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BODY PLEASURE AND THE ORIGINS OF VIOLENCE

Outdated tables, as they appeared in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and in the Futurist


The following tables are outdated and should therefore not be quoted. They are preserved for reasons of source-exactness.

Table 3 was updated with information from Lionel Gambill's article "Can More Touching Lead to Less Violence in Our Society?" in The Truth Seeker, March/April 1989. This is the old version:

 

Infant Physical Affection and Adult Physical Violence

Societies that provide infants with a great deal of physical affection ('tender loving care') are later characterized by relatively non-violent adults. In 36 of the 49 cultures studied, a high degree of infant affection was associated with a low degree of adult physical violence -- and vice versa. When the 13 exceptions were investigated, it was found that the violence of all but one (the Jivaro tribe of South America) could be accounted for the presence or absence of premarital sexual behavior.

TABLE 3

Relationship of Infant Physical Affectional Deprivation to Adult Physical Violence

High Infant Physical Affection Low Infant Physical Affection High Infant Physical Affection Low Infant Physical Affection
Low Adult Physical Violence High Adult Physical Violence High Adult Physical Violence Low Adult Physical Violence
AndamaneseAloreseCheyenneAinu
ArapeshArandaChir-ApacheGanda
BalineseAraucaniansCrowKwakiutl
ChaggaAshantiJivaroLepcha
ChenchuAymaraKurtatchiPukapuka
ChuckcheeAzandeZuniSamoans
CunaComancheTanala
HanoFon
LauKaska
LesuMarquesans
MaoriMasai
MurnginNavaho
NuerOjibwa
PapagoThonga
Siriono
Tallensi
Tikopia
Timbira
Trobriand
Wogeo
Woleaians
Yahgan
 
Source: Textor [1]; infant behavior ratings from Barry, Bacon and Child [3]; and adult violence ratings from Slater [5].
 

In table 5, "abortion should be punished by society" was listed under "physical pleasure condemned", but belongs into "violence approved". Here is the old, incorrect table.

 

Violence and Pleasure:
The Attitudes of College Students

The reciprocal relationship of violence and pleasure holds true in modern industrial nations as well as primitive societies. This theory was tested by means of a questionnaire given to 96 college students (average age: 19). The results showed that students who have relatively negative attitudes toward sexual pleasure tend to favor harsh punishment for children and to believe that violence is necessary to solve problems. The students rated a series of statements on a scale of 1 to 6, where 1 indicated strong agreement and 6 strong disagreement. Through a statistical technique (factor analysis), a personality profile of the violent person was developed. Table 5 shows the degree of relationship among the various statements which reflect social and moral values. The figures at left, known as 'loadings,' are treated like correlation coefficients. They indicate the strength with which each variable contributes to the overall personality description of the respondent as defined by this specific profile.

TABLE 5

Somatosensory Index of Human Affection
Factor 1:66.6%

Violence Approved
.85  Hard physical punishment is good for children who disobey a lot.
.81  Physical punishment and pain help build a strong moral character.
.80  Abortion should be punished by society.
.76  Capital punishment should be permitted by society.
.75  Violence is necessary to really solve our problems.
.74  Physical punishment should be allowed in the schools.
.69  I enjoy sadistic pornography.
.54  I often feel like hitting someone.
.43  I can tolerate pain very well.
 
Physical Pleasure Condemned
.84  Prostitution should be punished by society.
.80  Responsible premarital sex is not agreeable to me.
.78  Nudity within the family has a harmful influence upon children.
.73  Sexual pleasures help build a weak moral character.
.72  Society should interfere with private sexual behavior between adults.
.69  Responsible extramarital sex is not agreeable to me.
.61  Natural fresh body odors are often offensive.
.47  I do not enjoy affectional pornography.
 
Alcohol and Drugs Rated Higher than Sex
.70  Alcohol Is more satisfying than sex.
.65  Drugs are more satisfying than sex.
.60  I get hostile and aggressive when I drink alcohol.
.49  I would rather drink alcohol than smoke marijuana.
.45  I drink alcohol more often than I experience orgasm.
 
Political Conservatism
.82  I tend to be conservative in my political points of view.
.77  Age (Older).
.51  I often dream of either floating, flying, falling, or climbing.
.45  My mother is often indifferent toward me.
.42  I often get "uptight" about being touched.
.40  I remember when my father physically punished me a lot.
 
The collaboration of Douglas Wallace, Human Sexuality Program, University of California Medical School, San Francisco, in the questionnaire study is gratefully acknowledged.