ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON AGGRESSION - SEX-DIFFERENCES AND CULTURAL VARIATION

The purpose of this special issue of Aggressive Behavior is to present various topics and perspectives on the anthropology of aggression and conflict. First, a brief introduction to the articles in this issue i s provided. Second, anthropological findings on sex differences in agg ression are considered. The cross-cultural pattern is for males to eng age in more frequent and more severe physical aggression than females. These observed sex differences are in accordance with the evolutionar y concepts of sexual selection and parental investment. Simultaneously , it is dear that a host of proximate cultural influences also affects levels and styles of aggression in both females and males. Anthropolo gical findings related to the indirect aggression concept also are dis cussed and tentatively related to gender. In the third section of this article, the nature and ramifications of the tremendous cross-cultura l variation in aggression are explored. It is clear that nonviolent cu ltures exist, as do a range of more violent ones. It is also clear, as illustrated in several examples, that aggressive cultures can become dramatically more peaceful, and vice versa. Aggression can be viewed w ithin the broader frame of conflict management; most cultures, in fact , use a variety of mechanisms for dealing with conflict that do not in voke aggression. In addition, consideration is given to intracultural variability in aggression, the multidimensionality of aggression, cult ural meaning (beliefs) and aggression, and the controversy over actor- based (emic) vs. observer-based (etic) interpretations of aggression. (C) 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.