Chapter 10: Aggression

Monday, November 9, 2015

11:08 AM

Aggression
o
Intentional infliction of harm on another person

Includes name calling, insulting, and bullying

Does not include accidental harm or harm to inanimate

objects or animals unless it was the intention to hurt

Operationalization of Aggression

Aggression must be able to be quantified when studies are

performed

Rude gestures, pushing a shock button or honking horns in

traffic may be determined as aggression
o
Types of aggression

Physical

Verbal

Passive

Internal
Historical Perspectives
o
Freud (Thanatos)

Believed that humans have an instinctual death wish that

eventually is transferred towardss others
o
Lorenz

Aggression springs mainly from a fighting instinct, which

ensures that only the strongest males will obtain mates and
pass their genes on to the next generation
o
Sociobiology

Aggression stems from "innate" factors that will certainly

make us aggressive
o
Evolutionary perspectives

Males had to be aggressive to compete with other males if

they wanted to find mates

This would drive rivals away

However, males have to be strategically aggressive in

order to not scare potential mates with away with their
aggression
Drive Theories
o
Definition

We have an externally elicited drive to hurt others

There are external factors that give us a drive to hurt

others, causing us to express aggression
o
Frustration

The negative emotional state we experience when

someone or something blocks our goal directed behavior
o

We want something, and something is stopping us from

achieving that
o
Frustration Aggression Hypothesis

Blocking of goal directed behavior leads to frustration

which leads to aggression

This theory may be flawed because it assumes that

frustration will ALWAYS lead to aggression, which is not the case

May result in mediation, ignoring, meditation, etc

General Aggression Model
o
Definition

Aggression is triggered by a wide range of input variables

that influence arousal, affective stages, and cognitions
o
Two major types of input variables

Situational factors

Factors relating to the current situation at hand

May include frustration, provocation (insult),

aggression models (other people behaving aggressively),
aggression cues, presence of a weapon, and anything that
may cause discomfort

Personality factors

Factors relating to the people involved

May include individual differences among people

such as culture, irritability, attitudes about violence, ability
to perceive hostility, skils relating to violence (knowing how
to fight), being a Type A personality, etc
o
The two input variables can then affect your internal state,
causing you to either internalize and refrain from aggressive
behavior, or be impulsive and show aggression
Causes of Aggression
o
Techniques for studying aggression

Shock machine

Participants in studies are told that they can deliver a

shock to someone with a varied level of pain

Recent studies use this technique less often because

of ethical concerns
o
Social Determinants

Frustration

Direct provocation

Criticism

Sarcasm

Teasing

Physical assault

Social exclusion

Excluded individuals are more likely to show

aggressive behavior towards those who they are excluded
by, which may lead to more exclusion
Hostile Cognitive Mind-set

Social exclusion causes people to perceive

neutral/ambiguous actions as hostile
Dewall et al. (2009)

People were presented with feelings of

exclusion (by being told they would end up alone,
being rejected by a work partner, etc.) and were asked
to rate the aggression of strangers' ambigous actions,
and given the opportunity to aggress against others

Those who faced social exclusion rated others

as more hostile and were more likely to aggress
against others
Hostile Attribution Bias

Strong expectation that others will behave

aggressively

This causes individuals to behave more

aggressively themseles
Missatribution
Cognitive factors are responsible for aggression, NOT
emotional factors
Media Violence
Bobo doll studies (1960s)

Young children were shown a video of either a

man being aggressive with a large inflated clown, or
simply sitting down next to a clown.

The children were then allowed to play with

toys in another room, and those who watched the
aggressive video were much more aggressive when
playing with their toys
The more violent media (news, film, tv, lyrics) people
watch, the more likely they are to commit violent crimes

Measured with the likelihood that they have

been arrested for violent crimes

Reproduced in many different countries so

these results hold true across many different cultures
Why does media violence cause violent behavior?

Teaches new techniques

It can prime aggressive thoughts and

memories

It desensitizes viewers to the effects of

violence (violence is not a big deal anymore) and it
reduces empathy for the victim

It weakens inhibitions

Violent video games cause aggression by promoting

violent thoughts, emotions, and behaviors and
subsequently reducing empathy and prosocial behaviors

People play these games because it gives them

a sense of autonomy and competence. The provide
players with a sense of control.

The violence is not the main factor in attracting

players

Reactance

An illusion of control

Penderson et al. (2000)

Difficult frustrating anagrams, loud distracting

music, and rude treatment were created to provoke
and bother participants

Without a provocation, a mild triggering event

did not cause aggression

However, when the participant was provoked, a

mild triggering event caused a high level of aggression

Bushaman & Anderson (2002)

Children either played aggressive or non

aggressive video games

Each child then read a brief story and were

asked to describe how the ambiguous character in the
story would think, act, or what they would say

More aggressive video game play caused

children to think that the ambiguous character would
react more aggressively
Excitation Transfer Theory

Arousal occurring in one situation can persist and

intensify emotional reactions in later, unrelated situations.
Personality Factors in Aggression
Type A Personality Type

A pattern consisting primarily of high levels of

competitiveness, time urgency, and hositility
Hostile Attribution Bias

You think that everyone wants to react with

aggression, so you in turn respond with more aggression
Narcissism

Narcissists are people who believe that they are

superior to others

They are more likely to respond with aggression

when their bolstered egos are threatened

These people believe that they are victims of

transgressions more often than non-narcissists
Gender Differences

Men only seem to be more aggressive than women

when there is NO provocation

If there is a provocation, then women are just as

likely as men to be aggressive

Men are more likely to be DIRECTLY aggressive

(explicitly) but differences are disappearing

There are some differences with INDIRECT aggression

that exist mostly in children, but disappear more towards
adulthood

Aggression paired with pro-social behavior can help

people achieve high status and social rewards (both
women and men)
o
Situational Determinants

High temperature

Relationship with temperature and aggression is

curvilinear

Aggression increases with heat only up to a point,

and then starts to decrease with higher temperature

Alcohol

Pihl, Lau, and Assad (1997)

Two Independent variables

Aggressiveness (low/high)

Alcohol consumption

Dependent variable

Level of shock used against someone

else

Interaction effect

Typically low aggressors became more

aggressive with more alcohol

More aggressive people became less

aggressive the more they drank
Prevention & Control of Aggression
o
Punishment only works under certain conditions

Must be prompt and follow the aggressive behavior as

quickly as possible

It must be certain to occur and the probability that it will

follow the aggressive behavior must be high

It must be strong and unpleasant towards the aggressor

It must be perceived as just and deserved

o
Catharsis

Venting your anger and aggression

Does not work because it forces people to think about how

they have been wronged, which may increase anger

Thinking about revenge increases the desire to actually do

revenge

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Self Regulation
Forgiveness
Exposure to Non-aggressive models
Training in social skills (including faculty attributions)
Generating an incompatible response