Master Trackers

Beyond the Physical

While humans can be docile and patient with one another in some situations, they can also be extraordinarily violent at others. Wrangham (2018) distinguished between reactive and proactive aggression in order to clarify this apparent oddity. Humans, he suggests, share with chimpanzees a high propensity for proactive aggression (purposeful, target-consistent, low arousal), and share with bonobos a low propensity for reactive aggression (responsive, target-inconsistent, high arousal). However, if self-domestication is defined as selection against reactive aggression, many social mammals, including meerkats and mole rats, should be included in the self-domestication category. Furthermore, when violence occurs, reactive and proactive aggression are often mixed (Allen and Anderson, 2017). Although the decision-mechanisms initiating proactive violence are claimed to be neurally distinct (Blair, 2016), levels of arousal may change during the act itself – a “coldly” premeditated act of violence can be carried out in a state of high arousal. The lower rates of within-group violence among humans compared to other great apes (Wrangham, 2018) may in part be a result of violence being better controlled, both emotionally and socially, rather than the propensity for reactive aggression being simply reduced.

Robert Sapolsky, a neuroendocrinologist and professor of biology and neurology at Stanford University, has conducted extensive research on the biology of aggression. In one of his studies, he found that oxytocin promotes prosocial behavior, but only for people who are considered part of an in-group. Sapolsky has also studied the relationship between stress and aggression. He found that chronic stress can lead to increased aggression and that the hippocampus, a brain region involved in memory and learning, plays a key role in regulating the stress response. In another study, Sapolsky examined the effects of social status on stress and aggression in baboons. He found that low-ranking baboons experience more stress and are more aggressive than high-ranking baboons.

Robin Dunbar, a British psychologist, suggested that gossip is a mechanism for bonding social groups together, analogous to the grooming that is found in primate groups, and other researchers have proposed that gossip is one of the best tools that we have for comparing ourselves socially with others Loretta Graziano Breuning, a professor emerita of management at California State University, East Bay, and an alumna of the ILR School, has written a book called "Status Games: Why We Play and How to Stop". In this book, she explores the neurochemical basis of social competition and how it affects our behavior. According to Breuning, status games are a natural part of human behavior and are driven by the neurochemicals dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and cortisol¹. Breuning argues that status games are a way for humans to establish their place in a social hierarchy and that they are a key factor in the evolution of human societies. She suggests that understanding the dynamics of status games can help us to better navigate social situations and improve our relationships with others. For example, Breuning notes that status games can be seen in the workplace, where employees compete for promotions and recognition. She also suggests that social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are designed to encourage status-seeking behavior by allowing users to accumulate likes, followers, and other forms of social validation. Immediate-return hunter-gatherer societies are characterized by low population densities, small mobile bands, and a lack of hierarchical relationships between men and women. According to Peter Gray, a developmental/evolutionary psychologist, hunter-gatherer bands are likened to social-play groups, which people could freely join or leave. Freedom to leave the band sets the stage for the individual autonomy, sharing, and consensual decision making within the band. Hunter-gatherers used humor, deliberately, to maintain equality and stop quarrels. They maintained playful attitudes in their hunting, gathering, and other sustenance activities, partly by allowing each person to choose when, how, and how much they would engage in such activities. Children were free to play and explore, and through these activities, they acquired the skills, knowledge, and values of their culture. Play, in other mammals as well as in humans, counteracts tendencies toward dominance, and hunter-gatherers appear to have promoted play quite deliberately for that purpose. Such societies do not have formal policing systems, as they are characterized by a lack of hierarchical relationships and a high degree of individual autonomy. Instead, disputes may be resolved through informal means, such as humor, play, and consensual decision making within the band

The fight-or-flight response is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival. It prepares your body to either confront or flee from the threat by triggering changes like increased heart rate, quickened breathing, and heightened alertness. Walter Bradford Cannon, an American physiologist, first described the fight-or-flight response in 1915. His theory states that animals react to threats with a general discharge of the sympathetic nervous system, preparing the animal for fighting or fleeing. According to Cannon, the decision to fight or flee is based on the perceived level of threat. If the threat is perceived as low, the animal may choose to fight. If the threat is perceived as high, the animal may choose to flee. In humans, the fight-or-flight response can be triggered by a variety of stressors, including physical danger, emotional stress, and social situations. The response is mediated by the sympathetic nervous system and the adrenal-cortical system, which release hormones like adrenaline and cortisol.

The World Health Organization reports that nearly 1 in 3 women worldwide have been subjected to physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner or non-partner sexual violence or both. A 2020 study published in BMC Public Health analyzed the prevalence of sexual violence across 195 countries and territories between 1990 and 2017. The study found that the prevalence of sexual violence was higher among women than men and decreased in both genders over time across the world. The declining trend in sexual violence prevalence against men is visible in both countries with high and low Human Development Index (HDI), but sexual violence prevalence against women in countries with low HDI shows an increase. The study also found that the prevalence of sexual violence was highly heterogeneous among world countries, which may be due to the definitions and tools used, and more importantly, the cultural norms. Cultural norms can play a significant role in shaping attitudes towards sexual aggression. For example, in some cultures, sexual aggression may be viewed as acceptable or even encouraged, while in others, it may be viewed as taboo or unacceptable. In addition, cultural norms can influence how sexual aggression is defined and reported, which can affect the accuracy of prevalence estimates. there are several theories that suggest that social norms, attitudes, and behaviors can play a role in reducing sexual aggression. For example, control theory suggests that people are motivated to conform to social norms because of their attachment to others and their investment in conventional society. Police can be seen as an agent of social control, enforcing the norms and values of society. In addition, some theories of sexual violence prevention address the individual level and typically emphasize why individuals may perpetrate sexual violence and/or why individuals may help to prevent sexual violence. While it is important to understand what motivates individuals to engage in behaviors related to sexual violence prevention, there is growing recognition that a focus on the individual level alone is insufficient. Increasingly, peer- and community-level settings for change have been recognized as especially salient to address relational and environmental factors that contribute to sexual violence perpetration and prevalence. According to Angarika Deb, a researcher in anthropology, immediate-return hunter-gatherers are known to avoid hierarchical relationships between men and women and maintain a life of individual autonomy and egalitarianism. In these societies, men and women tend to enjoy similar authority and status.

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