Aggression Flashcards
Defining aggression
Lots of different definitions
Behaviour resulting in personal injury or destruction of property (Bandura, 1973)
Behaviour is designed to harm others in some way (Baron & Branscombe, 2012)
Studying aggression
Can be measured differently
- Analogues of behaviour (bobo dolls (Bandura et al, 1963))
- Is this generalisable ?
- Signals of intention (expressing willingness to be aggressive)
- Intention doesn’t always translate to behaviour
- Ratings (self report, reports by others, observations)
- Social desirability bias
- interpret behaviour in line with prior expectations
- Indirect (Non-physical, psychological)
- May inflate the prevalence of aggression if comparing to direct measures of aggression
What are the theoretical approaches?
- Biological (psychodynamic, evolutionary)
- Biosocial (Frustration and aggression)
- Social (social learning theory)
Biological approaches
Psychodynamic approach Freud (1920)
We have an unconscious drive (Thanatos death instinct)
This instinct builds up and we do something we cant control
We deal with this tension by redirecting it to other activities
Evolutionary Darwin (1859)
Aggressive behaviour is used to ensure genetic survival
Males fighting other males for mating rights, hunting for food, etc (animals)
Obtaining social and economic advantage to improve their children’s survival rate (humans)
Critical evaluation of biological approach
Strengths
- Do appeal and resonate with the idea that violence is part of human nature
- Supported when comparing to animal behaviour
Weaknesses
- Instincts cannot be measured
- observations so cannot establish causality
- evolutionary tendencies develop over thousands of years so hard to study
- Humans behave aggressively outside situations when we need to protects ourselves of children
- Aggression towards family
- Evolutionary approach is not informative for prevention or intervention work
Biosocial approaches
Frustration-aggression hypothesis Dollard et al (1939)
Based on catharsis hypothesis , aggression is a cathartic release of build up of frustration
Frustration is an antecedent to aggression
Frustration = individual is prevented from achieving a goal by some external factor
Cannot always challenge the direct source of aggression
- Sublimation = using aggression in acceptable activities
- displacement = directing aggression outwards into something or someone else
Excitation Transfer (Zillmann, 1979)
Arousal in one context can carry over to other situations and may increase likelihood of aggressive behaviour
Needs 3 conditions :
1) 1st stimuli produces arousal
2) 2nd stimuli occurs before the complete decay of arousal from 1st stimuli
3) There is misattribution of excitation to the 2nd stimulus
At the gym > High level of excitation > motorist takes last parking space > aggression
Critical evaluation : Biosocial approach
Strengths
- Provides useful opportunities for interventions
- Marcus-Newhall et al 2000- metanalysis of displacement,
Weakness
- Frustration doesn’t always lead to aggression > too simplistic, can be aroused without being aggressive
- Some types of arousal make us feel good (exercise)
- Bushman et al (1999) people who vented their anger by hitting a punchbag became more angry than less
Social approach
Social learning theory (Bandura, 1972)
Aggression can be learnt directly (operant conditioning - rewarded for aggressive act will increase behaviour) or indirectly (observational learning and vicarious reinforcement - watching role models and their consequences)
Bandura and Walters (1963)
Bobo doll study
Exposed to adult displaying aggressive behaviour demonstrated increased number of aggressive behaviours when alone
Live observation
Critical evaluation : SLT
Strengths
- Account for how children learn aggression from other people around them, as well as through the media
- Empirical support (Bandura)
Weakness
- Aggressive role models doesn’t mean aggressive behaviour
- Individual differences
effects of violent media not consistently replicated - A consistence finding shows that boys showed more aggression in bobo doll study regardless of condition (could be biological)
Personal factors : Gender
Men engage in aggressive behaviour more than women (Eagly & Steffen, 1986)
Testosterone only has a weak positive relationship with aggression (Book et al, 2001)
Gender appropriate behaviours ( physical aggression is socially unacceptable for women but indirect may be more acceptable)
Denson et al (2018)
Women are more likely to engage in indirect forms of aggressive behaviours compared to men
Gender differences in aggression may be due to socialisation
Personal factors : Personality
Bartlett & Anderson (2012)
5 personality traits and aggression :
- Agreeableness - negatively associated with aggression both directly and indirectly via aggressive attitudes and emotions
- Neuroticism - positive association with aggression via aggressive emotions
Personal factors : Attachment
Ogilvie, Newman, Todd & Peck, 2014
Attachment security
Metanalysis
offenders were less secure than their controls
Insecure attachment was strongly associated with all types of criminality
Situational factors : Alcohol
Present in 68% of aggressive incidents (Wells et al, 2000)
Direct effects :
Compromises cortical control and increases activity in more primitive brain areas
Physiological arousal
Indirect effects :
Placebo effect (think having alcohol, increased aggression - Begue et al (2009)
Taylor et al (1988)
Those who were in alcohol group were more susceptible to pressure
Situational factors : Heat
Heat and aggression are linked
Cohn & Rotton (1997)
Assessed links between ambient temperature and assaults
Increased ambient temperature associated with increased in aggression
Can be too hot to be aggressive
Situational factors : Crowding
Population density linked to crime rates (Regoeczi, 2003)
Increases stress, irritation
Anonymity in crowds :
- Disinhibition (usual social forces that stop us from acting are reduced)
- Deindividualisation (feel unidentifiable, so unlikely to face consequences)
