Intra- Versus Intersex Aggression

Abstract

Two theories offer competing explanations of sex differences in aggressive behavior: sexual-selection theory and social-role theory. While each theory has specific strengths and limitations depending on the victim's sex, research hardly differentiates between intrasex and intersex aggression. In the present study, 11,307 students (mean age = 14.96 years; 50% girls, 50% boys) from 597 school classes provided social-network data (aggression and friendship networks) as well as physical (body mass index) and psychosocial (gender and masculinity norms) information. Aggression networks were used to disentangle intra- and intersex aggression, whereas their class-aggregated sex differences were analyzed using contextual predictors derived from sexual-selection and social-role theories. As expected, results revealed that sexual-selection theory predicted male-biased sex differences in intrasex aggression, whereas social-role theory predicted male-biased sex differences in intersex aggression. Findings suggest the value of explaining sex differences separately for intra- and intersex aggression with a dual-theory framework covering both evolutionary and normative components.

Different Outcomes Require Different Explanations

“…In fact, we believe that it is less helpful to prioritize one theory than it is to consider both equally in one’s conceptual reasoning and analytic models. This is what we did in our original article (Wölfer & Hewstone, 2015), and this is in line with recent integrative approaches that consider both sides of the nature-nurture debate underlying this theoretical competition (Eagly & Wood, 2013; Geary, 1999; van den Berghe, 2009).…”

Integrating Approaches Requires More Than a Division of Labor

“…Risk sensitivity is a trait that differs between men and women (Cross et al, 2011) and one that directly affects aggression levels (Campbell, 2013;2015;Eagly & Steffen, 1986). Furthermore, the perceived risk associated with aggressive acts depends on social context (sex of target) and cultural prescriptions (differential permissibility of aggression as a function of perpetrator's and target's sex).…”