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Development of sex differences in physical aggression: The maternal link to epigenetic mechanisms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2009

Richard E. Tremblay  and
Sylvana M. Côté
Richard E. Tremblay
Affiliation:
School of Public Health and Population Sciences, University College Dublin; Belfield Campus, Dublin 4, Ireland. [email protected]://www.gripinfo.ca/Grip/Public/www/ International Laboratory for Children's Mental Health, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec H3T 1J7, Canada and INSERM, Paris, France. [email protected]@umontreal.cahttp://www.gripinfo.ca/Grip/Public/www/
Sylvana M. Côté
Affiliation:
Department of Social and Preventive Medicine and St-Justine Hospital, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec H3T 1J7, Canada. [email protected]://www.gripinfo.ca/Grip/Public/www/ International Laboratory for Children's Mental Health, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec H3T 1J7, Canada and INSERM, Paris, France. [email protected]@umontreal.cahttp://www.gripinfo.ca/Grip/Public/www/
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Abstract

As Archer argues, recent developmental data on human physical aggression support the sexual selection hypothesis. However, sex differences are largely due to males on a chronic trajectory of aggression. Maternal characteristics of these males suggest that, in societies with low levels of physical violence, females with a history of behavior problems largely contribute to maintenance of physical aggression sex differences.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 32 , Issue 3-4 , August 2009 , pp. 290 - 291
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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