Discuss the role of genetic factors in aggression (16 marks)

A gene (monoamine oxidase A), that has been implicated in aggression, mice that
possessed the gene were extremely aggressive. The MAOA gene is thought to affect
neurotransmitters. The gene determines the production of the enzyme MAOA. MAOA
metabolises (‘mops up’) neurotransmitters (e.g. serotonin, dopamine and
noradrenaline) in the brain after a nerve impulse, it breaks them down to be recycled or
excreted. A dysfunction in the operation of this gene may lead to abnormal activity of
the MAOA enzyme, which in turn affects levels of neurotransmitters in the brain. People
with the low-activity form (MAOA-L) produce less of the enzyme and this is correlated
with aggression. The high-activity form (MAOA-H) is not correlated with aggression.
Genes are crucial influences on aggressive behaviour, but they do not function in
isolation. It appears to be the case that MAOA-L is only related to adult aggression
when combined with early traumatic life events. This indicates that an interaction of
genetics and environment is at work in determining human aggression and there the
phenotype differs from the genotype. Possessing MAOA-L does not automatically make
you aggressive.

Adoption studies can also help to separate out the effects of genes and environment. If
a positive correlation is found between aggressive behaviour in adopted children and
their biological parents, then this is suggestive of genes because the environmental
factor has been removed. Meta-analysis was carried out looking at adoption and its
relationship to direct aggression and antisocial behaviour. They found that genetic
influences accounted for 41% of the variance in aggression.

A strength is that, there are twin studies to provide further support for the genetic
explanation of aggressive behaviour. For example, McGue et al found a correlation of
+0.43 for MZ twins and +0.30 for DZ twins on aggression scales. This research
demonstrates s stronger link to aggressive behaviour for identical twins. This suggests
that genes play some part in aggressive tendencies as MZ twins share more genes than
DZ twins, therefore if there was no genetic element to aggression, we would not see
any difference in the correlation for MZ and DZ twins. This is positive as it suggests
genes may at least play a part in aggression and therefore that the cause of aggression
is, in some part, biological.

A weakness is that, a considerable amount of research into genetic factors in aggressive

behaviour was conducted on animals, such as Lagerspetz’s research on mice. For
example, this means that the research only investigates the genetic factors in the
development of aggression for animals and fails to generate any information regarding
human aggression and links to genetics. This is a weakness because, the findings from
this research cannot be extrapolated (generalised) to humans. Mice and humans are
physiologically different and so, although there seems to be a genetic basis for
aggression in mice, it doesn’t mean that such findings can be generalised to humans.
Another weakness is that, The MAOA gene cannot account for all cases of aggression. It
was found that MAOA-L is only present in about 1/3 of men in Western population, who
therefore have higher levels of neurotransmitters because they haven’t been
metabolised. MAOA-L is rarely expressed in women. This is a weakness because it
highlights that aggression is up to 2/3 of men and most women cannot be account for
by the MAOA gene, this suggests therefore that there must be another explanation for
aggression, making this explanation limited in its application.