1. Group Display Warfare

2. 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 the threat of aggression rather than actual aggression
Ask what group display is?

3. 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.

4. 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

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

6. Group display: sports

7. 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In modern society, tribal warfare has been replaced by sporting events in which different teams represent their tribes.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

8. What message is this giving?

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

10. Explanation of group display: Sports
Millwall vs West Ham incidents – YouTube
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."

11. 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.
MacDonald (1992)- adaptive to exaggerate negative stereotypes about outsiders which acts to increase ‘in group’ cohesion.

12. 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.
wever many other sport events other than football have no issue with Xenophobia being a particular problem;
An example of this is Rugby where by supporters actually sit together in stadiums and such aggressive group behaviour is not really an issue and in comparison, supporters are relatively relaxed.
Another example is the sport of cricket which encourages “fair-play” and Sportsmanship more so and hence players as well as supporters are found to be rather placid in comparison suggesting such xenophobic responses may be learnt in some respect.

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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?

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