Evolutionary explanation of group display: War

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What is group display?
when a group of people act in a certain way in public, using bodily gestures and sounds to intimidate. they often involve the threat of aggression rather than actual aggression.
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Why is war considered adaptive?
because by taking part in a war there is greater chance of survival compared to the individual acting alone. groups are more powerful and afford more protection.
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What can success in war yield?
better access to resources, higher status, ultimately greater chance of reproducing and spreading genes.
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What is a suitable IDA point for this theory?
Approaches
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Why is this approach logical? (IDA)
it can explain facts about human society such as willingness to go to war and feelings of aggression.
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Why is the evidence/theory socially sensitive? (IDA)
it suggests that war is inevitable and that it is simply an effective way of resolving conflict, it ignores the devastation wars can cause.
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What might be a better explanation for war? (IDA)
the social learning theory, it has more supporting/convincing evidence.
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Name three pieces of evidence for this explanation
Chagnon, The Bosnian War, Animals.
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What did the research by Chagnon find?
there was constant fighting between branches of the Yanomamo people in the Amazon regarding access to women and status. successful warriors had more wives and children than the unsuccessful warriors.
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How does the research by Chagnon support the theory?
it shows how aggression can result from competing for status,dominance and access to women. it shows how being successful in war grants you an evolutionary advantage.
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What was the Bosnian war research?
during the Bosnian War 50,000 muslim women and girls were ***** by serbians, the aim was to ensure the children had "serbian blood".
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How does the research into the Bosnian War support the theory?
it shows how mass **** was used during the war to continue the aggressors genes. it also shows how the threat of **** was used to terrorise the women and allow the serbians to dominate the area/situation.
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What Animals were used in the Animal research?
Dolphins and Chimpanzees
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What did the animal research find?
that war can occur in intelligent social species such as dolphins and chimps.
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What does the animal research suggest about war?
that it is an adaptive behaviour which is innate and therefore caused by evolution, ultimately supporting the theory.
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What is an issue with all of the research? (AO3)
none of the studies are an especially valid test of the theory, as you cannot go back in time to test how these behaviours have evolved.
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What is an issue with the research by Chagnon? (AO3)
it was conducted on one isolated group of people, their war and aggressive nature could have occurred due to other factors such as nurture.
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What might be a better theory to explain war and group display? (AO3)
the social learning theory
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How could you improve the Chagnon research? (AO3)
by looking at more cultures world wide, therefore increasing the population validity. where the results were similar then it could be classed as a cultural universal which would fully support the evolutionary approach.
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What would be a wider evaluation point?
practical applications
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overall why is the theory flawed? (wider evaluation)
there is a lack of strong supporting evidence.
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What are the implications of the explanation? (wider evaluation)
that humans are innately aggressive and that war is innevitable.
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What sporting activities could be used to reduce aggression? (wider evaluation)
martial arts. they offer a controlled release of aggression with no physical contact.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Why is war considered adaptive?

Back

because by taking part in a war there is greater chance of survival compared to the individual acting alone. groups are more powerful and afford more protection.

Card 3

Front

What can success in war yield?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What is a suitable IDA point for this theory?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Why is this approach logical? (IDA)

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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