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Culture and Aggression
3 June 2004
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
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…”
Killers and their Victims by Size of City
0
2
4
6
8
10
New England
Mid Atlantic
Midwest Pacific Mountain Southwest South
Offenders VictimsDV: Rate per 100,000
Small City, Population 10,000-50,000
Killers and their Victims by Size of City Big City, Population 200,000 plus
DV: Rate per 100,000 Offenders Victims
0
5
10
15
20
25
New England
Middle Atlantic
Midwest Pacific Mountain SW South
Homicide Rates Within the South
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Moist Plains Hills and Dry Plains
Rate per 100,000
Homicide Rates Within the South: Rural Areas (populations < 2,500)
Per Capita Income ($1000’s)
0 1 2 3 4 5
Moist Plains
Hills and Dry Plains
Average July Temperature (degrees F)
0 20 40 60 80 100
Moist Plains
Hills and Dry Plains
% Enslaved in 1860
0 10 20 30 40 50
Moist Plains
Hills and Dry Plains
Types of Murders Committed inthe South/SW vs. the non-South
Felony-Related Argument-Related
0
1
2
3
4
5
Non-South South & SW0
2
4
6
8
Non-South South & SW
Felony-Related Argument-Related
Cities w. Population < 200,000 Cities w. Population > 200,000
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)
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
Per
cen
t w
ho
“A
gre
e a
Gre
at D
eal”
“A man has the right to kill to
defend his family”
“A man has the right to kill to
defend his house”
Violence for Social Control:Protection of Institutions
0
10
20
30
40
50
let it go shoot to kill let it go shoot to kill let it go shoot to kill
hoodlums students big city riots
South Non-South
% S
ayin
g “S
omet
imes
” or
“A
lmos
t A
lway
s”
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-south South
Honor and Friendship Disruption
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
fist fight insult
Non-south South
DV: % who would be angry for at least a month.
Honor and Childrearing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
support spanking son should fight boy who hit him
son should fight bully
Nonsouth South
Honor and Gun Control
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
carry weapon
bought gun
nonviolentpreventativemeasures
non-south south
0
10
20
30
40
makes home safer
makes homemore dangerous
DV: % taking protective measure DV: % endorsement
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
“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
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
Experiment 1 ResultsNorth South
0
20
40
60
80
100
anger > amusement
amusement > anger
0
20
40
60
80
insulted not insulted
Note: Northerner diff is not significant.DV here is % violent completions.
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
Experiment 2 Results
0 5 10 15
Control
Insult
% Change in Testosterone Level
0 20 40 60 80 100
Control
Insult
% Change in Cortisol LevelNorth South
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
Experiment 3 Results
3.6 3.8 4 4.2 4.4 4.6
Control
Insult
Confederate’s Ratings of Firmness of Handshake
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Control
Insult
Distance at which Subject Gave Way to Confederate (inches)
More Expt 3 Results
Perceived masculine status self-ratings
2.8 3.0 3.2 3.4 3.6
Control andPrivate Insult
Public Insult
0 1 2 3 4 5
Control
Insult
Confederate’s ratings of Subject’s dominanceNorth South
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”)
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
Retreat Surrender Compliance
% of states in North vs. South requiring retreat, surrender, and compliance to demands rather than killing assailant
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 states states where corporalpunishment allowed
% of students given corporal punishment, 1989-1990
North South
Capital Punishment
0
20
40
60
80
100
% states allowingcapital punishment
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
% deathsentences
0
1
2
3
4
5
% executions
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
% states carrying out executions
North South
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 Letter Control Letter
Warmth of response tohonor/control letter
North South
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