Aggression Flashcards
What is aggression?
Aggression is harmful behaviour that can be direct (physical) or indirect (exclusion, gossip).
What are some theories of aggression?
- Biological
- Frustration-Aggression
- Learned through socialisation.
Explain the biological theory of aggression.
Biological
- Aggression is bred (Lagerspetz, 1979) with mice VS non-aggressive mice.
- Is instinctual.
Biochemical
- Richardson and Budd (2003) heavy alcohol drinking in 18-24 y/os are 5x more likely to commit violent offences than those who only drink once a once.
Hormonal
- Those with higher testosterone are more aggressive than those with lower testosterone.
What is the frustration-aggression theory?
Frustration = goal being blocked.
Brown et al. (2001) when blocked by a French person from ferry, individuals were more likely to insult a French person.
Dollard et al. (1939)
- Created a model which shows where aggression is sourced from (frustration).
- Sometimes it is displaced and taken out elsewhere or on someone else.
Some evaluations of the frustration theory?
- Perception and context is important; is 30k salary a year good? Is the individual angry or irritated?
Explain how aggression is learned through socialisation. Cite studies.
Bandura et al. (1961)
Condition A
- Children were exposed to adults being aggressive to bobo dolls.
- Children would mimic this behaviour.
Condition B
- Some adults were rewarded for this behaviour, and some were punished.
- Those who were rewarded, the children would mimic.
- Those who were punished, the children would not.
Ennis and Zanna (1991)
- Canadian teenage hockey players whose fathers applauded at physically aggressive play were the most aggressive.
- Promotes aggressive behaviours; aggression is rewarded/praised.
How might culture add to socialisation to developing aggression?
In cultures, certain values are emphasised, such as shame in EA. Acting immature, or showing aggression is thought to bring shame and looked down upon, resulting in the children to not display these behaviours as frequently (Myers et al., 1999).
Further, Vincent et al. (2011) highlights that homophobic aggression is strong in these cultures that have ideals on how a man ‘should’ act.
- Men of these cultures may feel the need to be aggressive in a way to protect their masculinity.
What are some media influences towards aggression?
- Results in mimicking these behaviours/normalises it.
- Desensitises audiences.
- Fuels/breeds aggressive thinking.
Social media: many young children tend to mimic behaviours on social media (Ching et al., 2011).
TV: Being exposed to TV violence or aggression can promote these behaviours.
- Cultivation hypothesis: the assumption that TV content reflects the real world.
This is prominent in the porn industry:
- Exposure to sexual violence makes viewers more accepting of this culture (Mullin & Linz, 1995; Wei et al., 2010)
Video games: Can be perhaps even more effective than TV consumption as video games involve active participation from the player (Myers et al., 1999)
What is a counter points for media consumption with learning aggression?
Catharsis: watching violence and aggression can release these pent up aggression, and result in less aggressive behaviour.
- Feshbach and Singer (1971) 9-15 year old boys who watched aggressive media would partake in less aggressive acts.
Fraser et al. (2012) found that though some gamers would not have an increased aggression, they would have a decrease in empathy and thus display lower prosocial behaviour.
- Even if not ‘causing’ harm, there is a reduction in helping and empathy levels.
How does being in a group influence aggression levels?
Being in a large group can result in deindividuation, meaning the individual loses their sense of self and responsibility when with others.
How to reduce aggression?
- Learning the sources of aggression can help to manage them or reduce them.
- Learning the effects of media consumptions can help parents become aware and monitor the consumption level.
- Be able to counter media beliefs in education systems, as well as teaching methods to manage aggression; mindfulness, avoid substance/alc abuse.
