11 - AGGRESSION

Question 1

What was Rousseau’s view of human aggression?

Answer 1

Human nature is basically gentle; agriculture, technology and urbanisation fuel violence

Question 2

What was Hobbes’s view of human aggression?

Answer 2

Human nature is basically vicious; it is curbed by modern society.

Question 3

What did Gomez (2016) find about within-species aggression?

Answer 3

Within-species aggression is more common among territorial and social species (e.g. homo sapiens) - in line with Darwinian thinking

Question 4

Are empathic people much less aggressive?

Answer 4

Empathic people are only very weakly less aggressive

Question 5

What percentage of people in Trolley vs Footbridge problem would kill one to save five? What does this show?

Answer 5

Trolley: 90%. Footbridge: 10%. People are automatically averse to doing direct physical harm.

Question 6

What is Thanatos according to Freud?

Answer 6

The death instinct born out of frustration

Question 7

What did Raine (1993) find about monozygotic twins?

Answer 7

Twins of convicts. Half of monozygotic twins also had criminal records. Just one fifth of dizygotic twins had criminal records.

Question 8

What biochemical influence seems to suppress aggression? (Berman 2009)

Answer 8

Serotonin seems to suppress aggression.

Question 9

Who is right, Rosseau or Hobbes?

Answer 9

Hobbes

Question 10

What is the frustration-aggression hypothesis?

Answer 10

The frustration-aggression hypothesis states that frustration (the blocking of a goal) always leads to some form of aggression

Question 11

What does social learning theory say about aggression?

Answer 11

Social learning theory suggests aggression can be learnt vicariously through others