Culture and Aggression 3 June 2004

Lecture Summary Defining the Culture of Honor –Historical and anthropological data Differences in homicide rates between the North and South –Archival analyses Differences in attitudes towards violence btw the North and South –Survey data Insult, anger, and aggression –Experimental data Violence, social policy, and the law –Archival, Survey, and Quasi-Experimental data

What is a Culture of Honor? Occurs when –Wealth is portable e.g. herding vs. agriculture –Law is ineffective e.g. frontier or otherwise hostile lands Therefore, must keep up the appearance of strength –e.g. Navaho vs. Zuni cultures –e.g. Scotch-Irish herders vs. Dutch farmers “Honor”: –“respect that situates an individual socially and determines his right to precedence” Key aspect of a culture of honor: –Insults must be dealt with swiftly and violently –“The Southerner who can avoid both arguments and adultery is as safe as any other American…”

Killers and their Victims by Size of City New England Mid Atlantic Midwest Pacific MountainSouthwest South OffendersVictims DV: Rate per 100,000 Small City, Population 10,000-50,000

Killers and their Victims by Size of City Big City, Population 200,000 plus DV: Rate per 100,000 OffendersVictims New England Middle Atlantic Midwest Pacific Mountain SW South

Homicide Rates Within the South Moist Plains Hills and Dry Plains Rate per 100,000

Homicide Rates Within the South: Rural Areas (populations < 2,500) Per Capita Income ($1000’s) Moist Plains Hills and Dry Plains Average July Temperature (degrees F) Moist Plains Hills and Dry Plains % Enslaved in Moist Plains Hills and Dry Plains

Types of Murders Committed in the South/SW vs. the non-South Felony-RelatedArgument-Related Non-South South & SW Non-SouthSouth & SW Felony-RelatedArgument-Related Cities w. Population < 200,000 Cities w. Population > 200,000

Summary So Far The South is more violent than the non-South –BUT most of this is explained by argument-related violence (not felonies) The usual alternate explanations (SES, temperature, history of slavery) do not explain this violence The only variable that seems to explain this is history of herding (vs. agriculture)

Violence for Protection of Self, Family, and Property “A man has the right to kill another man in self-defense” Non-South South & SW Percent who “Agree a Great Deal” “A man has the right to kill to defend his family” “A man has the right to kill to defend his house”

Violence for Social Control: Protection of Institutions let it go shoot to kill let it go shoot to killlet it go shoot to kill hoodlums studentsbig city riots SouthNon-South % Saying “Sometimes” or “Almost Always”

Violence in Response to Affronts: The Fred Scenarios Violent response is “extremely justified” Fred would be “not much of a man” if response not violent Non-southSouth

Honor and Friendship Disruption fist fightinsult Non-southSouth DV: % who would be angry for at least a month.

Honor and Childrearing support spankingson should fight boy who hit him son should fight bully NonsouthSouth

Honor and Gun Control carry weapon bought gun nonviolent preventative measures non-southsouth makes home safer makes home more dangerous DV: % taking protective measure DV: % endorsement

Summary So Far Southerners are more violent than non- Southerners in specific ways: –More violent response to insults Even with friends –More violent response to threats to self, property, or family –More likely to use guns for self-protection –More likely to teach violence to their children Does this violence translate to real behavior? –So far these data are from archival reports and large- scale surveys

“Honor” Experiments Ss are white, non-Hispanic, non-Jewish male UMich students –½ are Northerners, ½ are Southerners –Average family income is $85K for Northerners, $95.5K for Southerners All 3 expts use the same basic situation –A confederate bumps into an unsuspecting subject as he walks down a narrow hallway, and then insults him

Experiment 1 Cognitive and emotional reactions to an insult Cover story (response time constraints on judgments) IVs: –bump/insult vs. control –insult prime vs. neutral scenario completions DVs: –rating of Ss’ anger and amusement from facial expression, body language, verbal reaction (both on scales from 1-7) –scenario completions coded for violence

Experiment 1 Results North South anger > amusement > anger insultednot insulted Note: Northerner diff is not significant. DV here is % violent completions.

Experiment 2 Physiological reactions to insults Cover story: measuring blood sugar changes which Ss do tasks IV: bump/insult vs. control DV: BL vs. post-bump/control cortisol and testosterone

Experiment 2 Results Control Insult % Change in Testosterone Level Control Insult % Change in Cortisol Level North South

Experiment 3 Behavioral reactions to an insult –The “chicken” manipulation IV: bump/insult vs. control DV: –inches before “chickening out” –firmness of handshake (evaluated by confed) –dominance rating (evaluated by confed) –self-rated masculine status

Experiment 3 Results Control Insult Confederate’s Ratings of Firmness of Handshake Control Insult Distance at which Subject Gave Way to Confederate (inches)

More Expt 3 Results Perceived masculine status self-ratings Control and Private Insult Public Insult Control Insult Confederate’s ratings of Subject’s dominance North South

Summary Southerners feel more damaged (reputation for strength, masculinity) by an insult than do Northerners S get more upset by insults than N (cortisol, emotion ratings) S more cognitively primed for violence in insult situations than N (violent story completions) S are more physiologically prepared for violence than N (testosterone) S are more domineering after insults than are N (expt 3) S behave more physically aggressive after insults than do N (“chicken”)

Collective Expressions of the Culture of Honor North South Strictness of Gun Control Laws RetreatSurrenderCompliance % of states in North vs. South requiring retreat, surrender, and compliance to demands rather than killing assailant

More Collective Expressions… % states prohibiting corporal punishment in schools all statesstates where corporal punishment allowed % of students given corporal punishment, North South

Capital Punishment % states allowing capital punishment % death sentences % executions % states carrying out executions North South

Honor Letter Field Experiment Honor Letter Control Letter Compliance with job applicant’s requests Honor LetterControl Letter Warmth of response to honor/control letter North South

Newspaper Field Experiment Provocation Blameworthiness % newspapers treating honor offender more sympathetically than control offender North South