Download Evolutionary explanations for group display: war

GROUP DISPLAY
WARFARE
Group display
What is group display?
Group display is when a group of people act in a certain
way in public, using bodily gestures and sound, to
intimidate.
They often involve the threat of aggression rather than
actual aggression
WAR – what is it good for?
• War = the formation of groups to attack others within the same
species
• More resources (e.g. food) from a bigger territory
• More females and more offspring = transfer of genes in to the
next generation (the main principle of Darwinian Evolution)
• Men evolved as hunter gatherers and women needed
protection and therefore women needed to ‘choose’ their
mates carefully.
This would suggest that there was at least some advantageous
reasoning behind acts of high cost heroic bravery for it to be
a characteristic chosen of men by females.
Evolutionary explanations of war
• While aggressive display can cost a person their life, by joining a group and
taking part in a war there is a greater chance of survival compared to the
individual acting alone.
• Groups are more powerful and afford more protection, hence war is
adaptive.
• Success in war can give better access to resources, higher status and
ultimately a greater chance of reproducing.
• Mass rape as a weapon of war can be accounted for by the evolutionary
approach to war: the threat of rape makes people flee their territory, and
rape itself may result in the victim becoming pregnant, so the aggressors
genes are continuing.
• Since those who win wars are the most aggressive, these are the people
who have passed on their genes, leading to a species who have had
aggression selected into their behaviour
Notes away- Recap Q’s
1. Why, in terms of evolutionary theory, is it better to join a
group and take part in war rather than acting alone?
2. What evolutionary advantages come from taking part in
group displays such as war?
3. What evolutionary explanations are there for mass
rape as a weapon of war?
GROUP DISPLAY:
SPORTS
Sport
• Group displays are ritualised displays of aggression
by and between groups of people
• In modern society, tribal warfare has been replaced by
sporting events in which different teams represent their
tribes.
• Sports involve displays of skills and strength, behaviour
attractive to females who will select the winning males for
reproductive success on the basis of their display of
genetic fitness
The posturing and ritualised displays are not seen as
violent however they could be a catalyst for serious acts of
aggression
What message is this giving?
Explanation of group display: Sports
• Aggression linked to victory
• Victory = status = increase opportunity for survival
• = access to resources
• = desirability.
• =reproductive success
Explanation of group display: Sports
Millwall vs West Ham incidents – YouTube
Xenophobia
•Xenophobia appears to be the key to explaining the
adaptive response to aggression during sporting events, at
least in football crowds
•Xenophobia is a dislike and/or fear of that which is
unknown or different from oneself. It comes from the Greek
words ξένος (xenos), meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and
φόβος (phobos), meaning "fear."
Xenophobia
irrational or unreasoned fear of that which is perceived to be foreign or
strange.
Can manifest itself in many ways involving the relations and
perceptions of an ingroup towards an outgroup (us and them)
Includes a fear of losing identity, suspicion of its activities, aggression,
and desire to eliminate its presence to secure a presumed purity
•Wilson (1975) - Xenophobia appears in ‘virtually every group of
animals displaying higher forms of social organisation.’ It’s a form of
Natural selection.
•MacDonald (1992)- adaptive to exaggerate negative stereotypes about
outsiders which acts to increase ‘in group’ cohesion.
How does this link to football crowds?
• It explains racism on the terraces, but how does this explain violence
between clubs?
• The rivalry between football fans in the UK has existed for 130 years or
more.
• The fans identify with their group and are hostile to the other fans
because they are perceived as a possible threat.
• HOWEVER…
• Contrary to popular belief most crowds at sporting events are not
aggressive, it’s just when something ‘kicks off’ it can be quite dramatic
due to sheer numbers of those involved!
• Only really football that has a hooligan problem, rugby (certainly union) is
good natured and just consists of ‘friendly banter’ amongst fans.
Evaluation
What limitations are there in the Evolutionary approaches
explanation
• post hoc
• Evidence not testable and therefore unscientific (lacks scientific
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validity)
Speculation
Limited in its ability to explain group display
Validating aggressive behaviour at sporting events: natural and
biologically determined.
Socially sensitive
Methodological challenges to research
Group display driven by genes and serve the sole purpose of survival
and enhancing reproductive success.
Gender bias: reinforces gender stereotypes
Evaluation
What other theories of aggression could explain this
scenario?
- Fails to consider the role of cognitive and biological factors
- Social approach to aggression
• De-individuation (reduced public awareness/increased anonymity)
• In-groups and out-groups,
• Vicarious reinforcement
• Aggression: socially constructed in sports?
• Xenophobia: need to reduce them and us attitudes
Evaluation
•Haka – not ritualised forms of aggression:
entertainment/commercial
•Universal nature of war dances cross-culturally in sport
suggests that the behaviour may have an evolutionary
component related to ritualised aggression
•Guttman (1986) Can one single explanation cover the
behaviour of sporting crowds as they differ widely?
Activities
Sample of essay: identify weaknesses
Essay:
Place the statements in the correct order to form the essay.