Insult, Aggression, and the Southern Culture of Honour: An Experimental Ethnography

Dov Cohen, Richard E. Nisbett, Brian F. Bowdle and Norbert Schwarz

Problem: Though frontier conditions in the South disappeared and the herding economy has become
less and less important, culture-of-honor norms appear to have persisted into this century.

Goal of the article: The research presented here is a first attempt at what might be called an
experimental ethnography of one such subculture within the United States.

Figure 1: Southern United States

Conclusion: Findings highlight the insult-aggression cycle in cultures of honor, in which insults
diminish a man's reputation and he tries to restore his status by aggressive or violent behavior.

The findings of the present experiments are consistent with survey and archival data showing that
the South possesses a version of the culture of honour.

Culture-of-honor norms are now socially enforced and perpetuated because they have become
embedded in social roles, expectations, and shared definitions of manhood.

Hypotheses:

H1: Southerners should be more likely to view an insult as damaging to their status and
reputation.

H2: Southerners should be more upset by the insult.

H3: Southerners should be more prepared for aggressive and dominant behavior after being
insulted.

H4: Our bump and asshole insult were a greater affront to southerners, who are less
accustomed to such rudeness than northerners are.

H5: Southerners have different rules for what to do once they are insulted.
Research: Three experiments examined how norms characteristic of a culture of honor manifest
themselves in the cognitions, emotions, behaviors, and physiological reactions of southern White
males.

Culture of honor: Even small disputes become contests for reputation and social status.

Figure 2: University of Michigan logo