Rethinking Sex Differences in Aggression: Aggressive Behavior in the Absence of Social Roles

Abstract

Two studies investigated the influence of social roles on sex differences in aggression, the first focusing on expectations and the second on behavior In both studies, deindividuation was used to remove the influence of social roles. In Study 1, implicit theories about sex differences in aggression were examined by asking people to predict aggression by males and females in individuated and deindividuated conditions. People expected men to be more aggressive than women but did not show an appreciation of the disinhibiting effects of deindividuation. In Study 2, deindividuation was manipulated in the laboratory to assess its effects in an aggression-eliciting situation. As predicted, men aggressed more than women in the individuated condition, but this difference was eliminated in the deindividuated condition. Subjects' perceptions of their behavior were more consistent with the implicit theories documented in Study I than with how they actually behaved.