Staying alive: Evolution, culture, and women's intrasexual aggression Export

@article{citeulike:5846339, abstract = {Females\' tendency to place a high value on protecting their own lives enhanced their reproductive success in the environment of evolutionary adaptation because infant survival depended more upon maternal than on paternal care and defence. The evolved mechanism by which the costs of aggression (and other forms of risk taking) are weighted more heavily for females may be a lower threshold for fear in situations which pose a direct threat of bodily injury. Females\' concern with personal survival also has implications for sex differences in dominance hierarchies because the risks associated with hierarchy formation in nonbonded exogamous females are not offset by increased reproductive success. Hence among females, disputes do not carry implications for status with them as they do among males, but are chiefly connected with the acquisition and defence of scarce resources. Consequently, female competition is more likely to take the form of indirect aggression or low-level direct combat than among males. Under patriarchy, men have held the power to propagate images and attributions which are favourable to the continuance of their control. Women\'s aggression has been viewed as a gender-incongruent aberration or dismissed as evidence of irrationality. These cultural interpretations have \“enhanced\” evolutionarily based sex differences by a process of imposition which stigmatises the expression of aggression by females and causes women to offer exculpatory (rather than justificatory) accounts of their own aggression.}, author = {Campbell, Anne}, citeulike-article-id = {5846339}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=30925}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X99001818}, comment = {Campbell (1999) argues that ".. lower rates of aggression by women reflect not just the absence of masculine risk-taking but are part of a positive female adaptation driven by the critical importance of the mother's survival for her own reproductive success." Campbell reviews evidence that: • women show  greater fear of physical harm compared to men. For example: ◦ women show more fear of open spaces, dogs, snakes, insects, and rodents than men ◦ women  are less likely to engage in hazardous sports, dangerous driving, military combat, and drug abuse, than men ◦ women are more afraid of being victims of crime involving aggression, and are more likely to visit a doctor to seek advice on preventative care, than men • women commit fewer violent crimes than men (see Campbell et al, 2001) • women show less concern for status compared to men • greater adoption of dispute resolution strategies that involve a low risk of physical harm by women compared to men • female 'maternal aggression' to defend their offspring; paternal aggression is rarer }, doi = {10.1017/S0140525X99001818}, journal = {Behavioral and Brain Sciences}, keywords = {evolutionary\_adaptation, feminism, masculinity, parenting, theory, violence}, number = {02}, pages = {203--214}, posted-at = {2009-09-28 05:14:16}, priority = {2}, title = {Staying alive: Evolution, culture, and women's intrasexual aggression}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X99001818}, volume = {22}, year = {1999} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:5846339 L3 - citeulike-article-id:5846339 N2 - Females' tendency to place a high value on protecting their own lives enhanced their reproductive success in the environment of evolutionary adaptation because infant survival depended more upon maternal than on paternal care and defence. The evolved mechanism by which the costs of aggression (and other forms of risk taking) are weighted more heavily for females may be a lower threshold for fear in situations which pose a direct threat of bodily injury. Females' concern with personal survival also has implications for sex differences in dominance hierarchies because the risks associated with hierarchy formation in nonbonded exogamous females are not offset by increased reproductive success. Hence among females, disputes do not carry implications for status with them as they do among males, but are chiefly connected with the acquisition and defence of scarce resources. Consequently, female competition is more likely to take the form of indirect aggression or low-level direct combat than among males. Under patriarchy, men have held the power to propagate images and attributions which are favourable to the continuance of their control. Women's aggression has been viewed as a gender-incongruent aberration or dismissed as evidence of irrationality. These cultural interpretations have “enhanced” evolutionarily based sex differences by a process of imposition which stigmatises the expression of aggression by females and causes women to offer exculpatory (rather than justificatory) accounts of their own aggression. IS - 02 JF - Behavioral and Brain Sciences EP - 214 TI - Staying alive: Evolution, culture, and women's intrasexual aggression VL - 22 SP - 203 KW - evolutionary_adaptation KW - feminism KW - masculinity KW - parenting KW - theory KW - violence N1 - Campbell (1999) argues that ".. lower rates of aggression by women reflect not just the absence of masculine risk-taking but are part of a positive female adaptation driven by the critical importance of the mother's survival for her own reproductive success." Campbell reviews evidence that: • women show  greater fear of physical harm compared to men. For example: ◦ women show more fear of open spaces, dogs, snakes, insects, and rodents than men ◦ women  are less likely to engage in hazardous sports, dangerous driving, military combat, and drug abuse, than men ◦ women are more afraid of being victims of crime involving aggression, and are more likely to visit a doctor to seek advice on preventative care, than men • women commit fewer violent crimes than men (see Campbell et al, 2001) • women show less concern for status compared to men • greater adoption of dispute resolution strategies that involve a low risk of physical harm by women compared to men • female 'maternal aggression' to defend their offspring; paternal aggression is rarer AU - Campbell, Anne PY - 1999/// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X99001818 ER -