Why Males Are More Aggressive Than Females

The fact that males are more aggressive than females has to do with biological, psychological, and social factors. Research shows in addition that males are more likely than females to behave in an aggressive manner. There is evidence that differences in socialization, cognition and personality may help explain gender-based disparity in rates of anti-social, as well as violent behaviors. Gender differences in cognition, socialization, and behavior may exist as early as infancy. This is when boys are able to express themselves at a higher rate. Infant girls show greater control over their emotions, whereas boys are more easily angered and depend more on inputs from their mother's. Psychologist show that the ways which females and males are socialized affect their development. Males learn to value independence, while females are taught that their self-worth depends on their ability to maintain relationships. Although there are a few differences in aggression during the first few years of life, girls are socialized to be less aggressive than boys are. In connection girls are supervised more closely than boys are. Males are more likely to display physical aggression, while females display relational aggression. For example girls will tend to exclude disliked peers from playgroups. As girls mature they learn to respond to provocation by feeling anxious, unlike boys, who are encouraged to retaliate. Overall, women are much more likely to feel distressed than men are. Although both sexes get angry as often as one another, a lot of females have been educated to blame themselves for their feelings. Females are therefore much more likely to respond to anger with feelings of depression, anxiety and shame. Female's fear that anger will harm relationships, and males are encouraged to react to anger with moral outrage, in addition to blaming other's for their discomforts. Females are also more likely than a male to be targets of sexual abuse and physical abuse. The female victims of such abuse who suffer more seriously from the attacks, have their self- images damaged. The victims also find it hard to build autonomy and life skills.

Males view aggression as an appropriate means to gain status. Boys are also more likely to socialize with deviant peers. When boys socialize with prodigious peers they display personality traits that make them more susceptible to delinquency. A researcher by the name of Jean Botcher found that youth males believe their roles are to be more dominant than youth females. The male perception of power, the ability to have freedom and spend time with their friends, act as an aid in explaining the gender differences in delinquency. Girls are shielded by moral sense, which directs them away from harming other's. The ethical sensitivity may counterbalance the effects of family issues. Females are known to display more self-control than males, which is a factor of criminality. Females are more verbally skilled, which is a skill that can help them in dealing with obstacles they may come across without reacting with violence. When girls are aggressive, they are more likely than males to hide their behavior from adults. Girls are expected to from closer relationship's with their friends and to share feelings, boys tend to act out on their feelings in inappropriate ways.

Biological factors for aggressive behavior include a thought presented through a publication named "The Female Offender", by Lombroso (with William Ferero). Lombroso focused his work on criminality to females. Lombroso's thought was that women were lower on the evolutionary scale than men, also more childlike and less intelligent. Women who committed crimes could be signified from "normal" women by characteristics. The characteristics include excessive body hair, wrinkles, and an abnormal cranium, for an example. Lombroso's thought carried an influence for much of the twentieth century. In 1925 Cyril Burt linked female delinquency to menstruation. Similarly, William Healy and Augusta Bronner suggested that male's physical control enhanced their criminal behavior.

Some biosocial theorists argue that gender-based differences in aggression reflect the dissimilarities in the male and female reproductive system.

Males are more aggressive because they wish to possess as many sex partners as possible to increase their chances of produce an offspring. Females on the other hand have learned to control their aggressive impulses, due to the fact that having numerous mates does not increase the chance of having an offspring. Females focus on finding a male who is reliable and can supply material assets. Based on the fact that girls are socialized to be less aggressive than boys are it is possible that women who do get involved with delinquent behavior, suffer from mental anguish, or abnormalities.

References:
"Juvenile Justice; The Core: "Second Edition" Larry J. Siegel, Brandon C. Welsh