Aggression 1 Flashcards
Define aggression
Any form of behaviour intended to harm or injure another living being who is motivated to avoid such treatment
Any form of behaviour intended to harm or injure another living being who is motivated to avoid such treatment
This is known as…?
Aggression
What are the 3 defining features of aggression?
1) Aggressor must intend to harm or injure another person
2) Aggressor must have awareness of the adverse effects of the behaviour
3) Target of the aggression must want to avoid the harm
A man shot a gun towards a child but misses his target
Is this an example of aggression?
Yes
A Dentist that causes pain when cleaning cavities with sprayed water
Is this an example of aggression?
No. It is accidental, not aggression.
What is violence?
The intention or threat of causing serious physical harm
The intention or threat of causing serious physical harm
This is known as…?
Violence
What is the difference between violence and aggression?
1) All acts of violence are aggression
2) Not all instances of aggression are violence
(e.g. shouting at someone is aggressive but not violent)
What are some examples of human aggression? List 6 examples
- Shouting
- Gossiping
- Terrorism
- Child abuse
- Domestic Violence
- Football hooliganism
What are the 2 types of aggression?
1) Hostile aggression
2) Instrumental aggression
Aggressive behaviour is motivated by the desire to express anger and hostile feelings
What type of aggression is this?
Hostile aggression
Aggressive behaviour is performed to reach a particular goal, as a means to an end.
What type of aggression is this?
Instrumental aggression
The overwhelming, uncontrollable, hot aggression you feel towards someone or something when they anger you IN THE MOMENT
Motivation = to release pent-up anger and harm the target
What type of aggression is this?
Hostile aggression
A cold and pre-planned aggressive behaviour
Motivation = to reach a goal (e.g. a child runs into the road and nearly gets killed by a car. Mother smacks the child hard. The motivation here is not to harm the child, but to punish them and teach them to be safe.
What type of aggression is this?
Instrumental aggression
Describe 3 features of Instrumental aggression
- Cold
- Premediated (pre-planned)
- Motive: to reach a goal, harm as a side effect
Describe 3 features of Hostile aggression
- Hot
- Non-pre-mediated (unplanned, aggression performed in the moment)
- Motive: harm the target and release pent up anger
How can we measure aggression? List 2 methods
1) Experiments that use ‘trivial’, non-serious acts of harm
2) Archival data
Describe an example of experiments that use trivial, non-serious acts of harm to observe aggression after playing violent and no violent video games
1) You want to investigate whether violent video games lead to more aggressive behaviour
2) Ask 2 sets of participants to play two different games for 30 minutes
P1 = Violent game
P2 = Non-violent game
3) Give the winning participant a chance to ‘harm’ another participant using ‘aversive’ stimuli
Give examples of aversive stimuli to measure aggression in an ethical way
1) “Electric shocks” (mild vs moderate vs severe) but it doesn’t actually shock the Ps
2) Quiet obnoxious noise vs loud obnoxious noise (Ps can crank up the volume until “permanent hearing damage” but it doesn’t actually cause damage)
3) Unpleasantly hot spicy sauce
4) Ice bucket
We can measure aggression using aversive stimuli. What is taken as a measure of aggression when Ps are presented with aversive stimuli?
The willingness to inflict nastier experiences than necessary to another participant is taken as a measure of aggression
We can measure aggression using aversive stimuli. What is the problem with this?
Lack ecological validity
e.g. It may seem that people who play violent games are significantly more likely to opt for harsher punishments for the loser
But this only suggests that people behave in an aggressive way IMMEDIATELY after playing a violent game
And that they had to perform a strange task that gives them direct power over the loser
We can measure aggression using aversive stimuli. What validity does this show?
Construct validity (measuring all constructs/what it’s supposed to be measuring)
People who are most aggressive outside the lab score most highly on lab measures
How do we measure aggression using archival records?
Looking at crime statistics and calculating the incidence of particular types of crime
By looking at crime statistics, what are the incidences of particular forms of aggression?
- Intimate partner violence
- Child sexual abuse
- Murder
- Grievous bodily harm
- Hate crimes
What are the problems with using archival records to measure aggression?
- Not always in the right format for us
- We can’t always access everything we want because some can be confidential
- It’s not always captured in the way that scientists want it to be captured (set up by external, non-research agencies)
Domestic violence spikes during Christmas. Why does this occur?
It can be hypothesised that during xmas time, there is an increase in stress due to:
- Tough financial situations
- Excess alcohol consumption
- Being stuck with family members that you may not like (tension and dispute)
What are the 2 types of approaches attempting to explain aggression?
1) Biological approaches
2) Psychological approaches
What are the 2 theories that provide biological explanations for aggression?
1) Behavioural genetics
2) Hormonal explanations
What are the 2 theories that provide psychological explanations for aggression?
1) Frustration-aggression hypothesis
2) Excitation transfer model
What does Behavioural Genetics suggest about aggression?
Some animals have been actively bred for aggression and that genes play a part in underpinning violent behaviour
Who bred and studied the behaviour of aggressive mice?
Lagerspetz
What did Lagerspetz do in this study testing for behavioural genetics in aggression?
1) Took normal mice and bred the most aggressive ones together and the least aggressive ones together
2) Twenty-six generations later, there was one set of ‘fierce’ mice and one set of ‘placid’ mice
3) Suggests aggression can be passed on through genetics
A child who is non-aggressive at the age of 8 is significantly (more/less) likely to be aggressive at age 48 than a child who is aggressive at age 8
Less likely
How is behavioural genetics observed? List 2 types of studies
1) Adoption Studies: Compare how aggressive a person who has been adopted is with the aggression levels of their adopted parents and their biological parents
2) Twin Studies: Compare the behaviour of identical and fraternal twins
What hormone is linked with violence?
Testosterone
Why are men more likely to be violent and aggressive?
Because they have higher levels of testosterone than women
Archer, Buring and Wu (1998) claimed that highly aggressive men have (higher/lower) levels of testosterone than non-aggressive men.
Higher
Who proposed the study on hormonal influences and the weapons effect?
Klinesmith, Kasser and McAndrew
What did Klinesmith, Kasser and McAndrew do in their study testing for hormonal influences and the weapons effect?
1) Measured male participants’ testosterone levels (by taking a saliva swab)
2) Randomly assigned participants:
Condition 1= Participants were asked to ‘handle’ a gun for 15 minutes
Condition 2 = Participants were asked to handle a child’s toy for 15 minutes
3) Men were told to make a drink for another participant and to add as much hot sauce as they wanted. Their testosterone levels were measured again.
What were the findings in Klinesmith, Kasser and McAndrew’s study testing for hormonal influences and the weapons effect?
1) Men who handled the gun added significantly more hot sauce to the water (13.61g) than those who held the children’s toy (4.23g)
2) Men who handled the gun had significantly higher levels of testosterone at the end of the experiment than at the start of the exp (62.05 pg/ml more testosterone)
What did the findings in Klinesmith, Kasser and McAndrew’s study investigating hormonal influences and the weapons effect suggest?
Just being exposed to an aggressive cue (e.g., a gun) can increase testosterone levels and make people more aggressive
What term is used to describe this?
People behave in a more aggressive way when cued by a violent cue
Weapon effect
Define the weapon effect
When people behave in a more aggressive way when cued by a violent cue
There are 3 main parts of the Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis. What are they?
1) All frustration leads to aggression. All aggression comes from frustration.
2) Frustration is a blockage of goal-directed activity (when you can’t seem to achieve a certain goal, you get frustrated)
3) Aggression is driven by a goal to overcome/neutralise the feeling of frustration (catharsis)
Aggression is driven by a goal to overcome/neutralise the feeling of frustration
This is known as…?
Catharsis
Define catharsis
When aggression is driven by a goal to overcome/neutralise the feeling of frustration
Does aggression really lead to catharsis?
There’s little evidence
Research shows that doing nothing (sitting quietly) actually is more effective in reducing anger than ‘venting’ (Bushman, 2002)
Participants were asked to write an essay and the essay is then graded by another student in a different room (actually non-existent)
A short time later, the experimenter brings back the essay with comments made by the other participant
All participants received bad evaluations consisting of negative ratings on their essays
They also received a handwritten note “This is one of the worst essay I have ever read”
Half the participants were allowed to “vent” anger by hitting pillows or a punching bag or shouting
What were the findings of this study?
- The group who were allowed to vent their anger experienced increased anger levels and increased subsequent aggressive behaviour
- The group who sat quietly did not experience an increase in anger levels or any increased subsequent aggressive behaviour
What was the Excitation-Transfer Theory influenced by?
Schachter and Singer’s two-factor theory of emotion
According to Schachter and Singer’s two-factor theory of emotion, what is emotion based on?
1) Physiological arousal
2) Cognitive label
How might a person feel before an event occurs, according to Schachter’s theory of emotion?
Our emotional state depends upon attributing physiological arousal to our cognitions
Can increased physiological arousal lead to an increase in aggression if someone encounters an anger-eliciting stimulus?
Yes but only if we had some form of anger-related arousal before we are met with an event that could trigger/elicit anger
e.g.
There’s a traffic jam -> You experience anger-related arousal
The arousal persists -> You experience delay at the airport gate -> You experience arousal and irritation
Physiological arousal from a neutral activity is still present when …?
A person encounters an anger-eliciting situation and the earlier pent-up arousal (excitation) is transferred onto the anger-related arousal and falsely is labelled as anger
This leads to an increased likelihood that the individual will behave aggressively
Neutral activity = going to the gym
Anger eliciting situation = flatmate eating your food
Because of your leftover arousal from the gym, you end up behaving in an aggressive way because your flatmate ate your food (anger-eliciting situation)
What theory supports this?
Excitation Transfer Theory
Why are sportsmen often aggressive?
If a sportsman is tackled unfairly when near the goal/ near scoring, the anger-related arousal based on the foul might be magnified by the physiological arousal left over from playing the sport/exercising
A player might lash out at the opponent rather than simply complain to the referee
Describe Zilman and Bryant’s excitation transfer study on aggression
1) Participants had to perform either a physically non-arousing task (threading disks on a wire) or an arousing task (pedalling a bicycle for 1min)
2) 2 min later, Ps were provoked with an obnoxious and unpleasant/aversive noise
3) 6 min later, Ps had the opportunity to administer obnoxious and aversive noise blasts to the person who had provoked them
Describe the results of Zilman and Bryant’s excitation transfer study on aggression
Participants in the high arousal group (pedalling a bicycle for 1min) administered a louder noise blast than those in the non-arousal condition (threading disks on a wire)
Good evidence for excitation transfer theory
