Are Women Just as Aggressive as Men?

New research into cyberaggression suggests women are more aggressive than would be believed from research conducted in the real world^1,2. Any genderised discussion of aggression is always sensitive, as this issue engenders strong views and is highly politicised. In fact, the politicisation of aggression and violence may be an indicator of one of its roles and causes in society³. Yet discussion of aggression, even cyberaggression, is often built on a foundation focused on males as archetypal perpetrators^4-6. However, a study of female digital aggression casts doubts on assertions that aggression is programmed, and more commonly emitted by males. Rather, digital behaviour suggests women are not programmed to be passive, but are just as actively aggressive as men, and, in some circumstances, more so.

Given the topic’s sensitivity, it is important to clear up potential misunderstandings. Aggression is not to be confused with physical violence; not all physical violence is aggression (some is self-defence), and not all aggression is physically violent. In fact, there are three types of aggression: direct physical; direct verbal; and indirect, often involving the manipulation of others (including gaslighting)⁷.

Physical violence occurs only in the real world, and, in most countries, intergender physical violence is more often perpetrated by those identifying as male; in the context of domestic abuse, the general truth is that victims are mainly women^8,9. In the U.K., 1.6 out of 33.9 million women (4.7%), compared to 0.78 out of 33.1 million men (2.3%), report domestic abuse⁸. Adjusted by reporting tendencies (80% of women, and 50% of men, report incidents⁹), these percentages become 6% of women and 4% of men. Of course, who is abused does not necessarily suggest anything about the perpetrators, as domestic abuse also occurs in the LGBTQ+ community¹⁰. There are also qualitative differences in domestic abuse; over 80% of repeatedly victimised individuals are heterosexual women abused by men—meaning most reports by women cover more than one incident⁹, and women are more likely to be seriously hurt or killed than men⁸.

What has never been known is why aggression and violence happen; although, discounting demonic possession as a theory, the cause has to be biological or cultural. Many theories have been developed to account for the existence of aggression and cyberagression^4-6,11. Many of these hold the assumption (explicitly or implicitly) that, as males perpetrate aggression more often than females¹¹, this gives a clue to its nature, focusing theories on the evolutionary role of aggression^4-6, and its androcentric physiology¹¹. However, evidence from digital contexts has thrown new light on this debate^1,2,11—highlighting existing doubts over these claims^12,13 and challenging the notion that, save for physical violence and domestic abuse, males are more aggressive, and revealing some rather uncomfortable issues for the digital age^2,14.

Several studies have demonstrated that cyberaggression is often emitted at higher rates by females than by males^1,2,14,15. Again, this is not to deny that females experience extremely serious instances of cyberaggression^5,14, including cyberstalking and cyberbullying, and that this often impacts them more intensely than similar experiences impact males⁶. However, overall levels of female digital aggression are high, giving strong challenge to any explanation of aggression premised on the view that it is essentially a male phenomenon, with only a few masculinised females demonstrating the trait, and then mainly for mating purposes^2,14.

Two recent studies show the ways in which female cyberaggression can happen. One study¹ noted that the primary self-presentational strategy associated with female selfie posting was aggressive intimidation. This was a much stronger association for females than for males, who had a wider range of reasons for selfie posting. In another study², females with high levels of intimidation as their primary self-presentation strategy were found to be most likely to post selfies. It may be that, online, females allow their aggressive personality factors to drive their behaviours much more than in the real world, and much more than males. This suggestion relates to other recent studies of young females’ selfie posting, which have found strong links with aggression, and even narcissisim¹⁵.

In fact, examination of the real-world research suggests high levels of female aggression, such as seen in digital behaviours, have long been known about¹⁶. Beyond domestic abuse and physical violence, females have been found to emit greater levels of verbal, and indirect, aggression than males^7,17. Girls and adolescent females use verbal and indirect aggression (social manipulation to harm a target) more than boys. This is often achieved by malicious gossip, or by manipulating social networks to reduce the target’s social status⁷. Such findings are mirrored in several studies of cyberaggression^2,14.

A study from Ghana¹³ found that low-level domestic abuse patterns between genders are changing; males reported more domestic victimisation than females, including greater amounts of indirect, verbal, and physical aggression. Females were also found to be more likely to be perpetrators of physical, indirect, verbal, and cyberaggression¹³. Lest we feel that this may be the product of a particular culture at a particular time, searches of court records in the U.K.¹⁸ reveal that low-level domestic abuse was a very common charge against women in the 19th century (certainly, among those from lower socio-economic groups).

Other reversals of ‘traditional’ and oft-claimed aggression patterns in the real world are also apparent. A study focusing on older individuals (55-89 years old)¹⁷ noted that, far from using physical aggression in the real world, older males become adept at using indirect aggression, more so than females, a finding also seen in the digital world¹³ and consistent with the higher use of ingratiating strategies by males in terms of their selfie postings¹.

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These results are not easily characterised by traditional views of aggression² and suggest that androcentric views of aggression need to be altered. Thinking of female aggression as the result of some slightly male-like physiology in those females simply will not do. Rather, the emerging pattern of results suggests that, when traditional societal restrictions are lifted, as they can be online, and the threat of physical reprisal is removed, females are as aggressive as males—allowing these traits to drive high levels of verbal and indirect aggression¹⁴. This suggests that culture and context play a role in the level and type of aggression emitted.

The recognition of female aggression as a normal part of behaviour is important for developing theories of aggression that do not suggest different reasons for aggression in males and females. It is time we stopped thinking that females are only aggressive (and to other females, at that) when masculinised or in want of a mate (usually meaning a man). It re-raises the question, for the digital age, of why results from the real world showing female aggression are often not considered in psychological theories. Could it be that such results simply do not feed into dominant androcentric narratives on aggression? This suggestion is not new, but digital research may allow an idea whose time has come to be re-evaluated.

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