Study on Different Correlations Between Measures of Temperament and Those of Aggression |

ABSTRACT:

One of the earliestattempts to link genetics and violent behavior occurred during the 1960s, whenresearchers thought they had discovered a propensity for violence in men bornwith an extra Y chromosome. Although the studies attracted a lot of attentionat the time, further examination of XYY males revealed that they did notdisplay any particularly violent tendencies. Furthermore, XYY males areextremely rare, and thus the syndrome could not possibly explain the frequencyand prevalence of violent behavior around the globe. Scientists agree thatthere is probably a genetic component to aggression because violent behaviortends to run in families. However, with a complex behavior like aggression, itis especially difficult to separate genetic and environmental contributions.Most likely it is possible to inherit a predisposition to violence, butpsychologists also stress that modeling aggressive behavior in the home is thesurest method for propagating violence.