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EVOLUTIONARY EXPLANATION OF AGGRESSION - Coggle Diagram
EVOLUTIONARY EXPLANATION OF AGGRESSION
Aggression is significant for individual survival +
reproductive potential
Competition
arises when resources are limited + animals compete in order to survive/reproduce
If a female = unfaithful , the male faces
paternity uncertainty
Males cannot risk wasting investment on offspring who are not their own, so they should show
jealousy
through violent behaviours
However, woman can always guarantee that offspring are their own
Aggression has an
adaptive purpose
because it enhances our chance of survival + adaption to the environment
Our
male ancestors
who used aggression would have been
successful
in securing/retaining mates, as they could fight any rivals and prevent their mates from
sexual infidelity
(being unfaithful)
Consequently, they would be more likely to pass on their genes to the next generation, and we have
evolved to use aggression in threatening situations
THIS EXPLANATION IS VERY SOCIALLLY SENSITIVE
This is because it justifies
sexual and physical violence
by men against women as
natural + inevitable
This theory also implies that the men who are violent/kill women are
not responsible
for their actions because aggression is
genetically coded
This has very serious implications because
1/3 women in Britain will experience domestic violence
during their lifetime
This explanation is limited as it does not clarify that some aggressive acts are not for survival, but for
exerting power/fear on another individual
HUMANS DO NOT OFTEN DISPLAY AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR BECAUSE IT'S FROWNED UPON BY SOCIETY
E.g. In most cases of adultery, people would decide to separate from their partners/attend counselling instead of providing and aggressive response
This indicates that moral values/social norms influence our behaviour more than evolutionary factors
Therefore, there must be other factors that influence aggression which limits the value of the explanation
REDUCTIONIST
Only considers aggression in terms of sexual competition + reproduction
Other significant factors are ignored e.g. observation + imitation
It is also suggested that we learn aggression by imitating role models and wanting the rewards they recieve for the same behaviour
The role of biology cannot explain this process of social learning
We should develop a more interactionist approach in order to fully understand the reasons for aggressive behaviour
DIFFICULT TO OPERATIONALISE/MEASURE
Individuals often deny/conceal their behaviour
So, Researchers need to be skilled enough to apply techniques in order to overcome these complications
In evolutionary explanation - researchers have only studied sexual jealousy and survival advantage in various species
Measuring only physical aggression causes isolation and so other forms of aggression are ignored e.g. passive anger, verbal anger/hostility
This ongoing problem with operationalising aggression reduces the overall validity of evolutionary explanation