Aggression

Question 1

Explain the neural mechanisms in aggression

Answer 1

the limbic system
- hypothalamus, amygdala and hippocampus
- the more reactive the amygdala, the more aggressive
- Gospic found that when participants reacted aggressively, fMRI scans showed a fast response by the amygdala
- taking benzodiazepine decreased the activity of the amygdala and reduced aggression
orbitofrontal cortex and serotonin
- serotonin slows down neural activity
- normal levels in the orbitofrontal cortex are linked to a reduced firing of neurons, leading to greater behavioral self control
- serotonin deficiency hypothesis suggests that low levels of serotonin is linked to impulsive behavior
- Virkunen found lower levels of 5-HIAA in impulsive offenders compared non-impulsive offenders

Question 2

Describe hormonal mechanisms in aggression

Answer 2

Testosterone
- generally, men are more aggressive than women
- it has a role in regulating social behavior via its influence on certain areas of the brain implicated in aggression
- castrating animals reduces aggression in the males of many species and injecting testosterone restores aggressive behavior
- Dolan found a positive correlation between testosterone levels and aggressive behavior in 60 offenders in UK maximum security hospitals

progesterone
- women
- Ziomkiewicz found a negative correlation between progesterone levels and self reported aggression, suggesting low levels lead to increased aggression

Question 3

Evaluate the neural mechanisms in aggression

Answer 3

Strength
drugs and serotonin
- drugs that increase serotonin have been found to also reduce levels of aggressive behavior
- Berman gave participants either a placebo or paroxetine and then they had to give shocks in response to insults
- the drugged group gave less intense shocks than the placebo
- this is a causal link between serotonin and aggression

limitation
other brain structures
- non limbic brain structures are also involved
- the orbitofrontal cortex is involved in impulse regulation and inhibition of aggressive behavior
- Coccaro said that OFC activity is reduced, which disrupts the impulse control function, causing aggressive behavior
- therefore, this theory is more complex than originally thought

Question 4

Evaluation of the hormonal mechanism in aggression

Answer 4

Strength
animal research
- Giammanco reviewed studies and found that there is an increase in testosterone levels and aggressive behavior in monkeys during the mating season
- castrating male rats reduces testosterone and mouse killing behavior
- injecting female rats with testosterone increases mouse killing

Limitation
dual hormone hypothesis
- Carre and Mehta suggest that high levels of testosterone lead to aggression, but only when cortisol is low
- when cortisol is high, testosterones influence is blocked, ass it plays a role in the body’s response to chronic stress
- therefore, the combined activity may be a better predictor of aggression than just either hormone

Question 5

Describe the genetic factors in aggression

Answer 5

Twin studies
- Coccaro found the concordance rates for MZ and DZ twins in physical assault is 50% and 19%, and for verbal aggression 28% and 7%
adoption studies
- Rhee and Waldman carried out a meta analysis of adoption studies and found that genetic influences account for 41% of the variance in aggression, in line with the twin studies
the MAOA gene
- controls the production of monoamine oxidase A, which regulates serotonin
- MAOA-L leads to low activity of the enzyme and therefore less serotonin in the synapse
- the warrior gene had been found in 56% of the maori people compared to 34% of caucasians
- Brunner studied 28 men from a large Dutch family who were repeatedly involved in criminal behavior and found that they had low levels of the enzyme MAOA-A as well as the MAOA-L gene
gene environment interactions
- gene activity is only related to adult aggression if paired with early traumatic life experiences
- Frazzetto found an association between higher levels of antisocial aggression and the MAOA-L gene in men, but only in those who had experienced significant trauma
- this is an example of diathesis stress

Question 6

Evaluation of genetic factors in aggression

Answer 6

Strength
research support
- Mertins found that men with the MAOA-H gene were more cooperative and made less aggressive moves than the low variant during a money distributing game, this supports the link between the variant of the gene and aggression
- however, non genetic factors are also crucial, as those with the low variant acted less aggressive once they saw that others were also behaving cooperatively
- therefore, genes are influenced by environmental factors that are at least as important in aggression

limitations
complex link
- low activity of the enzyme should lead to higher serotonin, as it doesn’t deactivate serotonin, leaving more for synaptic transmission
- therefore, the serotonin level may be disrupted and not lowered, and the relationship between MAOA gene, serotonin, and aggression is not yet fully understood

problems with twin studies
- may lack validity as DZ twins don’t share the same environment to the same extent as MZ twins. by assuming they do, this is means that the concordance rates are inflated and genetic influences on aggression may not be as great as twin studies suggest

Question 7

Describe the ethological explanation of aggression

Answer 7

adaptive functions of aggression
- beneficial to survive, as a defeated animal is rarely killed, but forced to establish territory elsewhere
- this reduces competition pressure and the possibility of starvation
- chimps use aggression to climb the social hierarchy to get mating rights over females, etc.
- aggression brings dominance, which bring benefits such as access to resources
ritualistic aggression
- Lorenz found that fights between animals of the same species didn’t bring about much damage, just threats, ie, showing their teeth
- they also end with ritualistic behaviors to prevent damage, such as raising hands to show that you are making yourself vulnerable and bowing out
- adaptive, as if every encounter ended in death, the existence of the species could be threatened
innate releasing mechanisms
- an inbuilt physiological process which is triggered by an environmental stimulus and then releases a specific sequence of moves
- stereotyped, universal, unaffected, ballistic, single-purpose, a response to an identifiable specific sign stimulus
Tinbergen’s research
- male sticklebacks are territorial during mating season and develop a red spot on their underbelly, if the fish sees another fish with a red spot, this triggers aggressive behavior
- he found that regardless of the shape of the wooden object, if it had a red spot, the fish would show aggressive behavior, but wouldn’t if there was no red spot, even if it looked like a fish
- the aggressive FAP were unchanging from one encounter to the other and ran the full course without any further stimulus

Question 8

Evaluation of the ethological explanation of aggression

Answer 8

Strength
research support
- research related to genetics and evolution, including brunner, twin and adoption studies
- this suggests an innate basis to aggressive behavior just like the ethological approach
- however, aggressive behavior differs from culture to culture, as Nisbett found that one type of homicide was more common in the southern states than the northern states
- this was caused by culture of honor in the south that’s less prevalent in the north
- therefore this aggressive behavior comes from learned social norms rather than instinctive
- therefore, culture can override innate predispositions, which the ethological approach doesn’t explain

limitations
ritualistic aggression
- Goodall observed a four year war when male chimps killed all the members of another group in a systematic way, even if the other showed signs of appeasement
- this signs didn’t inhibit the behavior like the theory suggests and therefore behavior hasn’t become relatively harmless between members of the same species

FAPs are not fixed
- Hunt pointed out that FAP are greatly influenced by environmental factors and learning, as the duration of certain behaviors differs between individuals as well as within individuals
- therefore the patterns are more flexible than originally thought

Question 9

Describe the evolutionary explanation of human aggression

Answer 9

evolutionary explanation of sexual jealousy
- men experience cuckoldry, they don’t know if the child they are caring for is theirs, and if it isn’t have then wasted resources to invest in his own future offspring
- those who could avoid this were more reproductively successful increasing sexual jealousy
male retention strategies
- direct guarding
- negative inducements
physical violence against partner
- Wilson found that women who agreed with statements about retention strategies were twice as likely to have experienced physical violence by the hands of their partners
- 73% required medial attention and 53% feared for their lives
- male retention strategies are linked to violence

evolutionary explanation of bullying
- bullying is an adaptive strategy to increase survival by promoting health and creating opportunities for reproduction
male bullying
- those who gain a reputation for being tough are less likely to be fought
- can ward off potential rivals
- are more attractive to females
- leads to an increase in survival
female bullying
- used to secure partners fidelity so that they continue to provide resources
- enhances reproductive success

Question 10

what are the male retention strategies

Answer 10

direct guarding
negative inducements

Question 11

Evaluation of evolutionary explanations of human aggression

Answer 11

Strengths
real world application
- can be used to reduce bullying by addressing their perceived deficiencies
- increases the costs of the bullying as well as the rewards of prosocial behaviors, so that bullies have roles in the school that provide an alternative source of status
- viewing bullying as an adaptive behavior then leads to more effective anti bullying interventions

gender differences
- Campbell argues that it is not adaptive for a female to be physically aggressive, as this risks her own survival as well as the child, and as a result uses verbal aggression to retain a partner who provides resources
- this explains why women prefer verbal to physical, providing support for the evolutionary approach to explaining aggression

Limitation
cultural differences
- Kung San people in africa have very negative views towards the use of aggression, and its discouraged from childhood
- those who do use it are seen as below everyone else, and therefore culture has a very big constrain on aggressive behavior
- the aggressive behavior may not be adaptive then
- however, the homicide rate is quite high for “harmless” people. this could be due to the fact that what an observer sees is biased by their own expectations and by the sample of people observed
- therefore, observations by outsiders may not be useful and lack validity

Question 12

Explain the frustration-aggression hypothesis as a social psychological explanation of aggression

Answer 12

the original hypothesis
- frustration always leads to aggression and is caused when our attempts to reach a goal are blocked by some external factor
- this creates an aggressive drive leading to behavior that removes the negative emotion, reducing the drive and making further aggression less likely
- aggression may not be directly at the source because it is abstract, its too powerful and we risk punishment, or is unavailable, so we displace onto an alternative

the weapon effect
- participants were given real electric shocks creating frustration and then were given the oppurtunity to shock another person.
- when there were two guns on the table, 6.07 shocks were given compared to 4.67 when there were no guns
- therefore the presence of aggressive environmental cues stimulates aggression

research on frustration aggression
- Geen had university men complete an impossible jigsaw puzzle, one where another student kept interrupting so they ran out of time, and one where the confederate insulted the puzzler
- they then all had the ability to give electric shocks
- the insulted gave the strongest shocks, followed by the interfered, and then the impossible, and all three were more intense than a control group

Question 13

Evaluation of frustration aggression hypothesis as a social psychological explanations of aggression

Answer 13

Strength
research support
- Marcus Newhall conducted a meta analysis of 49 studies of displaced aggression where the aggression had to be directed at a human target not the person who caused it
- those who were provoked but unable to directly retaliate were more likely to aggress against an innocent party than those not provoked
- therefore frustration can lead to aggression which is then displaced

Limitations
role of catharsis
- Bushman found that participants who vented their anger by repeatedly hitting a punching bag became more aggressive rather than less, and doing nothing was more effective
- therefore it doesn’t work even for people who think it does, as the better people feel after, the more aggressive they are
- therefore, this central idea might not be valid

frustration aggression link
- someone who feels frustrate may become helpless rather than aggressive and people can be aggressive for different reasons
- therefore the frustration aggression hypothesis is inadequate because it only explains how aggression arises in some situations but not in others
- however, Berkowitz then adjusted his theory, called negative affect, suggesting that loneliness, jealousy, pain, and frustration trigger aggression
- the outcome of frustration can also be a range of responses
- therefore, frustration can form a part of a wider explanation of what causes aggression

Question 14

Describe social learning theory as a social psychological explanation of aggression

Answer 14

direct and indirect learning
- operant conditioning with positive and negative reinforcement is direct
- indirect, observational learning, accounts for social learning of most aggressive behaviors
observational learning and vicarious reinforcement
- we acquire aggressive behavior through watching aggressive models and the consequences of their actions
- vicarious reinforcement
cognitive conditions for learning
- attention
- retention
- reproduction
- motivation
self-efficacy
- the extent to which we believe our actions will achieve a desired goal
- they learn that aggression works and that they are good at it
banduras research
- children observed an adult assaulting a bobo doll and then were prevented from playing with toys to create frustration and the let into a room where there was a bobo doll and other toys
- they found that the children imitated the behavior with boys acting more aggressive than girls physically
- for the children who witnessed an adult not acting aggressively to the bobo doll, aggressive behavior was almost non existent

Question 15

Evaluation of social learning theory as a social psychological explanation of aggression

Answer 15

Strengths
real world application
- we can encourage children to form friendships with children rewarded for non-aggression and give them more opportunities to model non-aggressive behavior
- therefore helps offer practical steps to reduce the development of aggressive behavior in children

research support
- Poulin and Boivin found that aggressive boys aged between 9 and 12 years formed friendships with other aggressive boys, and they mutually reinforced their aggressive behavior through modelling
- these social learning processes made imitation of aggressive behavior by the boys much more likely
- however, the study didn’t find similarity between friends for reactive aggression and that the boys were much less likely to influence each others reactive aggressive outbursts
- they observed but generally didn’t imitate as the consequences of this are unpredictable and not often as positive as they are for planned, proactive aggression
- therefore, SLT is limited because it is a weak explanation of reactive aggression

limitation
biological influences
- bandura suggests that aggression is the outcome of nurture, however, there are powerful genetic, evolutionary, neural, and hormonal influences on aggression, which SLT fails to acknowledge
- therefore is an incomplete explanation, as it underplays the role of biological factors

Question 16

Describe de-individuation as a social psychological explanation of aggression

Answer 16

crowd behavior
- when a part of a crowd we lose restraint and have the freedom to behave in ways we wouldn’t otherwise
- we lose our senses of individual self identity and responsibility for our behavior, disregarding norms and laws
- because responsibility becomes shared throughout the crowd, we experience less personal guilt about directing harmful aggression against others
de-individuation and aggression
- when de-individuated, we lose self awareness, stop regulating our own behavior, ignore social norms, and live for the moment
- conditions that promote this are darkness, drugs, alcohol, uniforms, masks, and disguises
- anonymity allows us to have less fear of retribution as we are small and unidentifiable and provides fewer opportunities for others to judge us negatively
reduced self awareness
- private self awareness is reduced, how we pay attention to our own behavior
- public self awareness is reduced, how much we care what other people think of our behavior
research on de-individuation
- Dodd asked 229 undergrad psychology students “if you could do anything and not get in trouble, what would you do?”
- the responses were anonymous and independent raters who didn’t know the aims divided the responses into categories
- 36% were antisocial behavior, 26% were criminal acts, 9% were prosocial

Question 17

Evaluation of de-individuation as a social psychological explanation of aggression

Answer 17

Strengths
real world de-individuation
- Mann investigated suicide jumpers and found 21 cases where people had gathered to encourage them to jump
- the crowds were large and in the dark, leading to a state of de-individuation in crowds, which led to aggressive baiting
- therefore there is validity that a large group can become aggressive in a faceless crowd

research support
- Douglas and McGarty found a strong correlation between anonymity and posting hostile messages and that the most aggressive messages were sent by people who hid their real identity
- therefore there is a link between anonymity and aggressive behavior
- however, when 8 strangers were placed in the dark and told they could do whatever they wanted, they started touching and kissing each other intimately
- when told they would come face to face afterwards, the amount of kissing was lower
- therefore de-individuation doesn’t always lead to aggression

limitation
role of norms
- argues we behave in ways that are contradictory to social norms, however, de-individuation leads to behavior that conforms to group norms, which could be antisocial or prosocial because anonymity shifts a persons attention from their own identity to the their social identity as group member
- therefore people in a de-individuated state remain sensitive to norms rather than ignoring them

Question 18

Describe the dispositional explanation of institutional aggression in the context of prisons

Answer 18

the importation model
- prisoners bring with them a subculture typical of criminality including beliefs, norms, attitudes, and a history of learning experiences as well as gender and ethnicity
- based on individual nature and nurture
- people who prey others on the streets also prey others in the prison
- inmates import behaviors which then influence their use of aggression to establish power, status, and access to resources
- therefore aggression is the product of individual characteristics and not the prison environment
prisoner characteristics linked to outcomes
- DeLisi studied a group of juvenile offenders in california who had a negative background of childhood trauma, anger, etc., and found that these inmates were more likely to engage in suicidal activity, sexual misconduct and acts of physical aggression than the control group

Question 19

Describe the situational explanation of institutional aggression in the context of prisons

Answer 19

the deprivation model
- harsh prison conditions, including deprived of freedom and goods and services, are stressful and lead to aggressive behavior
- if the prison schedule is unpredictable, this increases violence, which becomes an adaptive solution to the problem of deprivation
prison-level factors linked to outcomes
- Steiner investigated factors predicting aggression in 512 US prisons and found that violence was more common in prisons where there were more staff who were women, overcrowding and more in protective custody
- these factors reliably predicted aggressive behavior in line with the deprivation model

Question 20

Evaluation of the dispositional explanation of institutional aggression in the context of prisons

Answer 20

strength
research support
- Camp and Gaes studied 561 inmates with similar criminal histories and predispositions to aggression, half were placed in low security and the other half in high security
- there was no significant difference between prisons of the number of prisoners involved in aggressive misconduct
- therefore features of the prison environment are less important predictors of aggression than the characteristics of inmates

limitation
ignores key factors
- ignores the way the prison is run, as poorly managed, weak leadership and few opportunities for education, prisons are more likely to have inmate violence
- therefore importation is an inadequate explanation because institutional factors are probably more important than inmate characteristics

Question 21

Evaluation of the situational explanation of institutional aggression in the context of prisons

Answer 21

strength
research support
- Cunningham analyzed 35 homicides in prisons between 2000 and 2008 and found that the motivations for the violent behavior was linked to some of the deprivations of the prison, such as where boundaries had been crossed or drugs and personal possessions
- this supports the validity of the model

limitation
contradictory research
- lack of heterosexual contact should lead to high levels of aggressive behavior, however, Hensley found that when their partners were able to have sex regularly, there was no link between involvement in these visits and reduced aggressive behavior
- therefore situational factors do not substantially affect prison violence

Question 22

Describe media influences on aggression

Answer 22

excessive TV viewing
- researchers measure TV viewing hours of 1000 New Zealanders up to the age of 26 and found that time spent watching TV in childhood was a reliable predictor of aggressive behavior in early adulthood
- excessive time spent watching TV is associated with reduced social interaction and poorer educational achievement, and therefore the link to aggression may be indirect
violent film content
- bandura repeated the study but this time the children watched a video, the outcome was similar, suggesting the social learning processes operate through media as well as face to face
TV/film effects not strong
- researchers carried out a meta analysis of 200 studies and found a positive correlation between viewing TV violence and antisocial behavior, however, this only accounted for between 1-10% of variance in children’s aggressive behavior, meaning TV is minor role compared to other factors
computer games
- the player is more active and game playing is more directly rewarding, meaning they may have more powerful effects than TV
- researchers found that students who played a violent video game for ten minutes selected significantly higher volumes of white noise than students who played a non violent video game
- measures of aggression are positively correlated to time spent playing video games and that the link is so well established that aggression should be considered a public health issue and compute game violence a significant risk

Question 23

Evaluation of media influences on aggression

Answer 23

Strength
explaining research findings
- can be explained through social learning theory and it makes sense that children seeing aggressive behavior being rewarded is going to reinforce them to be aggressive, especially since they identify with the characters
- this enhances the validity

limitation
defining aggression
- what is being measured is many things, such as number of convictions, volume of white noise, etc, and violence and aggression are not the same
- all violence is aggression, but not all aggression is violence, and neither is necessarily criminal
- therefore, the effects found in studies depend on how much aggression is defined and the finding from studies are hard to compare
- however, using a meta analysis can overcome this issue
- Anderson conducted a meta analysis of 136 studies and found that exposure to violent computer games was associated with increases in all measures of aggression
- therefore, meta analyses are a valid measure for uncovering the effects of media on aggression

unsupported conclusions
- many studies are methodologically weak and meta analyses include poor quality research which means the results are also poor quality
- many are correlational, so cause and effect cannot be justified
- experiments lack external validity so cannot be generalized to the real world
- therefore, researchers may be drawing premature conclusions based on findings that lack validity

Question 24

Describe the role of desensitization in aggression

Answer 24

• when we witness violent actions, we experience physiological arousal, however, this becomes lower on repeated viewing or playing
• repeated exposure to violent media promotes a belief that using aggression as a way of resolving conflict is socially acceptable
• Weiz and Earls showed participants a movie with a prolonged and graphic scene of rape and then had them watch a rape trial
• the men who had watched the movie showed greater acceptance of rape myths and sexual aggression, as well as less sympathy
• the film had no effect on women

Question 25

Describe the role of disinhibition in aggression

Answer 25

• creates loosened restrains on the views of aggression and violence after watching aggressive film
• this is because the aggression is made to appear socially sanctioned and normal, by minimizing the effects on violence on its victims and the person even being rewarded
• it creates new social norms in the viewer

Question 26

Describe the role of cognitive priming in aggression

Answer 26

• repeated viewing provides us with a script of how violent situations play out
• this script is triggered when we are given cues in a situation that we perceive as aggressive
• researchers had men listen to song lyrics that were derogatory towards women and found that they recalled more negative qualities about women and behaved more aggressively to a confederate who was a woman than a group who had neutral lyrics
• there were similar results with women