Althouse: "Seeing Meat Makes People Significantly Less Aggressive."

November 14, 2010

"Seeing Meat Makes People Significantly Less Aggressive."

A study that surprised its author.

35 comments:

lucid said...: I know how Ann loves evolutionary psychology--but it gets more right than the law does, and it usually makes a lot more sense.

If meat is present, then the issue is sharing and alliances rather than conflict. Thus, the evolutionary basis of the practice of breaking bread" together.

Now, an interesting question is whether a sexy, nubile woman elicits a decline or an increase in aggression.

Any bets?; 11/14/10, 7:29 PM
Unknown said...: "The idea that meat would illicit aggressive behaviour makes sense, as it would have helped our primate ancestors with hunting, co-opting and protecting their meat resources."

Our ancestors didn't hunt meat. They hunted animals. The sight of meat means the hunt is over, and hunger will be relieved.; 11/14/10, 7:33 PM
Jason said...: If the Good Lord had not intended for us to consume animals, he wouldn't have made them out of meat!"; 11/14/10, 7:36 PM
Unknown said...: I thought eating meat made people more aggressive.; 11/14/10, 8:15 PM
Beth said...: mmmmm. Meat.; 11/14/10, 8:24 PM
Penny said...: "Evolutionary psychologists believe it is useful to look at innate reflexes in order to better understand societal trends and personal behavior."

Come again?

"Evolutionary psychologists believe it is useful to get on the current culture hamster wheel."

The good news? Some evolutionary psychologists worked their way out of pet stores.; 11/14/10, 8:26 PM
DADvocate said...: As a psych(o) major, I heard the meat=aggressiveness thing for decades ago. Just another example of the unfounded bias of the social sciences that base their preachings on nothing except unfounded bias.; 11/14/10, 8:39 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: I hear looking at turkey makes you sleepy.; 11/14/10, 8:39 PM
Ralph L said...: Editor's Note: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment
So let's wallpaper some prisons and psyche wards with dead cow and see what happens.

I wonder if there's any difference between rare and well-done.; 11/14/10, 8:42 PM
BAS said...: Finally a reason to become vegetarian.; 11/14/10, 8:49 PM
ricpic said...: Beef...It's What's For Dinner!

Gimme a steak,
Makes me happy,
Then we'll hit the hay,
Me, mammy and pappy.; 11/14/10, 9:01 PM
chickelit said...: Here's what vegan Doors sounded like.
(Ray Manzarek on vocals). link; 11/14/10, 9:23 PM
Mary Beth said...: Kachanoff didn't get the results he wanted so he wants a do over?

I don't see how they can separate reflexes that are due to evolution and those due to how the individual was socialized. They mentioned pictures of guns causing aggressive behavior but I'm pretty sure that my ancient ancestors didn't have modern weapons. How do people react to pictures of throwing-size rocks?; 11/14/10, 9:23 PM
HKatz said...: subjects had to punish a script reader every time he made an error while sorting photos, some with pictures of meat, and others with neutral imagery... While the research team figured that the group sorting pictures of meat would inflict more discomfort on the reader, they were very surprised by the results.

All those pictures of yummy cooked meat made them care less about a photo-sorting task maybe (who cares what the script reader is doing - let's just think about what's for dinner tonight... mmm, hamburgers...)

I only skimmed the article, but I wonder if they asked if any of the men were vegetarians (maybe vegetarians would have been more agitated looking at all that meat, and acted out on the agitation by punishing the photo sorter more?)

Now, an interesting question is whether a sexy, nubile woman elicits a decline or an increase in aggression.
What it would probably elicit is a desire for the script reader to leave the room so that the male subject can be alone for a little while with the photos of the sexy nubile women. And maybe because the script reader isn't leaving the room, they get frustrated and punish him more.; 11/14/10, 9:35 PM
Synova said...: I guess this guy's error was so obvious that no one is even bothering to argue about it. Marcia has it exactly right. *Meat* means the hunt is over. There is no more reason to become aggressive at the sight of meat than at the sight of a table full of bread or grain. Aggression would be about scarcity, if the sight of food was the sight of not enough food.

Why would anyone expect the sight of meat to trigger aggression? Ha! Rhetorical question.; 11/14/10, 9:36 PM
bagoh20 said...: Remember, Hitler was a vegetarian, and he was aggressive... for a beta male socialist.; 11/14/10, 9:41 PM
HKatz said...: I guess this guy's error was so obvious that no one is even bothering to argue about it... There is no more reason to become aggressive at the sight of meat than at the sight of a table full of bread or grain.

They do come to that conclusion in that article, at some point I think towards the end. Prepared meat = meal time. Surrounded by family and friends and clan. Hunt over.

The conclusion? They say they'll do the exact same study only with hunting images! (I'm on the edge of my seat here.); 11/14/10, 9:42 PM
traditionalguy said...: This research proves that men are not animals. Duh! Try that experiment with a dog or a cat. Does running at something with an open mouth count as aggression? In other words may this "aggression" be a human activity only that is evidenced by what acts? By the elan of the throwing of one's self into an activity?; 11/14/10, 9:43 PM
HT said...: What would I do without meat? I used to toy with the idea of not eating it. And until the spring, I would eat it maybe four or five times a week. Not anymore. Since being diagnosed with celiac disease, meat is one of the few things I can eat. I used to stock up on tofu. Now without doing more research into tofu and gluten, I have not really consumed it since the spring. Even the packaged "gluten free" foods contain some gluten, so meat, vegetables and fruit are more critical than ever. I've heard that even rice might have residual gluten. So, I'm glad for meat, but I miss carbs.; 11/14/10, 9:46 PM
Sal said...: I wonder what that means for the twice weekly meat raffles at the Knight Cap. Yummm.; 11/14/10, 9:47 PM
bagoh20 said...: In my fostering of rescue dogs, I feed them a diet of mostly raw meat. They eat side by side often sharing bowls. There is never any food aggression at all, despite the fact that they only eat once a day. After a new dog has been through a couple dinners and realizes there is plenty for everyone, the motivation for food aggression is gone. And we're talking mostly Pit Bulls here.; 11/14/10, 9:48 PM
bagoh20 said...: I like my meat as much as the next guy, but carbs are the real craving. I could see killing a man for his pop tart.; 11/14/10, 9:52 PM
HT said...: Yes that is true. Read Good Calories Bad Calories for why carbs are the real addicting food. "You can't eat just one chip" afterall. So true.; 11/14/10, 9:53 PM
Synova said...: "The conclusion? They say they'll do the exact same study only with hunting images! (I'm on the edge of my seat here.)"

That's not going to work either.

Not to get the desired results, anyhow.

Because, lets talk about *hunting* here then. Hunting vs. aggression... and it is *vs* aggression. It doesn't matter if it's long range rifles, bows and arrows, or a club or thrown rock. The aggressive fellow doesn't win. The guy who can sneak slowly and quietly for hours wins. The one who can stalk effectively and who is calm enough to pay attention to know which way the animal is going to jump, or who can plant the end of the boar spear in the ground is going to win.

I realize this guy really *really* wants to get the results he wants to get, but it's not going to work. At least not if he's honest.; 11/14/10, 10:13 PM
Fred4Pres said...: I am not surprised. Steakhouses are amazingly civilized places.; 11/14/10, 10:42 PM
Alex said...: Ewwww meat. Give me some tofu vegan burger now.; 11/15/10, 12:41 AM
Nora said...: Not surprising, considering how violent and abusive the animal rights activists are, who are generally vegeterians. These types indeed become agressive when they see meat. Can it be that preposition for the experiment was a result of projection on the part of the Kachanoff.; 11/15/10, 3:26 AM
SGT Ted said...: Not surprising, considering how violent and abusive the animal rights activists are, who are generally vegeterians. These types indeed become agressive when they see meat. Can it be that preposition for the experiment was a result of projection on the part of the Kachanoff.

The study was nothing but a leftwing food kooks attempt to sterotype meat eaters with the anti-meat bigotry of the ignorant, pansy author.

I wonder if he is going to do a study of blacks and their reactions to visual images of fried chicken and watermelon?; 11/15/10, 7:06 AM
prairie wind said...: The idea that meat would illicit aggressive behaviour makes sense...

Illicit, elicit...there's red meat for word lovers.; 11/15/10, 7:33 AM
Anonymous said...: Remember, Meat Is Murder. So once you've got meat, murdering someone is redundant.; 11/15/10, 8:38 AM
Fred4Pres said...: I did watch Sir Paul McCartney's anti meat video. It was tough to watch and frankly does turn you off to meat.

They want to ban it. I am all for eating meat, but animals should be treated with a minimum of respect.; 11/15/10, 9:18 AM
sonicfrog said...: Finally! A tasty solution to world peace!!!.... Though I would hold back on the pork, as that isn't kosher with some cultures.; 11/15/10, 10:45 AM
bagoh20 said...: Vegetables are murder too, but fruit is symbiotic if done right.; 11/15/10, 11:30 AM
bagoh20 said...: Eating grain is infanticide.; 11/15/10, 11:33 AM
Unknown said...: Surprised ? why? you are a hunter , no meat aggressive. You see it , yo calm down, eat it and sleep. Like sex. No man becomes aggressive in front of a woman unless there is another male near; 11/15/10, 3:33 PM