The more average and symmetrical the face, the more attractive the person is perceived to be.
Secondary sexual characteristics as indications of health, high energy and a powerful immune system. Their sperm may be more fertile. Another study showed that although women generally show a preference for males with defined secondary sexual characteristics (strong jaw, high forehead, muscles, tall and dark and handsome), the longer the life expectancy of people within the culture and the better the SES, the less this preference was shown. In theory a lot of this might be about avoiding infectious diseases. The counterpoint is found among vultures who can show off their secondary sexual characteristics despite infection - look how good my DNA must be.
In humans males may prefer women with higher hip to waist ratios as a sign of health and fecundity. But before one gets too excited about how shallow men are, studies of appearance and traits show that when given a set of photos of men with more or less defined secondary sexual characteristics, women tend to view the males with the rounder faces (less defined) as more likeable, more trustworthy, more honest and less attractive.
Not surprisingly, a confound running through the field is that females expend more energy on the offspring of "attractive" males, thus producing better results.
Bandwagon jumping - if others appear to like a particular being or a being with certain traits, the odds are that the female will suddenly be interested in the guy.
Homogamy - mating with someone who is similar to you. This is really where people match (opposites do not attract). The odds are good that your eventual mate will share political views, religious views, come from a similar background, be of a similar race, have a similar height, etc. There's a stronger skew for worldview issues (SES, religion, politics) than for physical features (haircolor, height, weight).
Aggression is innate; learning is about the context within which it's acceptable. The same behaviors can be award winning or felony record producing.
Competitive infanticide - other species kill in premeditated ways too. Chimps definitely kill this way - and they enjoy it, use weapons and will engage in genocide.
In chimp tribes, the females leave in the "teenage" years, resulting in bands of related males that can be very externally aggressive.
Empathy - chimps and troublestarters vs. innocent bystanders. Way more grooming for the victim (comfort).
Humans take empathy to a whole new level, being able to be moved be suffering halfway across the planet affecting people we don't know, artwork, literature and even commercials about lamps.
Secondary sexual characteristics as indications of health, high energy and a powerful immune system. Their sperm may be more fertile. Another study showed that although women generally show a preference for males with defined secondary sexual characteristics (strong jaw, high forehead, muscles, tall and dark and handsome), the longer the life expectancy of people within the culture and the better the SES, the less this preference was shown. In theory a lot of this might be about avoiding infectious diseases. The counterpoint is found among vultures who can show off their secondary sexual characteristics despite infection - look how good my DNA must be.
In humans males may prefer women with higher hip to waist ratios as a sign of health and fecundity. But before one gets too excited about how shallow men are, studies of appearance and traits show that when given a set of photos of men with more or less defined secondary sexual characteristics, women tend to view the males with the rounder faces (less defined) as more likeable, more trustworthy, more honest and less attractive.
Not surprisingly, a confound running through the field is that females expend more energy on the offspring of "attractive" males, thus producing better results.
Bandwagon jumping - if others appear to like a particular being or a being with certain traits, the odds are that the female will suddenly be interested in the guy.
Homogamy - mating with someone who is similar to you. This is really where people match (opposites do not attract). The odds are good that your eventual mate will share political views, religious views, come from a similar background, be of a similar race, have a similar height, etc. There's a stronger skew for worldview issues (SES, religion, politics) than for physical features (haircolor, height, weight).
Aggression is innate; learning is about the context within which it's acceptable. The same behaviors can be award winning or felony record producing.
Competitive infanticide - other species kill in premeditated ways too. Chimps definitely kill this way - and they enjoy it, use weapons and will engage in genocide.
In chimp tribes, the females leave in the "teenage" years, resulting in bands of related males that can be very externally aggressive.
Empathy - chimps and troublestarters vs. innocent bystanders. Way more grooming for the victim (comfort).
Humans take empathy to a whole new level, being able to be moved be suffering halfway across the planet affecting people we don't know, artwork, literature and even commercials about lamps.
Top down or bottom up hierarchies. In top down a single dominant individual (usually male) sets the rules and enforces them with aggression. He takes the best for himself and will fight and kill anyone that tries to interfere. This is chimps, baboons, Republicans. The bottom up version, as seen in vervet monkeys, is rule by consensus. The guy in charge is in charge because others want him to be and he rules fairly. This is democratic rule, this is the noble chief.
Patas monkeys have virtually no male vs. male fights in their natural habitat. Put them in a cage and they'll fight to the death. They have no signals for stopping aggression. Thus they can be viewed as being so aggressive once they start that they avoid fighting at all costs. Is this aggression? No, you never see them fight. Yes, the entire structure of their society focuses on keeping males away from each other.
This also points to another distinction about aggression. We are generally comfortable with someone getting what they deserved, but if the violence goes beyond that point, we are very uncomfortable with it. Even within the hyper violent world of a UFC fight there are carefully coordinated codes of honor - tap out and it's over, too much dominance and the referee ends it, get a guy in a dangerous hold and instead of immediately injuring him and the opponent will wait for him to quit rather than actually completing the move.
Sometimes aggression is aggression; sometimes it's getting dinner.
Human aggression comes in multiple forms. Sure you can bash a guy over the head with a club, but there's also the aggression, pulling a trigger, dropping a bomb from 30,000 feet away, damning with faint praise, passive aggressive actions. And symbolic aggression. Black eggs, drones and lollipops.
The amygdala is centrally involved in fear, anxiety and aggression.
Charles Whitman, mass murderer, went up until the belltower on UT's Austin campus and shot a whole bunch of people. This was one of those cases where all the people who knew him said he was such a nice guy and where did this come from. On postmortem he was found to have a tumor in his amygdala.
In this case what's happening with the tumor is it's stimulating the activity within the amygdala.
Patas monkeys have virtually no male vs. male fights in their natural habitat. Put them in a cage and they'll fight to the death. They have no signals for stopping aggression. Thus they can be viewed as being so aggressive once they start that they avoid fighting at all costs. Is this aggression? No, you never see them fight. Yes, the entire structure of their society focuses on keeping males away from each other.
This also points to another distinction about aggression. We are generally comfortable with someone getting what they deserved, but if the violence goes beyond that point, we are very uncomfortable with it. Even within the hyper violent world of a UFC fight there are carefully coordinated codes of honor - tap out and it's over, too much dominance and the referee ends it, get a guy in a dangerous hold and instead of immediately injuring him and the opponent will wait for him to quit rather than actually completing the move.
Sometimes aggression is aggression; sometimes it's getting dinner.
Human aggression comes in multiple forms. Sure you can bash a guy over the head with a club, but there's also the aggression, pulling a trigger, dropping a bomb from 30,000 feet away, damning with faint praise, passive aggressive actions. And symbolic aggression. Black eggs, drones and lollipops.
The amygdala is centrally involved in fear, anxiety and aggression.
Charles Whitman, mass murderer, went up until the belltower on UT's Austin campus and shot a whole bunch of people. This was one of those cases where all the people who knew him said he was such a nice guy and where did this come from. On postmortem he was found to have a tumor in his amygdala.
In this case what's happening with the tumor is it's stimulating the activity within the amygdala.
