Psychology Dept. Research Seminar. Friday 12th November 2021, 1-2pm
Dr Rob King
Running Amok? Spree Killers Viewed through an Evolutionary Lens
*** Everyone welcome. No need to book in advance ***
Speaker: Dr Rob King, University College Cork
Date: Friday 12th November 2021
Time: 1-2pm
Location:
https://mdx-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/97241459409?pwd=c1J3K3IxZjUrY3psTExXKzBmaVhMdz09
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Mass killings are unusual events but devastating when they occur. Although the absolute risk of dying at the hands of such a killer are low, people stubbornly refuse statisticians’ earnest assurances of relative safety. This should not surprise us. Mass killings are, among many other things, a deliberate attempt to drive a wedge into the existing social order. That is why they are public, and why the killer seeks to maximise attention.
Attention to our evolved natures can cast some light on this. Men swim in worlds of status, like trout swim in complex currents of water. Said status is exquisitely linked to male reproductive success, and males who were blind to its ups and downs have simply not had descendants.
Here we report on two studies into spree killings in the USA. In the first we carried out an archival study of mass killers. Latent class analysis revealed a highly bimodal distribution.
The younger group (average age 23) tended to have been in trouble with the law, they were more likely to have had mental illness. In other words—at the age where young men are acquiring status, and the skills and abilities that will enable them to do so—they were, in fact, acquiring signs that they were on a fast track to reproductive oblivion. In ancestral times—times without highly trained and equipped SWAT teams--a “Hail Mary” attempt to attract attention and make ‘them’ take you seriously might—just might, have worked.
The older group (average age 41) were much more likely to be married, and maybe have families. They were less likely to have had prior signs of legal issues nor of mental illness. But a peak into their personal details (so far as we were able) revealed that they had a pattern of recent status loss. These older guys were not so much trying to acquire status, their actions looked more like a highly pathological attempt to not lose it. They were more likely to die during the spree, through suicide or “suicide by cop”.
Ogas and Gaddam (2012) note “It turns out that killing people is an effective way to elicit the attention of many women: virtually every serial killer, including Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, and David Berkowitz, has received love letters from large numbers of female fans” (p. 98).
The most toxic of masculinity does not put off all possible sexual partners. The existence of the first type of spree killer implies a female audience. In our second study we found part of this audience online. They are a conscious subset of hybristophiles who actively distinguish themselves from run of the mill celebrity, or even spree killer followers, by showing a desire to join in, or have open sexual ambitions towards the killers. Sometimes they manage to meet and marry them in prison.
~ This talk is aimed at anyone interested in psychology, particularly forensic psychology and criminology. Students are encouraged to attend. Attendance would benefit both undergraduate and postgraduate students from psychology and related fields ~ |
About the speaker: |
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Rob is an early career researcher with interests in biological psychology, behavioral ecology, and philosophy of mind. He has published and consulted in areas pertaining to human sexual behavior and regularly review for Journal of Sexual Medicine, Archives of Sexual Behavior and Journal of Evolutionary Psychology. Rob completed his PhD with Jay Belsky, studying fertility-related aspects of female sexual response--work which he is continuing and hoping to turn into a book.
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