The Bond That Breaks: Closeness and Honor Predict Morality-Related Aggression

Abstract

Endorsement of a “culture of honor” contributes to the belief that family honor is tied to female obedience across a variety of moral values. Violations of these moral values may lead to aggression. Male participants in studies 1 and 3 filled out a measure of cultural honor and closeness to their present wife or partner. Participants with high levels of both closeness and honor were most aggressive toward a hypothetical moral violation. In study 2, we randomly assigned men to bond or not with a female confederate who devalued his most important moral value. Participants were then given the opportunity to aggress against her in a supposedly unrelated study by choosing how much painful hot sauce she would be forced to drink. Once again, high levels of closeness and honor predicted the greatest levels of aggression. In sum, moral disagreements by women are met with increased aggression within the culture of honor, the closer an honor-endorsing male is to the woman.