Citation

Palmer CT. Aggressive Behav. 1993; 19(3): 167-173.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, International Society for Research on Aggression, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper examines patterns of anger, aggression, and humor during 95 floor hockey games in a small fishing village in Newfoundland. The observed behaviors meet the prediction, based on evolutionary theory, that anger and aggression will be more frequent among males at the age when mate competition is most intense. Aggression was also found to be combined with humor most frequently in interactions among players attempting to form social relationships. This last finding is consistent with the hypothesis that combining humor (smiling and laughing) with what would otherwise be interpreted as aggressive behavior is a means of establishing trusting relationships between individuals. The potential contribution of an evolutionary approach to studies of anger and aggression is discussed.