Link Between Aggression, Status And Sex
Discovered By U Of Minnesota Researcher
December 9, 2008
Have you ever wondered why it seems like the littlest things make people angry?
Why a glance at the wrong person or a spilled glass of water can lead to a fist
fight or worse? University of Minnesota researcher Vladas Griskevicius has three
words to explain why people may be evolutionarily inclined to make a mountain
out of molehill: aggression, status and sex.
Although hostility or belligerent acts might not immediately appear to be linked
to reproduction, new research forthcoming in the Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology shows that mating goals may underlie behaviors such as
aggression. Griskevicius, a marketing professor at the U of M's Carlson School
of Management, and his co-authors, have found conclusive evidence that merely
activating a desire for status can trigger aggression. Aggressive displays,
which may result in enhanced status, indirectly boost an individual's ability to
attract a mate and, thereby, reproduce.
"It all boils down to the fact that status for men typically equals sex.
Across different cultures and time, the higher status men have, the more sex or
better-quality partners they may have," said Griskevicius. "At the
gene-level, nobody wants to go down in an evolutionary blaze of glory--no one
wants their genes to become extinct. Additionally, unlike low-status women,
low-status men are in serious danger of not reproducing, since they make
especially undesirable mates."
To listen to Griskevicius describe his research, go to http://mediamill.cla.umn.edu/mediamill/embed/22978
"Think of it this way," said Griskevicius, "For men, fighting for
status is akin to fighting for the survival of their genes. Not caring about
status, which can be implied by backing away from a fight, can be evolutionary
suicide. Aggression can lead to status. A higher status leads to sex, and that
leads to more or higher-quality offspring."
The evolved pull of aggression was shown in a series of three studies. Results
showed that if men have status or sex on their minds (e.g., they are thinking
about a promotion at work or an attractive opposite-sex individual), they will
more quickly respond aggressively to a trivial insult. The slight seems much
more substantial when a man has sex or status on his mind. Men are especially
likely to respond aggressively when there are other men around to watch the
situation, suggesting that much of aggression is about display, rather than
self-defense.
Statistics reinforce this idea; police reports show that "trivial
altercations" is the leading reason for homicide. But Griskevicius warns
that his work should not suggest that people are attracted to aggression.
Rather, "it is all about status--the one who wins the game--he's the one
that gets the girl. And at the end of the day, if those genes are passed on, the
aggressor is the ultimate winner."
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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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Griskevicius's paper "Aggress to Impress: Hostility as an Evolved
Context-Dependent Strategy" was written with Joshua Tybur and Steven
Gangestad, University of New Mexico; Elaine Perea and Douglas Kenrick, Arizona
State University; and Jenessa Shapiro, University of California, Los Angeles.
More information on Griskevicius (pronounced greash-caviches) and a copy of the
article can be found at http://www.carlsonschool.umn.edu/marketinginstitute/vgriskevicius.
Source: Ryan Mathre
University of
Minnesota
Medical News Today: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com
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