GROUP DISPLAY WARFARE Group display What is group

GROUP DISPLAY WARFARE

Group display What is group display? Group display is when a group of people act in a certain way in public, using bodily gestures and sound, to intimidate. They often involve threat of aggression rather than actual aggression

WAR – what is it good for? • War = the formation of groups to attack others within the same species • More resources (e. g. food) from a bigger territory • More females and more offspring = transfer of genes in to the next generation (the main principle of Darwinian Evolution) • Men evolved as hunter gatherers and women needed protection and therefore women needed to ‘choose’ their mates carefully. This would suggest that there was at least some advantageous reasoning behind acts of high cost heroic bravery for it to be a characteristic chosen of men by females.

Evolutionary explanations of war • While aggressive display can cost a person their life, by joining a group and taking part in a war there is a greater chance of survival compared to the individual acting alone. • Groups are more powerful and afford more protection, hence war is adaptive. • Success in war can give better access to resources, higher status and ultimately a greater chance of reproducing. • Mass rape as a weapon of war can be accounted for by the evolutionary approach to war: the threat of rape makes people flee their territory, and rape itself may result in the victim becoming pregnant, so the aggressors genes are continuing. • Since those who win wars are the most aggressive, these are the people who have passed on their genes, leading to a species who have had aggression selected into their behaviour

Notes away- Recap Q’s 1. Why, in terms of evolutionary theory, is it better to join a group and take part in war rather than acting alone? 2. What evolutionary advantages come from taking part in group displays such as war? 3. What evolutionary explanations are there for mass rape as a weapon of war?

GROUP DISPLAY: SPORTS

Sport • Group displays are ritualised displays of aggression by and between groups of people • In modern society, tribal warfare has been replaced by sporting events in which different teams represent their tribes. • Sports involve displays of skills and strength, behaviour attractive to females who will select the winning males for reproductive success on the basis of their display of genetic fitness The posturing and ritualised displays are not seen as violent however they could be a catalyst for serious acts of aggression

What message is this giving?

Explanation of group display: Sports • Aggression linked to victory • Victory = status = increase opportunity for survival • = access to resources • = desirability. • =reproductive success

Explanation of group display: Sports Millwall vs West Ham incidents – You. Tube Xenophobia • Xenophobia appears to be the key to explaining the adaptive response to aggression during sporting events, at least in football crowds • Xenophobia is a dislike and/or fear of that which is unknown or different from oneself. It comes from the Greek words ξένος (xenos), meaning "stranger, " "foreigner" and φόβος (phobos), meaning "fear. "

Xenophobia irrational or unreasoned fear of that which is perceived to be foreign or strange. Can manifest itself in many ways involving the relations and perceptions of an ingroup towards an outgroup (us and them) Includes a fear of losing identity, suspicion of its activities, aggression, and desire to eliminate its presence to secure a presumed purity • Wilson (1975) - Xenophobia appears in ‘virtually every group of animals displaying higher forms of social organisation. ’ It’s a form of Natural selection. • Mac. Donald (1992)- adaptive to exaggerate negative stereotypes about outsiders which acts to increase ‘in group’ cohesion.

How does this link to football crowds? • It explains racism on the terraces, but how does this explain violence between clubs? • The rivalry between football fans in the UK has existed for 130 years or more. • The fans identify with their group and are hostile to the other fans because they are perceived as a possible threat. • HOWEVER… • Contrary to popular belief most crowds at sporting events are not aggressive, it’s just when something ‘kicks off’ it can be quite dramatic due to sheer numbers of those involved! • Only really football that has a hooligan problem, rugby (certainly union) is good natured and just consists of ‘friendly banter’ amongst fans.

Evaluation What limitations are there in the Evolutionary approaches explanation • post hoc • Evidence not testable and therefore unscientific (lacks scientific • • validity) Speculation Limited in its ability to explain group display Validating aggressive behaviour at sporting events: natural and biologically determined. Socially sensitive Methodological challenges to research Group display driven by genes and serve the sole purpose of survival and enhancing reproductive success. Gender bias: reinforces gender stereotypes

Evaluation What other theories of aggression could explain this scenario? - Fails to consider the role of cognitive and biological factors - Social approach to aggression • De-individuation (reduced public awareness/increased anonymity) • In-groups and out-groups, • Vicarious reinforcement • Aggression: socially constructed in sports? • Xenophobia: need to reduce them and us attitudes

Evaluation • Haka – not ritualised forms of aggression: entertainment/commercial • Universal nature of war dances cross-culturally in sport suggests that the behaviour may have an evolutionary component related to ritualised aggression • Guttman (1986) Can one single explanation cover the behaviour of sporting crowds as they differ widely?

Activities Sample of essay: identify weaknesses Essay: Place the statements in the correct order to form the essay.