Aggression in Women: Behavior, Brain and Hormones

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 simultaneously lowering perceptions of danger that normally inhibit many women from retaliating. There is some evidence that high levels of estradiol and progesterone are associated with low levels of aggression. We highlight that more gender-specific theory-driven hypothesis testing is needed with larger samples of women and aggression paradigms relevant to women.

Just banter? Friendship, teasing and experimental aggression in adolescent peer networks

“…Third, we predicted a positive association between experimental and self‐reported real‐world dyadic aggression (teasing/pranking/creating drama; mutual vs. unilateral) [H3a], and tested whether this relationship varied by age [H3b]. Fourth, we predicted that males would allocate more hot sauce across the network [H4], in line with evidence that males show greater aggression in laboratory tasks (Denson, O'Dean, Blake, & Beames, ).…”

Hormones and the Human Alpha Female

“…The cross-disciplinary interest in the relationship between social status and hormones is not new [14, 17–26]. Previous research has demonstrated that hormones, specifically cortisol, progesterone, estradiol (primary in women of reproductive age), testosterone, and the peptide hormone oxytocin, correlate with behavioral traits deemed as “alpha” in women [8, 26–35]. For example, attributes including self-assertion, confidence, conceit, forcefulness, control, and willfulness have been associated with higher circulating testosterone levels in women, and lower levels with absence of these alpha traits [28].…”

“…Women with high estradiol levels reported fewer competitive interactions in athletics than did other women. Aggression has been associated with high testosterone and low cortisol levels in women [26], as well as negatively associated with estradiol levels [32].…”

“…While some research has found social rank to be associated with stress in primates as measured by elevated cortisol levels [25, 43, 44], other research has found no association [25]. There is evidence to support that high levels of estradiol and high levels of progesterone are associated with low levels of aggression and that estradiol may also influence behaviors in women other than aggression including dominance, assertiveness, and risk-taking behaviors [26].…”

“…Where research in this area has been undertaken, oxytocin has been found to potentially increase aggression in women by lowering perceptions of danger that would normally inhibit women from retaliating. Low levels of aggression have also been associated with elevated levels of estradiol and progesterone [26]. Though testosterone is required for the expression of masculine traits such as aggression in most vertebrates, including mice and humans, estrogen also plays a role [46].…”