Final answer:
Aggression is behavior intended to cause harm or pain. It may involve physical violence and varies between genders and cultures. Aggression can also be influenced by the transmission of hatred across generations.
Step-by-step explanation:
Aggression is behavior that is intended to cause harm or pain. It may involve physical violence against other individuals. For example, two male gorillas may fight and use their canine teeth to inflict deep wounds. Expressing aggression this way may lead to serious injury and even death.
There are many different theories as to why aggression exists. Some researchers argue that aggression serves an evolutionary function. Men are more likely than women to show aggression. From the perspective of evolutionary psychology, human male aggression, like that in nonhuman primates, likely serves to display dominance over other males, both to protect a mate and to perpetuate the male's genes. Aggressive behaviour can also be influenced by cultural factors in societies where aggression and violence are seen as criteria for praise and approval.
One of the profoundly significant consequences of the human capacity for culture has been the transmission of hatred across generations. This may well have happened sometimes in hunter-gatherer societies, but it became much more important as an influence on human affairs after the development of civilisation. A typical sequence of events is as follows: two human groups, who recognise each other as being different in terms of religious beliefs, language or skin colour, come into contact. As a result of some aggressive act on the part of one of the groups, or perhaps a misunderstanding, the natural mutual suspicion between the two groups escalates to overt hostility, and eventually violence.