Women use indirect aggression as a competition strategy, yes, that's what you read. Women exercise their competition in strange, appalling and ruthless ways.
You compete to get into the best colleges, for the best jobs, to win medals, to break records - that's life. In addition, the scarcity of resources also influences competition, both in the animal world and among human beings.
Intrasexual competition, i.e. within the same sex, is present in all animals, but the sophistication of this rivalry between human females is incredibly impressive.
It's scary, but that friend of yours who influences your ideas about, for example, "getting a haircut", the truth is that she may be "feeling threatened" by your more feminine look, suggests Dr. Tracy Vaillancourt in an interview for Modern Wisdom.
Dr. Tracy Vaillancourt is a professor at the University of Ottawa, a researcher and author, with a focus on the relationship between violence and mental health, who wrote an article about fierce female competition. (1)
The concept
Intrasexual competition between women is behavior in which women engage in an attempt to get a potential partner. Such behavior can include tactics of self-promotion and derogation (direct and indirect forms of aggression) towards other women.
Self-promotion is naturally conscious, dressing up, putting on make-up, self-promotion - we see it every day on social media. It's funny, when you see photos of someone exposing too much of their body, you already know they're alone and looking for a relationship.
Now, the derogation is often unconscious, but there are those who do it consciously and covertly. "Intrasexual competition does not have to operate at a conscious level, but competitors 'must be actively behaving in a way that brings them closer to obtaining the desired resource'," says Dr. Tracy's article. (1)
Derogation of the competitor
There are a number of competitive strategies that women can use in an attempt to appear more attractive in comparison to other women, but in an indirect way, unlike direct aggression which involves offending face to face, normally used by men.
Indirect aggression describes acts that are done indirectly, where an individual intends to cause harm, but tries to appear as if they have no harmful intentions.
Derogation is often carried out by belittling a competitor's appearance or spreading rumors that question a rival's fidelity or level of promiscuity. A chaste woman is an indication of greater fidelity and reliability, so spreading rumors of promiscuity results in the depreciation of the rival's image
It also includes behaviors such as rejection, social exclusion, making others dislike her and criticizing her appearance.
In fact, indirect aggression seems to be more prevalent among females than among males, who apparently have a more direct form of competition.
Research studying the relationship between indicators of attractiveness, such as physical attractiveness and indirect victimization, has shown that the likelihood of experiencing indirect victimization increased by 35% for women who perceived themselves as physically attractive (2)
Self-promotion
Self-promotion involves the use of tactics to demonstrate physical attractiveness, such as wearing make-up or clothes to attract attention.
Another strategy that women use to be noticed in a better way compared to other women, for example, luxury items in an attempt to increase their attractiveness.(3)
Luxury items can indicate attractiveness by emphasizing a higher status, appearing to be more attractive, youthful and seductive to other women. Thus, when confronted with rivals who are considered unattractive, women may not necessarily see them as presenting any kind of threat, as they will feel more attractive compared to their rivals. This sounds more like a self-confidence factor.
Interestingly, these studies show a direct relationship between the level of body exposure and the type of relationship you're looking for. The sexier the style of dress, the easier the woman seems to be and therefore available for any quick relationship without commitment. This lowers her "market value", so to speak, and makes other women reject this kind of behavior, so far so good. The problem is that in a rival's derogation, a woman can be ruthless and raise the level of indirect aggression to frightening heights.
Conclusion
The rivalry is real, despite the fact that women have strong friendship cycles and a supposed sisterhood, in fact they don't seem to be as close or as loyal as you might think.
A word of warning to the unsuspecting on duty: don't put too much trust in that friend who may see you as a rival. Loyal friends are few, but they do exist. Before trusting, make sure you're not competing for the same opportunity and, above all, make sure of the other person's character.
The investigation is long and there is a lot of research into this. Many of our behaviors are instinctive, and separating the biological being from the psychological being is a direct step towards self-destruction.
Knowing these facts helps us to have a better self-perception, protect ourselves better and curb our own impulses, which can be destructive.
It also begs the question: is ferocity only about competition for relationships? We know it's not. But that's a topic for another day.
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