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Dominance, leadership, and aggression: Animal behavior studies during the Second World War
Author(s) -
Mitman Gregg
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
journal of the history of the behavioral sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.216
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1520-6696
pISSN - 0022-5061
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6696(199001)26:1<3::aid-jhbs2300260102>3.0.co;2-g
Subject(s) - aggression , dominance (genetics) , allee effect , world war ii , psychology , social psychology , context (archaeology) , criminology , sociology , environmental ethics , political science , history , law , demography , population , biochemistry , chemistry , philosophy , gene , archaeology
During the decade surrounding the Second World War, an extensive literature on the biological and psychological basis of aggression surfaced in America, a literature that in general emphasized the significance of learning and environment in the origins of aggressive behavior. Focusing on the animal behavior research of Warder Clyde Allee and John Paul Scott, this paper examines the complex interplay among conceptual, institutional, and societal forces that created and shaped a discourse on the subjects of aggression, dominance, and leadership within the context of World War II. The distinctions made between sexual and social dominance during this period, distinctions accentuated by the threat of totalitarianism abroad, and the varying ways that interpretations of behavior could be negotatiated attests to the multiplicity of interactions that influence the development of scientific research.