full text - Caspar Bgsu - Bowling Green State University

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1 Aggression Robert Huber* and Patricia A. Brennan † *JP Scott Center for Neuroscience, Mind & Behavior, Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, USA † Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA Aggression ranks among the most misunderstood concepts in all the behavioral sciences. It is commonly viewed by the general public as an aberrant form of behavior, with situations of conflict pictured as unfavorable and stressful circumstances, brought about by amoral urges, in critical need of our cognitive control, and with negative consequences for all involved. Such a view fundamentally misunderstands the biological significance of the behaviors that occur during conflict. Deeply rooted in the demands of the natural world, an individual must fulfill its demands for self-preservation, defend its interests, or compete for limited vital resources. Basic tendencies for aggression are virtually ubiquitous throughout the animal kingdom, regardless of its bearer’s neural or cognitive faculties, phylogenetic origins, or sociobiological circumstances. Just as widespread, however, are fundamental rules that govern physical conflict, such that cases of unbridled hostility are surprisingly rare. In most species, visual and elaborately ritualized displays effectively channel aggression, structure how individuals interact, and govern the conflict’s resolution. As we witness animals engaged in situations of conflict, we cannot help but be drawn in by the behavior’s inherent relevance to our own biological roots. The knowledge that human aggression arises from our genetic heritage makes it all the more likely that it is of an adaptive nature. As we study the individuals and environments where aggression is most commonly displayed, we gain a better understanding of when aggression and violence may serve an adaptive function and when it may not. Current research points to the importance of delineating subtypes of aggression, focusing on such concepts as proactive and reactive, direct and indirect, and adolescent limited versus life course persistent. Each of these types of aggression has a distinct etiology and Advances in Genetics, Vol. 75 0065-2660/11 $35.00 Copyright 2011, Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-380858-5.00016-2
2 Huber and Brennan utility, depending upon the social environment in which the individual must function. For example, reactive aggression is aggression that occurs in response to a threat in the external environment. It is easy to see how this type of aggression may have its basis in our inherent survival instincts. Nevertheless, a propensity for reactive aggression may be truly dysfunctional in environments that pose low levels of threat, like many of those in which children in Western societies are now raised. A more comprehensive understanding of how biology, behavior, and environment intersect is paramount in the study of human violence and aggression. Studies of aggression, its motives, and its causes are of central interest to a wide range of academic disciplines—behavioral genetics, evolution, neuroscience, psychology, sociology, and criminology, to name just a few. Despite the wealth of empirical and theoretical attention, it is remarkable that a comprehensive synthesis of aggression has stubbornly remained elusive. This partly stems from the fact that the term “aggression” neither maps cleanly onto a monolithic behavioral phenomenon nor lends itself to representation by a simple explanatory concept. Another explanation for this paradox must reside in the absence of a unified, operational definition of aggression across disciplines, or even of a general agreement on what the term actually includes. For instance, most psychologists define aggression as “all behavior that is intended to cause bodily harm.” Other widely adopted classifications of aggression recognize subtypes, ranging from competition between males, a mother’s efforts to protect her offspring, or fighting as a learned response to cope with a particular situation. Biologists regard a definition focused solely on injury as insufficient as this excludes a wide range of threat behaviors directed at rivals, for example, birds that challenge their adversaries with song, an impala’s exaggerated strutting as a signal of strength, or a wolf’s territorial claims via scent markings. Moreover, there is little agreement on whether a predator’s hunting behavior should be included. A lion chasing and killing a gazelle undoubtedly inflicts injury, but is this more akin to a cow cropping the top off a clump of grass, or to an elephant bull inflicting serious injury to a rival in battle Moreover, behavior in aggressive encounters always balances contrasting impulses for approach and attack with a tendency to flee—rarely is either present entirely alone. To acknowledge the difficulty of disentangling these components, the term “agonistic behavior” has been introduced. The term specifically addresses the balance of forces for both attacking and fleeing and it accommodates all instances of attack and threat (i.e., offensive agonistic behavior) as well as escape and submission (i.e., defensive agonistic behavior). As with any other characteristic, natural selection is assumed to enhance aggression’s overall effectiveness. High ranking individuals are likely to display a favorable combination of strength, along with an ability to titer their levels of aggression, to pick fights that are winnable, and to only compete in those that are worth it. Hyperaggressive phenotypes exist in most systems.
Page 2 and 3: Aggression Volume 75
Page 4 and 5: Volume 75 Aggression Edited by Robe
Page 6 and 7: Contents Contributors ix 1 Aggressi
Page 8 and 9: Contents vii Acknowledgments 140 Re
Page 10 and 11: Contributors Numbers in parentheses
Page 14 and 15: 1. Aggression 3 These exhibit fight
Page 16 and 17: 1. Aggression 5 destruction, humans
Page 18 and 19: 2 Evolutionary Aspects of Aggressio
Page 20 and 21: 2. Evolutionary Aspects of Aggressi
Page 32 and 33: References 2. Evolutionary Aspects
Page 34 and 35: 3 Signaling Aggression Moira J. van
Page 36 and 37: 3. Signaling Aggression 25 Such agg
Page 38 and 39: 3. Signaling Aggression 27 Table 3.
Page 40 and 41: 3. Signaling Aggression 29 Performa
Page 42 and 43: 3. Signaling Aggression 31 II. BIRD
Page 44 and 45: 3. Signaling Aggression 33 the evid
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Page 50 and 51: 3. Signaling Aggression 39 A Darkne
Page 52 and 53: A B Escalation Miscellaneous visual
Page 54 and 55: 3. Signaling Aggression 43 0.1 Huma
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Page 60 and 61: 3. Signaling Aggression 49 Searcy,
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4 Self-Structuring Properties of Do
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4. Self-Structuring Properties of D
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One common type of study of fish ex
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5 Neurogenomic Mechanisms of Aggres
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5. Neurogenomic Mechanisms of Aggre
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C. Aggression outside the breeding
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6 Genetics of Aggression in Voles K
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6. Genetics of Aggression in Voles
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7 The Neurochemistry of Human Aggre
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7. The Neurochemistry of Human Aggr
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8 Human Aggression Across the Lifes
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8. Human Aggression Across the Life
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Table 8.2. Effect Sizes (Correlatio
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Missouri twins (Hudziak et al., 200
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Ad-Health (Cho et al., 2006) Colora
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items such as: “some people think
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9 Perinatal Risk Factors in the Dev
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9. Perinatal Factors in the Develop
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1. Amygdala 9. Perinatal Factors in
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10 Neurocriminology Benjamin R. Nor
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10. Neurocriminology 257 evident in
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10. Neurocriminology 259 Another qu
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10. Neurocriminology 261 frontal co
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10. Neurocriminology 263 found to h
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10. Neurocriminology 265 low attent
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10. Neurocriminology 267 self-repor
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10. Neurocriminology 269 MAO-A acti
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10. Neurocriminology 271 birth comp
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10. Neurocriminology 273 We have no
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10. Neurocriminology 275 Alexander,
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10. Neurocriminology 277 Evseef, G.
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10. Neurocriminology 279 Langevin,
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10. Neurocriminology 281 Raine, A.
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10. Neurocriminology 283 Streissgut
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Index Adoption study, human aggress
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Index 287 receptors, 132-133 regula
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Index 289 N Neural circuits aggress
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Index 291 R Reactive and Proactive
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Index 293 forms of, 191-193 G x E i
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0.1 Human (Homo sapien) Other prima
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