Nature vs Nature on Aggression

There are common news of murders, rapes and wars, all of which emanate from aggression (Paquin, Lacourse & Ouellet-Morin 2017). There are numerous arguments on the causes of aggression but the most prominent is one that brings about a conflict between nature and nurture as an explanation for aggression and violent Behavior. Aggression begins at a very young age since people experience each right from school where school children fights very basic things such as being fast on their lunch line (Palumbo et al. 2018). As individuals grow up more aggressive cases come up and days the possibility of murder and even cases of assault between various individuals.

A look into the animal world reveals that aggression is present in all species and not only human beings (Palumbo et al. 2018). In most cases, animals engage in aggression in order to establish leadership within a group for example when the group is looking for a leader. Animals will have each other so that the top leader or powerful animal is left leading the group and this is the cause of aggression among animals. To some extent it is as a result of genetic composition which gives one animal an advantage over the others and enables each to fight them off and maintain its Authority as the group leader.

The social learning theory best explains the nurture perspective of aggression where individuals they learn from the results of actions by others in society (Verbeek 2017). Individuals within a society look at the consequences of actions by other individuals and deviate towards such actions that are deemed to have positive or desirable outcomes (Paquin, Lacourse & Ouellet-Morin 2017). This is especially common among children influenced by violence in media content and video games where aggression is portrayed as a desirable traits. Most children grow up learning that it is appropriate for them to be aggressive so that they can be considered complete and they desire to obtain this position.

The most ideal explanation for aggression is one that considers both nature and nurture as influences for aggression. In comparison to animals, human beings have a great day tomorrow influence on how they act which is impacted upon them by Society (Verbeek 2017). Living in a peaceful Society where aggression is limited, it is very hard that individuals will express such a trait even when it is naturally present in them. Inasmuch as the natural influences exist, the social environment triggers the existence of aggression in an individual and therefore are influences of aggressive behavior as a whole.

In conclusion, there are many explanations towards aggression among individuals in society. The natural argument for aggression tries to establish the explanation that aggression is existence even in non-human species who do not have similar social interactions to human beings which implies that it must be influenced by Nature. The nurture argument on the other hand argues that individuals become aggressive due to the society in which they live in and interactions they have from day-to-day, especially influenced by the media. The most ideal argument for aggression is one that considers both nature and nurture as possible influences.

References

Palumbo, S., Mariotti, V., Iofrida, C., & Pellegrini, S. (2018). Genes and aggressive behavior: epigenetic mechanisms underlying individual susceptibility to aversive environments. Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience, 12, 117.

Paquin, S., Lacourse, E., & Ouellet-Morin, I. (2017). Aggression and Violence from Infancy to Adulthood: A Biopsychosocial Perspective. Une étude génétiquement informative du développement de l’agression durant l’enfance et de l’influence des pratiques parentales coercitives, 22.

Verbeek, P. (2017). The evolution of human violence and aggression: The contribution of peace ethology. The Wiley Handbook of Violence and Aggression, 1-10.