Why do men seem so obsessed with sports and competition?
Wexler: Whatever aggression is built into the male brain, psyche, and even DNA, sports and competition are relatively healthy ways for men to express that aggression. And they’ve been doing that since the beginning of recorded history, when the gladiators took the stage of the Roman Coliseum. Mostly for better and sometimes for worse, men use sports and play to channel aggression that might otherwise be destructive. And we know from both evolutionary and behavioral psychology that when a behavior works, it gets reinforced, repeated and included in humans’ behavioral repertoire. So if a guy has an aggressive streak, and he plays or watches football to keep himself out of trouble, that becomes a functional behavior for him. Functional behaviors have staying power, which is why they become part of the social milieu. Real: Actually, women are becoming just obsessed with sports as men are. Anyway, guys love sports because it gives them a sense of community. While sports are about competitio
