Aggression in Women: Behavior, Brain and Hormones

Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
Thomas F DensonJoanne R Beames

Abstract

We review the literature on aggression in women with an emphasis on laboratory experimentation and hormonal and brain mechanisms. Women tend to engage in more indirect forms of aggression (e.g., spreading rumors) than other types of aggression. In laboratory studies, women are less aggressive than men, but provocation attenuates this difference. In the real world, women are just as likely to aggress against their romantic partner as men are, but men cause more serious physical and psychological harm. A very small minority of women are also sexually violent. Women are susceptible to alcohol-related aggression, but this type of aggression may be limited to women high in trait aggression. Fear of being harmed is a robust inhibitor of direct aggression in women. There are too few studies and most are underpowered to detect unique neural mechanisms associated with aggression in women. Testosterone shows the same small, positive relationship with aggression in women as in men. The role of cortisol is unclear, although some evidence suggests that women who are high in testosterone and low in cortisol show heightened aggression. Under some circumstances, oxytocin may increase aggression by enhancing reactivity to provocation and simult...Continue Reading

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Citations

May 9, 2019·Scientific Reports·Lena RinnewitzMichael Kaess
Jul 23, 2019·Journal of Interpersonal Violence·Kathleen Brewer-Smyth, Ann Wolbert Burgess
Nov 26, 2019·Developmental Science·Stephanie Burnett Heyes
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Mar 21, 2021·Archives of Women's Mental Health·Stefanie Suessenbacher-KesslerMichaela Amering
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May 20, 2021·Nature Communications·Vinícius Elias de Moura OliveiraInga D Neumann
May 25, 2021·Aggression and Violent Behavior·Scott G RavytsJoseph M Dzierzewski

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