Modern male minds continue to be ruled by fighting ability, new research has suggested. Investigators from Griffith University in Australia found upper body strength can play a significant part in a person's behaviour and attitudes to numerous issues - such as political preferences.
Published online in Springer's journal Human Nature, the study looked in particular at why Hollywood actors renowned for their physiques - such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone - tend to support the Republican stance regarding foreign policy.
According to the findings, stronger males are more inclined than their weaker counterparts to believe resolving conflicts of interest should be based upon the utility of political aggression.
The authors wrote: "Despite the steady decline in physical aggression and violent deaths that have accompanied Western civilization, the human mind is still designed for ancestral environments."
They added these mental mechanisms were designed by natural selection when fighting ability was more important to the settling of disagreements.
Dr Saima Latif, Chartered Psychologist, commented: "If one looks at the theory of natural selection, then we can see that the idea of the Survival of the Fittest was based partly on fighting ability of the species which led to the survival of the species.
"This drive for physical aggression and killing others may have declined in the West, but the research by investigators in the Griffith University shows that our minds are still based very much on our ancestry and pre-historic environments."
Published online in Springer's journal Human Nature, the study looked in particular at why Hollywood actors renowned for their physiques - such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone - tend to support the Republican stance regarding foreign policy.
According to the findings, stronger males are more inclined than their weaker counterparts to believe resolving conflicts of interest should be based upon the utility of political aggression.
The authors wrote: "Despite the steady decline in physical aggression and violent deaths that have accompanied Western civilization, the human mind is still designed for ancestral environments."
They added these mental mechanisms were designed by natural selection when fighting ability was more important to the settling of disagreements.
Dr Saima Latif, Chartered Psychologist, commented: "If one looks at the theory of natural selection, then we can see that the idea of the Survival of the Fittest was based partly on fighting ability of the species which led to the survival of the species.
"This drive for physical aggression and killing others may have declined in the West, but the research by investigators in the Griffith University shows that our minds are still based very much on our ancestry and pre-historic environments."
Contacts and sources:
No comments:
Post a Comment