Offspring Protection: When the Sex Difference in Physical Aggression May Disappear

Evolutionary Psychology

Eric T. Steiner¹ 

关键词: aggression;    maternal aggression;    paternal aggression;    parental investment;    sex difference;   

DOI  :  10.1177/1474704916662285

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Sage Journals

【 摘 要 】

Parental aggression, that is, offspring protection aggression, can be viewed as a type of parental investment. Most mammalian males do not exhibit parental investment and therefore exhibit little, if any, parental aggression. Men demonstrate parental investment, and are typically more physically aggressive than women, but parental physical aggression in humans has been largely unexplored. The current study examined potential sex differences in estimates of parental physical aggression involving hypothetical situations, while controlling for general physical aggression. A self-report measure was administered to 217 students from a western U.S. university (55 male nonparents, 50 female nonparents, 54 fathers, and 58 mothers). Male nonparents reported higher parental physical aggression than female nonparents, but there was no difference between mothers and fathers. The results are interpreted in light of ancestral effects of sexual selection and proximal effects of sex differences in testosterone, risk taking, and fear aversion.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC