Aggression Differences

Regarding aggression differences between sexes in humans there are two conflicting points of view: sexual selection as the cause of disparity of aggression between males and females, or social environment of differing cultures as the basis for this.
The first argument is based on sexual selection as the cause for sex differences in aggression; sexual selection is the choice of members of one sex by the other and clash by members of one sex for access to the other. Sexual selection as the cause for aggression differences is explained through female gestation and male reproductive rates, human homicide, and as a consequence of social conditions. Due to internal gestation in female mammals, reproductive rivalry/aggression among male mammals is likely to be higher among this sex than females because males must show a greater potential for reproductive rate; this is disregarding the typical mating pattern of humans. On the topic of homicide, which can be viewed as suggestive of aggressiveness among individuals, it was found that there was a higher frequency of male same-sex homicide with …show more content…
This argument is based on the social flexibility of humans, gender roles, and lack of human size dimorphism. The behavioral flexibility of humans can be influenced by social circumstances. This is explained through several examples from history in which women would have to engage in combat and exhibit aggressive behavior due to lack of available male warriors. Gender roles and expectations from others promote behavior that can be a basis for aggression. Males have more opportunities to learn aggression through sports and gang activity than females, which leads to some variability among men. Lastly, the lack of human size dimorphism is explained in rebuttal to the first argument made. Through research with primates, it has been found that males and females have moderately low dimorphism in regards to body