hormones and aggression

• what are hormones

  chemicals secreted into the bloodstream by glands in endocrine system
• what can hormones affect

  affect certain organs or cells that can affect behaviour and cause physical changes in the body (puberty)
• what are the two types of hormones

  testosterone and cortisol
• what is testosterone

  testosterone is a hormone that is crucial in body’s flight or fight response which can lead to an aggressive response
• where is testosterone present

  testosterone is present in all humans but males show more than females so men tend to have higher aggression
• what is cortisol

  cortisol is a hormone produced in the adrenal glands and its main job is managing stress levels - cortisol inhibits aggression
• what are the effects of cortisol to someone

  the less cortisol a person has, the more aggressive, the more cortisol a person has, the less aggressive they will be
• strength of horomones as an explanation for aggression

  • animal studies made a link between aggression and testosterone
  • motelica-heino, edwards and roffi had male cats castrated so unable to produce testosterone - castrated rats showed little aggression than uncastrated rats and once given a testosterone injection again showed aggression
  • demonstrates a cause-effect relationship between the 2
• strength

  • tested female inmates and levels of aggression and found link with hormones
  • dabbs and hargrove (1997) measured the testosterone levels in saliva of 98 female inmates and found the degree of criminal violence women showed related with testosterone levels
  • link was also found with male prisoners in other studies linking testosterone and aggression
• weakness (counterpoint)

  • hormonal explanation does not account for culture
  • wolfgang and ferracuti (1967) found kung sang people from kalahari region in africa have low levels of aggression as behaviour is discouraged from childhood whereas yanomami people of venezuela and brazil = more aggressive as aggressiveness - used to gain status in society
  • aggression may link to cultural aspects not just testosterone
• what is adrenaline

  produced in the adrenal glands and is the body's acute stress response system - causes increased HR, blood flow ready for fight or flight response