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Hormonal Mechanisms for Regulation of Aggression in Human Coalitions

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Abstract

Coalitions and alliances are core aspects of human behavior. All societies recognize alliances among communities, usually based in part on kinship and marriage. Aggression between groups is ubiquitous, often deadly, fueled by revenge, and can have devastating effects on general human welfare. Given its significance, it is surprising how little we know about the neurobiological and hormonal mechanisms that underpin human coalitionary behavior. Here we first briefly review a model of human coalitionary behavior based on a process of runaway social selection. We then present several exploratory analyses of neuroendocrine responses to coalitionary social events in a rural Dominican community, with the objective of understanding differences between in-group and out-group competition in adult and adolescent males. Our analyses indicate: (1) adult and adolescent males do not elevate testosterone when they defeat their friends, but they do elevate testosterone when they defeat outsiders; (2) pre-competition testosterone and cortisol levels are negatively associated with strength of coalitionary ties; and (3) adult males usually elevate testosterone when interacting with adult women who are potential mates, but in a striking reversal, they have lower testosterone if the woman is a conjugal partner of a close friend. These naturalistic studies hint that reciprocity, dampening of aggression, and competition among friends and allies may be biologically embedded in unique ways among humans.

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Notes

  1. Also see supporting materials accessible online at http://web.missouri.edu/~flinnm/.

  2. Anthropac 4 reference manual available at http://www.analytictech.com/anthropac/apacdesc.htm.

  3. Saliva was collected by passive drool (via use of a straw) into a 5 ml polypropylene centrifuge tube without sodium azide. Free testosterone and cortisol were quantified via an enzyme immunoassay (Salimetrics) according to manufacturer¹s instructions. All individual samples were run in duplicates with standards and high and low concentration controls (controls within acceptable ranges). All samples were run in a single assay, with the intra-assay coefficient of variation equal to 3.8% and 2.3% for testosterone and cortisol respectively. One of the players of the team that lost had undetectable levels of T (below the sensitivity of the assay) before the game. This subject was not considered for further analysis concerning testosterone.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, 107 Swallow Hall, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA

    Mark V. Flinn

  2. Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA

    Davide Ponzi

  3. Department of Anthropology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Michael P. Muehlenbein

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Correspondence to Mark V. Flinn.

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Flinn, M.V., Ponzi, D. & Muehlenbein, M.P. Hormonal Mechanisms for Regulation of Aggression in Human Coalitions. Hum Nat 23, 68–88 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-012-9135-y

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