Evolutionary explanations of aggressive group displays
- Created by: ihatealevels
- Created on: 27-04-16 20:02
View mindmap
- Introduction
- Evolutionary explanations of aggressive group display
- AO1: THE POWER THREAT HYPOTHESIS
- Thus behave in an increasingly violent way
- Blulock (1967) says that fear of political power in hands of the minority creates increased efforts by majority to remain dominant.
- Power and resources integral for survival
- Applied to race related lynch mobs in USA
- Tolnay and Beck (1995)
- Justifications for lynching 'trying to vote', 'demanding respect' and 'defending their community
- CASE STUDY
- Highly ecologically valid in US -n culture bias?
- Tolnay and Beck (1995)
- Ridley (1997)
- Adds to validity by indicating that the group displays are more likely when group feels at risk
- Adds to the P-T hypothesis as based on lynching which this research supports
- Evaluation
- Much of the research is RETROSPECTIVE
- Content analysis technique unreliable
- Research bias at work? Ignoring data that doesn't fit the hypothesis
- Hogg and Vaughn (2008) group displays are a social not biological phenomenon- result of deidividuation
- Miullen (1986)
- 60 newspaper reports for a number of crowd and level of violence against humanity
- Increase in mob, leads to breakdown in self regulation
- Increase in violence, supports the social approach
- A01: COSTLY SIGNALLING
- Some group displays appear to contradict principles of natural selection
- As costly to individuals involved
- Irons (2003)
- These group displays have 2 adaptive advantages
- 1) engaging in painful rituals shows commitment to group
- 2) costs act as a deterrant for 'free riders' i.e. getting rid of people who don;t help with survivial
- 1) engaging in painful rituals shows commitment to group
- These group displays have 2 adaptive advantages
- Ruffle and Sosis (2005)
- Studied Israeli kibulizim
- found that there was a correlation between synagogue attendance and male cooperation with other attendees (male)
- More conspicuous displays cause higher levels of cooperations
- Studied Israeli kibulizim
- Sosis (2005)
- 60 dispersed societies on costs of rituals and warfare.
- Frequency of warfare and type of conflict is strongest predictors of society's male ritual displays
- External conflict is related to more predominant displays e.g. scans - preventing abscondment
- Internal conflict where groups form and then break up are temporary allegiance
- Less costly than body painting and drugs
- Correctional findings (cannot prove causal)
- Less costly than body painting and drugs
- AO1: THE POWER THREAT HYPOTHESIS
- Aggression is usually described as being an act of deliberate violence and threatening behavior against another indvidual
- The evolutionary approach: maintains that aggression is due to our ancestors having inbuilt mechanisms and behavior in order to survive
- Examples of aggressive group display include lynching and religious rituals
- Violent behavior in groups can be explained by this approach through various theories
- Evolutionary explanations of aggressive group display
- IDA
- Reductionist
- Does not take free will into account
- Deterministic
Comments
No comments have yet been made