countries males preferred younger, chaste women. suggesting that males consider reproductive success in mate selection. while females preferred older males that were wealthy so they can provide for the offspring.
• what is negative about the evidence?

  • evidence only shows associations and not possible cause and effect
  • not possible to test as the aggression or mate selection has an evolutionary basis and not possible as we cannot access the EEA so variables cannot be manipulated
• what is the application of this theory?

  suggests that aggression is in our nature and therefore it would be futile to stop us from being aggressive.

  to reduce any undesirable aggression we need to have socially acceptable outlets.
• what is a strength of this theory?

  scientific credibility for evolution as we have found antibiotic resistant strain of bacteria
• what is a shortcoming for this theory?

  deterministic as it says that aggression is in our nature and that it takes away the responsibility
• what is an alternate theory?

  cultural differences in aggression (warrior cultures) may have higher lof aggression and therefore some cultures have higher aggression for mate selection - long necks or small feet
• what is another alternative theory from nurture?

  learning theories suggest that how aggressive we are and the choices we make in mate selection is due to our up brining