Chapter 11: Aggression
aggression.
Aggression is a voluntary behavior
intended to harm another
Extreme acts of aggression is called-
violence
Anger is consist of strong feelings of
displeasure in response to a perceived
injury; the exact nature of these feelings
depends on the specific situation
Hostility is a negative, antagonistic
attitude toward another person or group
Criteria for Aggression
-Inaction or Action
-Voluntary and Intentional
-Directed toward Others or the Self
2 types of Aggression
Emotional Aggression (Reactive)
(also called hostile or angry aggression):
the primary goal is to inflict harm or hurt
someone.
Instrumental Aggression (Proactive)
the primary goal is to attain something.
Gender Differences in Aggression
1. Men tend to use direct aggression
2. Women tend to use indirect
aggression
Theories on the Origin of Aggression
1. Aggression is inevitable.
a. Internal instigation theories:
Aggression arises from something within
humans.
b. Sociobiological Theories.
Aggression arises from something within
our biology.
2. Aggression is not inevitable.
a. Learning theory. S-R Model.
We must learn to aggress.
b. Environmental theories.
Aggression is a natural and unlearned
response to certain environmental
conditions.
c. Cognitive theories. S-O-R Model.
Our cognitive appraisal elicits
Internal Instigation (Instinct
Theory)
- To Freud, aggression is inevitable.
- He hypothesized the existence of
thanatos, a "death wish"
- Freud saw aggression as our need to
fulfill the death wish in a socially
acceptable way.
- As the need to meet the wish builds,
the tendency towards aggression does,
too.
Catharsis Hypothesis
Catharsis - a reduction of the motive to
aggress that is said to result from any
imagined, observed, or actual act of
aggression
Small acts of aggression can reduce the
pressure of the aggressive drive. Four
kinds:
1. Direct catharsis: Committing
aggression against the source of your
anger.
2. Displacement: Committing
aggression against someone other than
the source of your anger.
-Scapegoating
-Sublimation: Socially acceptable
aggression.
3. Dramatic catharsis: Watching acts
of aggression.
Sociobiological Theory
Aggressive people have had a
reproductive advantage over time
Learning Theory
1.Association - Mindless Transfer
2. Reinforcement: We're reinforced for
exhibiting aggression
-In appropriate situations
-To appropriate actions
-To appropriate targets

3. Social Learning
Excitation Transfer Theory
(1979): Arousal arising in one situation
can intensify emotional responses in
another situation
Arousal is greatest when:
-You're unaware that you're aroused.
-You attribute your arousal to the
current situation rather than to the
situation in which it actually occurred.
Zillman Experiment (1979)
Showed that arousal through exercise
caused more insulting (through shock)
Heat Can cause arousal (hot weather)
Environmental Theory
-Frustration is one environmental event
or stimulus that elicits aggression.
-Frustration is the stimulus (S) and
aggression is the response (R) in the S-R
model
-Frustration always leads to aggression
and aggression always results from
frustration.
-You are more frustrated if:
a. You're closer to the goal
b. An unexpected event blocks your goal
c. You feel relatively deprived (others
achieve goal)
Buss (1963)
- Subjects experienced frustration by a
confederate causing them to lose
money, fail at a task, or lose extra
credit.
- Subjects were more aggressive to the
confederate when they were in one of
the frustration conditions than when
they were in the control conditions.
Cognitive Theory
- Revised Frustration Aggression
Hypothesis (RFA) (S-O-R model)
Frustration (S) can lead to a readiness to
aggress, i.e., anger (O), which can then
lead to aggression (R).
- But anger will lead to aggression only
in the presence of environmental
releasers.
- Environmental releasers are cues in
the environment that signal that
aggression is acceptable
Cognitive Neoassociation Analysis
A more Complete Cognitive Model of
Aggression: Berkowitz (1989, 1990,
1993) Whether events, like attack and
frustration, lead to anger depends on:
1. Attributions (Controllable v.
Uncontrollable)
Hostile Attribution Bias: some people
are more likely to make hostile
attributions for someone else's
behaviour
2. Non-specific arousal
e.g., Noise, Bad odors, Cigarette smoke,
Crowding, Pain, Heat, Losing,
Threatened self-esteem
3. Personality variables:
E.g., hostile attribution bias
Disinhibitors
(Cognitive Neoassociation Analysis)
Whether anger leads to aggression:
--Disinhibitors are things that make it
MORE likely that we'll aggress.
-Releasers
-Anonymity
-Alcohol/Drugs
-Emotion
-Sociopathy
-Non-specific sources of arousal
Inhibitors
(Cognitive Neoassociation Analysis)
Whether anger leads to aggression:
Inhibitors are things that make it LESS
likely that we'll aggress.
-High costs (e.g., fear of retaliation)
-Strong cultural or personal norms
Video Games & Aggression
- Anderson, C. A. (2004). An update on
the effects of playing violent video
games. Journal of Adolescence , 27, p.
113-122.
- "An updated meta-analysis reveals that
exposure to violent video games is
significantly linked to increases in
aggressive behaviour, aggressive
cognition, aggressive affect, and
cardiovascular arousal, and to decreases
in helping behaviour. Experimental
studies reveal this linkage to be causal.
Correlational studies reveal a linkage to
serious, real-world types of aggression."
Weapons effect is the tendency that
the likelihood of aggression will increase
by the mere presence of weapons
Rumination involves repeatedly
thinking about and reliving an anger-
inducing event, focusing on angry
thought and feelings, and perhaps even
planning or imagining revenge
Cultivation is the process by which the
mass media (particularly television)
construct a version of social reality for
the public
Pornography is an explicit sexual
material
Individualistic cultures tend to have-
higher rates of aggression than
collectivistic cultures
Bullying is a persistent and widespread
problem that affects a large number of
young people in the world
There is some stability in aggression-
aggression in childhood predicts
aggression in adulthood
Some other personality traits that are
associated with aggression are
emotional susceptibility, Type A
personality, and impulsivity
Narcissism is correlated with
aggressiveness in response to
provocation
Evolutionary psychology views
aggression as a universal, innate
characteristic that has evolved from
natural and sexual selection pressures
The sex hormone testosterone and the
neurotransmitter serotonin play roles in
human aggression.
Impairments in several areas of the
brain, especially executive functioning,
are associated with Aggressiveness
Aggression is increased when rewarded
Aggression is decreased by punishment
only under specific conditions that are
often not met in the real world
According to the frustration-
aggression hypothesis, displacement
occurs if aggression against the source
of frustration is inhibited
Most research does not support the idea
of displacement of aggression (catharsis)
as an effective means to reduce
aggression.
Highly arousing stimuli increase
aggression.
The negative affect provocation is a key
factor behind much aggression.
Social rejection is particularly aversive
and can increase aggressive responses
Deliberate thoughts that affect
aggression include the perception of the
cost or appropriateness of aggression
Self-control failure is behind most acts
of aggression and violence
Impairs the cognitive control of
aggression = high arousal, alcohol
Sugar-rich drinks can boost otherwise
depleted- self control; expectations
about caffeine can help self-control, but
the arousal caffeine causes can weaken
self-control.
The General Aggression Model
helps explain the relationships among
various factors that contribute to
aggression, such as the separate and
interactive effects of affect, arousal, and
cognitions.
I3 theory focuses on the relative
weights of social and personality factors
that promote aggression against the
factors that promote self-control.

Aggression replacement therapy

works to reduce aggression by training
individuals in social competence, moral
reasoning, and aggression control.

Multi systematic therapy recognizes

that aggression has multiple levels of
causes.