The Role of Zinc and Lead in Aggression: Experimenting with Albino Rats

Abstract

Aggression is a phenomenon that has had terrible impacts on our society. Although the scientific definition of aggression has changed slightly over the years, there still seems to be a continuous search for the unending motivation to engage in this across time. Theorists have propounded from their views, but there remains a tiny gap of possibilities that the chemical substances individuals are exposed to in the environment, Zinc and Lead, could cause aggression. This hypothesis was tested in this study. The study adopted an experimental-control group design. A summarized 37 female albino rats were randomly assigned into four groups, eight rats each in the Zinc, Lead, Zinc and Lead group and control group and five rats in the intruder treatment group. Five hypotheses were stated and tested at .05 level of significance. Results reveal that rats exposed to Zinc exhibited the highest sniffing, chasing, biting behaviour, dominant posture and boxing, followed Lead, combination of both then the control group [(F(3,28)=4.290, p<0.1); (F(3,28)=1.46, p>0.5); (F(3,28)=1.748, p>0.5); (F(3,28)=2.367, p<0.5) & F(3,28)=1.534, p>0.5 respectively]. It was concluded that exposure to Zinc and Lead could be the source of the unending aggression in our society. Pointing out possible Zinc and lead sources in our environment, policy formulation and controlled implementations were recommended.