Next time you experience road rage or get into an argument with the boss, maybe ordering a nice, big, hunk of steak will soothe your aggression.

Contrary to expectations, a McGill University researcher has discovered that seeing meat makes people significantly less aggressive. Frank Kachanoff, who studies evolution at the university’s department of psychology, had initially thought the presence of meat would provoke bloodlust, believing the response would have helped our primate ancestors hunt. But in fact, his research showed the reverse is true.

Kachanoff recruited 82 men and asked them to punish an aide with various volumes of sound each time he made an error while sorting photos, some with pictures of meat, and others with neutral images. The researcher had anticipated participants who watched the aide sort meat photos would inflict more discomfort on him, but he was surprised when those pictures did not provoke aggressive behaviour.

j.mills wrote:^ Your tax dollars at work.

“[W]ith the benefit of hindsight, it would make sense that our ancestors would be calm, as they would be surrounded by friends and family at meal time,” Kachanoff said in a press release.

j.mills wrote:Has that just-so sound of conclusions that exceed evidence.

j.mills wrote:Apart from anything else, what were his control photos? If he's measuring relative to war photos, he might well get a different result than relative to dolphins or numbers...

Kachanoff, a researcher with a special interest in evolution at McGill University's Department of Psychology, has discovered quite the reverse. According to research presented at a recent symposium at McGill, seeing meat appears to make human beings significantly less aggressive. "I was inspired by research on priming and aggression, that has shown that just looking at an object which is learned to be associated with aggression, such as a gun, can make someone more likely to behave aggressively. I wanted to know if we might respond aggressively to certain stimuli in our environment not because of learned associations, but because of an innate predisposition. I wanted to know if just looking at the meat would suffice to provoke an aggressive behavior."

"We used imagery of meat that was ready to eat. In terms of behaviour, with the benefit of hindsight, it would make sense that our ancestors would be calm, as they would be surrounded by friends and family at meal time," Kachanoff explained. "I would like to run this experiment again, using hunting images. Perhaps Thanksgiving next year will be a great opportunity for a do-over!"

Mr.Samsa wrote:

“[W]ith the benefit of hindsight, it would make sense that our ancestors would be calm, as they would be surrounded by friends and family at meal time,” Kachanoff said in a press release.

Yes, we have a part of our brain that has evolved to make us become calm at the sight of meat. That makes perfect sense.

blackarmada wrote:So, in cases of road rage just unzip and show the other guy your meat?

wraillantclark wrote:Hello,

Thank you for your interest in this research. You can find the original press release here: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-11/mu-cbt110510.php

As mentioned in the release, this is undergraduate research that was presented at symposium, and therefore has not been peer reviewed or published.

Please do not hesitate to contact me for any further details.

The idea that meat would illicit aggressive behaviour makes sense, as it would have helped our primate ancestors with hunting, co-opting and protecting their meat resources.

MattHunX wrote:Chicken breast bits make me calm and excited at the same time.

j.mills wrote:

MattHunX wrote:Chicken breast bits make me calm and excited at the same time.

FIFY. (Hey, somebody had to say it.)