Serum cortisol,testosterone, and testosterone-binding globulin responses to competitive fighting in human males

Levels of circulating cortisol, testosterone, and testosterone-binding globulin were measured in 15 male wrestlers in relation to wrestling bouts and their outcomes. Concentrations of cortisol and testosterone increased consistently during wrestling bouts, while levels of testosterone-binding globulin dropped. Winners of competive matches showed greater increases in both cortisol and testosterone than losers. These findings indicate that humans, like other social mammals, may undergo specific endocrine changes in response to victory or defeat.     

Some characteristics of the aggressive behavior of mice after prolonged Isolation: Intraspecific and interspecific aspects

Experiments on mice have demonstrated changes in the relationships, interdependence and sequence of behavioral items following prolonged isolation. It was found that aggression in isolates was stereotyped and hardly amenable to the control not only by intraspecific but also by interspecific factors. Isolated mice, in contrast to the group-reared animals, spontaneously attacked adult rats. This finding was interpreted as being due to a disruption of behavioral plasticity under circumstances of prolonged isolation from conspecifics.     

Aggression in domesticated rats reared in a burrow-digging environment

Male and female rats were raised individually in either large boxes filled with soil (burrow environment) or laboratory cages of comparable size (cage environment). In a test of intruder-elicited aggression, intruders exposed to burrow-environment residents lost more body weight, were more likely to have empty stomachs, and received more wounds during a 24 hour aggression test. The results indicate that the physical environment during the period from weaning to maturity is an important determinant of aggression intensity in adult rats.     

Motivational systems of agonistic behavior in muroid rodents: A comparative review and neural model

The data on agonistic behavior of muroid rodents that have been obtained from field observations and laboratory experiments are reviewed and compared in terms of a hypothetical model of the neural organization of these behaviors. The neural model has been presented elsewhere and is used here only as a way to organize the data. The data are organized in terms of four hypothetical motivational systems: Offense, defense, submission, and patrol/marking. The various behaviors are considered as motor patterns and are compared and analyzed in terms of the proposed motivating, releasing, and directing stimuli of the motivational systems. Interactions and overlaps between the motivational systems are also considered. It is concluded that the organization of agonistic behavior may be similar across all species of muroid rodents. Generalizations are complicated by the profound effects of ontogenetic factors. Four categories of behaviors differ from species to species: Scent-marking, submissive behaviors, threat behaviors, and alarm signals. The possible phylogenetic and ontogenetic factors in these differences are considered.     

A cross-culture study of wife abuse

A study of correlates of the incidence of wife beating in primitive societies indicated that it was found to be more common in societies in which brutality and cruelty were more common. In addition, wife beating was more common in societies in which the status of women was considerably inferior to the status of males. Societies with a high incidence of wife beating also had a high divorce rate.     

The inheritance of social dominance rank in red grouse (Lagopus Lagopus scoticus)

Social dominance rank in red grouse has a large inherited component. The relative contributions of mothers and fathers to the dominance ranks of their sons and daughters were studied by breeding a dominant and a subordinate strain and crossing them. Both parents contributed equally to the dominance ranks of both sons and daughters. Cocks from the dominant strain were more aggressive and had bigger combs than cocks from the subordinate strain. Dominant cocks and hens, however, did not weigh more than subordinates.     

Main and interaction effects of metallic toxins on aggressive classroom behavior

The present study investigated possible relationships of metal levels and metal combinations to children's aggressive classroom behavior. Hair-metal concentrations of lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium, and aluminum were determined in 80 randomly selected elementary-age children. Each child was also rated by his classroom teacher on the acting-out subscale of the Walker Problem Behavior Identification Checklist. Parents of subjects were interviewed to control for confounding variables that may affect behavioral development. Regression data indicated that the set of metals was significantly related to increased scores on the acting-out subscale (P < 0.07) with lead being the major contributor (P < 0.05), and the metal combinations were also significantly related to increased acting-out scores (P < 0.01) with the interaction of lead-cadmium being the major contributor (P < 0.001). A continuing reexamination of metal-poisoning concentrations is needed, because metal levels and metal combinations previously thought harmless may be associated with aggressive classroom behavior.     

Differential reactions of men and women to realism,physical damage,and emotionality in violent films

Community college students rated brief segments of violence from films selected to represent a variety of approaches to the depiction of violence. Men and women differed substantially on these sequences, men seeing them as more enjoyable, amusing, realistic, and emotional. Men also showed less inclination to restrict showing of such sequences to children, on television, or by X-rating. While no sex differences appeared in ratings of suffering or overall appraisals of violence, women' enjoyment ratings declined precipitously for the films rated as depicting more suffering, while those of men did not. However, both men and women saw more violence in sequences emphasizing suffering of characters, even when this ran counter to actual physical damage depicted. For men, enjoyment of these violent media excerpts and self-reports of recent physical violence were essentially unrelated, while women showed highly significant positive relations for the two variables. These findings suggest that the dynamics of violence for men and women may be different enough to make differential analysis by sex an especially productive research tactic.     

Power imbalance,its legitimacy,and aggression

Sixty Japanese female students were asked to exchange shocks in electric roulette games with female opponents. The subjects were assigned to either the 80%, 50%, or 20% win conditions. Half of them were then led to judge that the power unbalance was legitimate by being informed that the assignment was based on a prior performance contest, with the good performer being assigned to the advantageous position. The other subjects were led to perceive the power imbalance as illegitimate by being informed that the assignment was randomly decided. The opponents always severely attacked them. The retaliation by the subjects was analyzed by a two-way ANOVA with Power Imbalance and Legitimacy. It was found that the subjects both in the 20% and 50% win conditions set more intense shocks to their opponents than those in the 80% win condition. This is not consistent with the fear of retaliation hypothesis which had predicted that the subjects would refrain from intensely aggressing against the opponent who had a greater aggressive capacity. It was also found that in the 80% win condition, the subjects set more intense shocks when the unbalance had been determined by their performance than when determined by luck, whereas in the 20% win condition, they set more intense shocks when the imbalance had been determined by luck than when determined by their performance. These suggest that retaliation depended upon perceived justifiability of aggression which was predicated on the legitimacy of the power imbalance. Finding in the 50% win condition that the shock settings were higher when the power imbalance had been determined by their performance than when determined by luck was interpreted in terms of their heightened competitiveness.     

Applicability of olweu' aggression inventory in a sample of chinese primary school children

A sample of Chinese children in Grade 4 (155 boys and 135 girls with an average age of 10.3 years) completed Olweu' Aggression Inventory, an instrument developed for the assessment of aggressive and aggression controlling behavior tendencies in a Western culture. Results indicated that the questionnaire gave quite meaningful information when used with the Chinese children. Two interpretable factors, general aggression and aggression control, were derived; the pattern of factor loadings was essentially the same for boys and girls. The internal consistency reliabilities of the two factor scales were in the 0.80s and 0.70s, respectively. Overall, the findings indicated that there were distinct measurable individual differences among Chinese children in the domain of aggression—in spite of strong societal pressures against aggressive behavior and towards aggression control. However, some results suggested that aggression was a somewhat more global, or less differentiated, phenomenon for the Chinese as compared with the Swedish children. The two main factor scales were related meaningfully to other self report dimensions such as positive attitude to school and negative relations with parents. In all probability, the pattern of findings gave a valid picture of the behavior and attitudes of the Chinese children: By and large they were nonaggressive, well-behaved, ambitious, friendly, prosocial, and exerted strong control over aggressive feelings and behavior tendencies. In possible conflicts with adults, they were likely to take a humble and submissive attitude. These findings agree well with the impressions of Western observers and with what can be expected on the basis of the typical socialization patterns found in the People's Republic of China. Furthermore, quite marked sex differences in aggression were obtained and a partial correlation analysis showed that the higher aggression level of the boys could only to a very limited degree be explained by their lower level of aggression control or inhibitions. Generally, the sex differences in aggression were interpreted to reflect genetic variations in basic predispositions in boys and girls that had been subtly enlarged by more or less clear, sex-linked differences in environmental conditions.