Fig. 7

Breaking the mould. While we present evidence of both gender differences in aggression, and interactions between the gender of the aggressor and target, it is important to recognise that these patterns are averages across a large sample of data. In recognition of the variability within the data, and to avoid misleading claims about the average patterns being a complete description of behaviour, here we highlight patterns of behaviour that break the mould. Illustrative examples of real conflicts between pairs taking part in our studies show that: (A) Although aggression in mixed-gender pairs was predominantly initiated by men (black lines), not all aggression was initiated by men – sometimes women (grey lines) started it. (B) While most woman-woman pairs did not escalate above minimal aggression levels, some women used sustained, high levels of aggression. (C) While aggression was bi-directional and maintained by both individuals in most dyads, sometimes an individual sustained their own aggression in the absence of provocation (and in this case, it was the women in the pair, not the man, maintaining her own aggression).