AO1

• From an evolutionary perspective humans are more likely to survive if they can defend their resources, if they have access to resources like food water territory and a mate. Aggression seems to be strongly linked to achieving a mate..
• Evolutionary psychologists argue that different reproductive challenges faced by our ancestors led to a number of evolved sex differences, including sex differences to infidelity and jealousy.
• Infidelity means the process of being unfaithful to your partner which ultimately involves having sexual relationships outside of the marriage.
• Ultimately evolutionary psychologists argue that the act of infidelity can lead to paternal uncertainty and this leads to sexual jealousy which leads to mate retention techniques for which aggression is one
• Jealousy can be a potent cause of aggression.

  • Daly and Wilson (1988) report that a high proportion of homicides are committed by men who have just found out their partner have left (or are about to be left by their partners).
• Sexual competition:

  • Ancestral males seeking females would have had to compete with other male for a mate.
  • One way to eliminate competition between males is aggression. This meant they would be more successful at passing on their genes.
• sexual comp:

  Puts believes that competition did take place between males in our ancestry

  past:

  • Men have 75% more muscle mass than women
  • Men are more aggressive than women and will more likely die violently
  • Evidence shows that males also have thicker jaws (used to being hit) more robust skulls and thicker brows.
• Sexual Jealousy:

  • Del found 17% of murders in UK are the result of sexual jealousy men are predominately the perpetrators and victims!
• Sexual Jealousy:

  • Male aggression can also occur as a result of sexual jealousy which arises out of parental uncertainty. Males are always at risk of cuckoldry.
• This threat of Cuckoldry means men may invest in offspring that are not theirs.
• Sexual Jealousy:

  • When a male is not sure if his child is actually his, he will become jealous which results in him becoming more aggressive to secure paternity and to avoid wasting resources.. Males are therefore more fearful of sexual infidelity….leading to sexual jealousy and aggression as the adaptive response!
• Sexual Jealousy:

  Remember Kinsey found that 50% of married males and 26% married females had been unfaithful.