Aggression

Question 1

Identify the explanations of aggression

Answer 1

• Biological explanations
• Social-psychological explanations
• Ethological explanation

Question 2

Identify the biological explanations of aggression

Answer 2

• Neural mechanisms
• Hormonal mechanisms
• Genetic factors

Question 3

Outline neural and hormonal mechanisms as an explanation of aggression

Answer 3

• Focused on how the brain affects aggression levels.

• The key implicators include the Limbic system (which is thought to control aggression), the neural influence of serotonin and the hormonal influence of testosterone

Question 4

Outline the limbic system in relation to aggression

Answer 4

• Brain area that co-ordinates behaviours that satisfy motivational and emotional urges such as aggression and fear

• The key areas associated with aggression are the Hippocampus and Amygdala

Question 5

Describe the role of the Hippocampus in aggression

Answer 5

• Involved in the formation of LTM so animals can compare a current threat to similar past experience

• Eg. If an animal was attacked, the next time they’re confronted with the attacker they’re more likely to react with fear or aggression

• Impaired Hippocampal functioning prevents the nervous system putting things into context causing inappropriate responses to sensory stimuli from the Amygdala, causing aggressive behaviour

Question 6

Describe the role of the Amygdala in aggression

Answer 6

• Evaluates emotional importance of sensory information and quickly prompts appropriate responses

• When certain areas are electrically stimulated, animals respond aggressively (e.g. snarling). If these areas are surgically removed, animals no longer respond to stimuli that previously incited aggression

• Amygdala malfunction, due to tumours, damage or atypical development, may raise testosterone levels, increasing likelihood AIC aggression and highlighting the link with hormonal mechanisms

Question 7

Describe the role of Serotonin in aggression

Answer 7

• Neurotransmitter that inhibits amygdala firing, reducing aggression as responses to emotional stimuli are inhibited.

• Normal serotonin levels have a calming inhibitory effect on the brain’s neural firing. Low serotonin removes this effect, leaving individuals more susceptible to impulsive behaviour such as aggression, depression and alcohol abuse; this is referred to as the serotonin deficiency hypothesis

• Research on mice found when the ‘serotonin 1B receptor’ (nt acting on the CNS that induces behavioural change) wasn’t functioning, aggression increased

Question 8

Outline the hormonal mechanism affecting aggression

Answer 8

• Testosterone and male sex hormones (androgens) are thought to influence aggression from young adulthood. Testosterone concentrations fluctuate rapidly according to environmental changes that influence aggressive behaviour by increasing amygdala reactivity to processing social threat

• Men are more aggressive than women and have much higher testosterone concentrations, females have 10% of that of males and at the ages (21-35) where testosterone concentration’s highest there’s an increase in male-on-male aggressive behaviour. According to the office for National statistics 93% of suspects of male homicides are male, demonstrating high rates of male-on-male aggression.

• High testosterone levels also reduce Orbito-frontal cortex activity, causing heightened emotionally aggressive responses in emotional situations

Question 9

Explain AO1 research into hormonal mechanisms affecting aggression

Answer 9

• Sapolsky (1988) stated that removing the source of aggression in different species resulted in lower aggression levels, but aggression returned when using injections to reinstate normal testosterone levels

• Research on mice suggests the enzyme aromatase is implicated in aggression as it’s important in metabolising testosterone in the gain and is found in the Limbic region, including the Amygdala

Question 10

Outline the genetic explanation of aggression

Answer 10

• High levels of testosterone or fluctuating serotonin levels could be genetically determined so certain families or individuals could be predisposed to biochemical differences and so higher levels of aggression than the population

• Genetic influence is investigated through twin adoption and family studies and studies of single genes and violent populations

Question 11

Identify the role of twin studies in determining the influence of genetics on aggression

Answer 11

• Mz twins share 100% genetic similarity and Dz twins share 50%, so if Mz twins are more alike in terms of their aggressive behaviour, it’s assumed the aggressions due to genes (nature) rather than the environment (nurture)

• Coccaro et al (1977) used adult twin pairs, finding nearly 50% of variance in direct aggressive behaviour could be attributed to genetic factors demonstrating the influence of genes on aggression

Question 12

Identify the role of adoption studies in determining the influence of genetics on aggression

Answer 12

• Adoption studies allow us to identify the relative contributions of environment and heredity in aggression;

• Genetics implied suggests a positive correlation’s found between aggressive behaviour in adopted children and their biological parents, while environment implied suggests a positive correlation between the adoptees aggression and the rearing family.

• Hutchings and Mednick (1975) conducted a study in Denmark of over 14,000 adoptees, finding a significant number of boys with criminal convictions had biological parents (mostly fathers) with convictions for criminal violence, demonstrating evidence for a genetic link

Question 13

Outline the role of MAOA (monoamine oxidase A) gene in aggression (the ‘Warrior’ gene)

Answer 13

• Controls an enzyme that breaks down important neurotransmitters in the brain (including dopamine, noradrenaline and in particular the regulation of the metabolism serotonin) and is implicated in aggression

• There are variations of the gene in humans, causing different enzymatic activity. People with lesser activity (MAOA-L) produce less of this enzyme and are more likely to display anti-social behaviour (ASB) and act more aggressively

• MAOA-L has been found to be more prevalent in populations with a history of warfare, with about 2/3 of those populations having that version compared with 1/3 in Western populations

Question 14

Identify the social psychological approaches to explaining aggression

Answer 14

• Social Learning Theory
• Deindividuation
• Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis

Question 15

Define aggression and identify and explain the different types (SLT)

Answer 15

• Aggression is behaviour that is intended to harm another living being, either psychologically or physically. There are three types of aggression:
1. Hostile aggression involves the intent to harm
someone
2. Instrumental aggression is used to gain a
reward; a means to an end
3. Pro-social aggression is aggression to prevent
greater harm

Question 16

Outline Social Learning Theory of aggression

Answer 16

• Bandura (1977) stated we learn about aggressive behaviour by observing and imitating others. He acknowledged the role of biology but stated social learning was useful in demonstrating the context in which aggression is used, the forms it takes, the situations that produce it and the targets it’s directed towards.

• Children witness aggressive behaviour at home, school and in the media (e.g. films) and gradually learn appropriate conduct by observing the consequences of those who use it.

• Aggression’s primarily learnt through direct reinforcement of a child’s own experience (operant conditioning) or indirect reinforcement in observing someone being positively reinforced through vicarious reinforcement
• E.g. if a playground bully’s used aggression to get money off another student, that behaviours been rewarded and an observers more likely to imitate it

Question 17

Outline the role of mental representation in SLT

Answer 17

• Bandura (1986) claimed in order for social learning, the child must form mental representations of their social environment that include expectations of rewards and punishments for aggressive behaviour

• This is where SLT incorporates cognition in the form of schema, as these scripts become internalised. Once they’re established in childhood they can become a way of life.

Question 18

Outline meditational processes applied to aggression

Answer 18

• Behaviour isn’t automatically imitated. There are cognitive meditational processes which determine whether a behaviour is imitated, including:

• Attention, whether the child notices the
behaviour. Aggressive behaviour often catches
people’s attention as it’s noticeable e.g. a child
sees another child hitting someone to steal their
lunch, which catches the observers attention

• Retention, whether the child remembers the
behaviour that caught their attention. Aggressive
behaviour is more likely to be remembered due
to the emotion around the memory e.g. a child
remembers this behaviour next time they see
another child eating lunch

• Motor reproduction, e.g. whether the child is
physically strong enough to hit another child to
the extent that they’ll hand over their food

• Motivation, e.g. whether the child is willing to go
against their morals and hit another child. If the
observer doesn’t want to do the behaviour then
they wont imitate it even if it commanded
attention, was remembered and they’re
physically capable of it

• Self efficacy refers to the extent we believe our actions will achieve a desired goal. A child’s confidence in their ability to be aggressive grows as they learn aggression brings rewards e.g. a child that regularly hits others to get their lunch learns they have the ability to do so. Self-efficacy increases each time aggression brings rewards

Question 19

Outline Deindividuation as an explanation of aggression

Answer 19

• Deindividuation is a social psychological theory that occurs when an individual is part of a group or crowd that increases the likelihood of aggression

• Deindividuation is a psychological state where a person loses their sense of identity and becomes anonymous, characterised by lower self-evaluation and decreased concerns about evaluation by others.

• Individuals no longer feel autonomous and so adopt the morals of the group they’re apart of at that time. This leads to an increase in behaviour that would normally be inhibited by personal or social norms

Question 20

Outline AO1 research into Deindividuation

Answer 20

• Le Bon argued it was necessary to look at individuals to explain mob violence during the French Revolution. He felt the person loses their identity in a crowd and their moral code doesn’t apply. The larger the crowd, the greater the likelihood of losing self-identify and therefore aggression

• Zimbardo (1969) suggested there are factors that contribute to deindividuation, including a reduced sense of responsibility, sensory overload and altered conscious due to alcohol or drugs

Question 21

Outline the role of self awareness on deindividuation

Answer 21

• Drener (1980) suggested deindividuation was mediated by self awareness. Usually, self awareness acts as a regulator of behaviour but in a crowd there’s lots of stimulation to attend to so focus shifts outwards and self awareness declines. Therefore the regulator of behaviour is weakened and uncharacteristic behaviour is more likely

• Public self awareness refers to when people are aware of how others see them . In a crowd, the number of people appraising an individual is multiplied. There’s also a feeling of diffusion of responsibility so certain behavioural inhibitions lose their effect

• Private self awareness refers to being able to notice one’s internal state. Decline in self awareness comes when an individual ‘loses themselves’ in the crowd. They prioritise the many environmental cues rather than focusing on themselves

Question 22

Outline the Frustration-aggression hypothesis

Answer 22

• The Frustration-aggression hypothesis is based off the work of Dollard et al (1939) who suggested that aggression is a consequence of feelings of frustration

• It states that aggression is a psychological drive similar to biological drives and to Freud’s unconscious drives e.g. the Id. We experience frustration if our attempt to achieve a goal is blocked by an external factor, this frustration creates aggressive drives resulting in aggressive behaviour.
• This is affected by both an individuals proximity to the goal and whether aggression will remove the barrier that’s causing the frustration.

• Expression of an aggressive drive is said to be cathartic, in that aggression that’s been created from frustration is now satisfied. This will then likely reduce the drive making further aggression less likely. This cathartic response can be argued to be positive
• E.g. a footballer frustrated at conceding a goal punches an opposition player as an aggression response. This provides a cathartic outlet and satisfies the aggressive drive

Question 23

Identify and explain the two factors that influence aggression in the Frustration-aggression hypothesis

Answer 23

The two factors that affect the likelihood of aggression occurring include:

• Proximity to the goal: if the individual is very close to achieving their goal then the likelihood of aggression occurring is much greater than if achieving the goal is much less imminent or attainable

• Whether aggression will remove the barrier causing frustration: if aggression will have no effect on removing the barrier then it’s less likely to occur
• E.g. if a piece of machinery breaks, aggression or violence towards it doesn’t help the situation. However if the person coming to fix the equipment is slow to arrive, the person waiting may get aggressive with them on the phone if they think it may speed them up

Question 24

Identify the ethnological explanations of aggression