The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

Sex-Related Comparisons: Observations 123

Are sex differences in aggression getting

smaller over time? As men’s and women’s

roles have become more similar, have rates of

aggression become more similar? One meta-

analysis concluded that sex differences in ag-

gression have not changed over time (Knight,

Fabes, & Higgins, 1996). In terms of recent

crime statistics, the arrest rate for girls has in-

creased at a faster pace than that for boys. The

increase in violence among girls may be more

“apparent” than real, however. See Sidebar 4.1

for a discussion of this issue.

Measuring aggression is not as easy

as you might think. The limitations of self-

report methods are obvious. Are observa-

tions of behavior any more objective? We

know from previous chapters that the same

behavior may be construed differently when

it is observed in a man or a woman. We may

have a lower threshold for labeling a behav-

ior as aggressive when the perpetrator is

female compared to male. Examine how

sex influences the perception of aggressive

behavior with Do Gender 4.3.

Sex of Victim. Men are not only more

likely than women to be the perpetrators of

aggression, but they are also more likely than

women to be the victims of aggression. We of-

ten lose sight of this latter fact. Men are more

likely than women to report being victims of

physical aggression. In a study of college stu-

dents, men were twice as likely to report hav-

ing been kicked, bitten, hit by a fist, and hit by

another object (Harris, 1996). Men were three

times as likely to report being threatened with

a gun or knife. In a survey of over 15,000

sixth- through tenth-graders, more boys than

girls reported being bullied in school (16%

versus 11%; Nansel et al., 2003).

The sex of the perpetrator and the sex

of the victim may be interrelated. A study of

elementary school children found that boys

However, at a moderate level of arousal, one

would predict larger sex differences because

males will experience the arousal more in-

tensely, and males will be less able to regulate

the arousal than females. Their results sup-

ported this hypothesis. Sex differences in ag-

gression were significant when there was no

arousal (d=+.30) but larger when there was

a small or medium amount of arousal (both

ds=+.51) and not significant when there was

high arousal (d=-.15). The idea that men

are less able to regulate their emotions is

consistent with research that shows men are

more impulsive than women and less able to

delay gratification than women (Campbell,

2006).

Other features of the situation may con-

tribute to sex differences in aggression. The

meta-analysis showed that sex differences in ag-

gression were larger when women had greater

fears of retaliation (Bettencourt & Miller, 1996).

Thus fears of retaliation are stronger deterrents

of aggression for women than for men, whereas

provocation is more likely to release women’s

inhibitions to behave aggressively.

Aggression

Arousal

Low Medium High

Males

Females

FIGURE 4.11 At low and high levels of arousal,

sex differences in aggression are small. At medium

levels of arousal, sex differences in aggression are

largest.

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