1. Culture and Aggression 3 June 2004

2. 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

3. 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…”

4. Killers and their Victims by Size of City 0 2 4 6 8 10 New England Mid Atlantic Midwest Pacific MountainSouthwest South OffendersVictims DV: Rate per 100,000 Small City, Population 10,000-50,000

5. Killers and their Victims by Size of City Big City, Population 200,000 plus DV: Rate per 100,000 OffendersVictims 0 5 10 15 20 25 New England Middle Atlantic Midwest Pacific Mountain SW South

6. Homicide Rates Within the South 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Moist Plains Hills and Dry Plains Rate per 100,000

7. Homicide Rates Within the South: Rural Areas (populations < 2,500) Per Capita Income ($1000’s) 012345 Moist Plains Hills and Dry Plains Average July Temperature (degrees F) 020406080100 Moist Plains Hills and Dry Plains % Enslaved in 1860 01020304050 Moist Plains Hills and Dry Plains

8. Types of Murders Committed in the South/SW vs. the non-South Felony-RelatedArgument-Related 0 1 2 3 4 5 Non-South South & SW 0 2 4 6 8 Non-SouthSouth & SW Felony-RelatedArgument-Related Cities w. Population < 200,000 Cities w. Population > 200,000

9. 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)

10. Violence for Protection of Self, Family, and Property 0 20 40 60 80 100 “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”

11. Violence for Social Control: Protection of Institutions 0 10 20 30 40 50 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”

12. Violence in Response to Affronts: The Fred Scenarios 0 5 10 15 20 25 Violent response is “extremely justified” Fred would be “not much of a man” if response not violent Non-southSouth

13. Honor and Friendship Disruption 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 fist fightinsult Non-southSouth DV: % who would be angry for at least a month.

14. Honor and Childrearing 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 support spankingson should fight boy who hit him son should fight bully NonsouthSouth

15. Honor and Gun Control 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 carry weapon bought gun nonviolent preventative measures non-southsouth 0 10 20 30 40 makes home safer makes home more dangerous DV: % taking protective measure DV: % endorsement

16. 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

17. “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

18. 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

19. Experiment 1 Results North South 0 20 40 60 80 100 anger > amusement > anger 0 20 40 60 80 insultednot insulted Note: Northerner diff is not significant. DV here is % violent completions.

20. 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

21. Experiment 2 Results 051015 Control Insult % Change in Testosterone Level 0 20406080100 Control Insult % Change in Cortisol Level North South

22. 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

23. Experiment 3 Results 3.63.844.24.44.6 Control Insult Confederate’s Ratings of Firmness of Handshake 020406080100120 Control Insult Distance at which Subject Gave Way to Confederate (inches)

24. More Expt 3 Results Perceived masculine status self-ratings 2.83.03.23.43.6 Control and Private Insult Public Insult 012345 Control Insult Confederate’s ratings of Subject’s dominance North South

25. 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”)

26. Collective Expressions of the Culture of Honor 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 North South Strictness of Gun Control Laws 0 20 40 60 80 100 RetreatSurrenderCompliance % of states in North vs. South requiring retreat, surrender, and compliance to demands rather than killing assailant

27. More Collective Expressions… 0 20 40 60 80 100 % states prohibiting corporal punishment in schools 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 all statesstates where corporal punishment allowed % of students given corporal punishment, 1989-1990 North South

28. Capital Punishment 0 20 40 60 80 100 % states allowing capital punishment 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 % death sentences 0 1 2 3 4 5 % executions 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 % states carrying out executions North South

29. Honor Letter Field Experiment 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 Honor Letter Control Letter Compliance with job applicant’s requests 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 Honor LetterControl Letter Warmth of response to honor/control letter North South

30. Newspaper Field Experiment 0 1 2 3 4 5 Provocation -0.15 -0.1 -0.05 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 Blameworthiness 0 20 40 60 80 100 % newspapers treating honor offender more sympathetically than control offender North South