Faculty Publications

Components Of Aggression In Chickens And Conceptualizations Of Aggression In General

Document Type

Article

Keywords

environmental factors, different expressions of aggression, chickens, organismic &

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Volume

37

Issue

10

First Page

1902

Last Page

1914

Abstract

A refined analysis of the peck order in chickens is offered as a test of the notion that, for this species, different responses such as leaping and various types of pecking need not be interchangeable indexes of aggression. Tests showed that particular response types of the birds were differentially mediated by organismic or environmental factors. 36 pairs of male and female White Leghorn chicks were assigned to large cages, and 48 pairs were assigned to small cages. In large cages pecking at the body was most frequent by Ss that had a home-cage advantage. Contrarily, rates of aggressive leaping were independent of this influence, with males having an advantage over females. Males showed more head pecking than females, but the profile for this sex difference did not resemble the profile for leaping. Correlational analyses revealed that whereas head pecking between testmates was not matched in frequency, leaping was positively related. The behavior of Ss in small cages differed from that of large-cage Ss. Although there was more head pecking in small cages, males did not have an edge, and leaping was infrequent. Results indicate that these responses cannot be viewed as interchangeable indicators of aggression in fowl. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1979 American Psychological Association.

Department

Department of Psychology

Original Publication Date

10-1-1979

DOI of published version

10.1037//0022-3514.37.10.1902

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