The Ares Instinct for Fighting and Winning

The Ares Instinct skill-building for achievement as a way of therapy for men

Those who subscribe here may be readers of evolutionary psychology literature that attempts to look to the past and “hunter-gatherer” days of human existence. In such a light, one might envision males with more muscular bodies and size hunting to “make a kill” or even to wage war.

Today, we don’t think of such primitive behaviors as common in the general population. Yet, we still hear phrases in sports games such as “killing the baseball” or in commerce or business—” making a killing” (monetarily.)

In the behavioral health field and psychotherapy—the “talking cure”—we often listen with two minds: one to hear the conversation as an average person and a second one to listen for words or the client that “codes” to psychological principles.

This “Ares Instinct” in men is such a principle. Whenever we hear a man low in self-esteem or depression or anxiety talking about “feeling like a loser” or a traumatic incident in which he says, “I could have just died at what happened,” it is his lack of being full, expressive of or utilizing this exemplary masculine instinct of going out into the world of competition for building a better life.

The masculine instincts speak to the second men’s life concern of Barry and Seager that men instinctually need to “fight and win.” Remember that testosterone is not associated with violence per se but with “competitiveness.”

As a result, we ought not to presume that the word “fight” does not mean literally “conflict” or “destructiveness,” but more like “striving” to succeed at something.

Succeeding at something could be in a competitive sport or among soldiers at war. Still, the meaning and use of this set of masculine instincts are comprehensive in application and, more fittingly, are “success instincts.”

This is one of the top three critical instincts in being a man.

---

There are courses and instructional videos divided by topics and areas of Men’s Psychology to go very deep into the Advanced Membership and its training, quizzes, and live discussion and instruction. 

One of the practical goals of Men’s Psychology is to inform you of the basics of this new body of knowledge. So, with your permission and interest by hitting the button below to become an Advanced Member with a small monthly fee, you will get access to the articles at Men’s Psychology, the courses, quizzes, and tests, and the discussion community where we go so much further into the material that benefits men’s lives.

Thank you for joining us for the Introduction to Men’s Psychology Course on the courses page of the site for Upgraded Members.

---