aggression Flashcards
what is aggression?
intended harm of another species that is directed towards another individual carried out with the intent to cause harm and may result in personal injury or destruction of property
how do we measure aggression?
punching a bobo doll
observations from teachers and colleagues
self reports of aggressive behaviour
self report of willingness to use violence in a lab
how do we measure aggression? Chermack, Berman and Taylor (1997)
- Subjects competed against opponent in a reaction time game
- After each trial the loser received a shock
- 2 conditions :
–> Low provocation where shocks stayed at setting 2
–> High provocation - shocks increased from 2 to 9
Gaming and Aggression
- Video games have long been thought to be associated with negative real world outcomes
- Aggression is the most notable of these - essentially we use media as a model for our behaviour or it acts as a hypodermic need
What is the evidence to suggest that gaming and aggression has no effect?
- No standardised use of aggression - selective use of measures can make effects seem bigger than they are
- It struggles to account for real word crime rates - engagement with gaming has increased whereas crime has fallen
what did Kennedy 2014 find about gaming and aggression?
Found that people who frequently played violent video games were less distracted by violent images in other contexts
what are the two theories of aggression?
Innate theories of aggression - aggression is unlearned and universal and will build up until ir is released
Social theories of aggression - the social context in which we exist can also explain it
What is the psychodynamic theory in relation ?
- Innate death instinct
- Thanatos theorised anger is initially directed at self destruction but as we develop becomes directed towards others
- Aggression builds up naturally and must be released
what is ethological perspective?
Lorenz - 1966
–> Aggression has a survival value –> functional view of aggression
Dual factor theory :
1. Innate urge to aggress (inevitable)
2. Aggressive behaviour elicited by environmental stimuli (releasers)
What did Lorenz say about the fighting instinct?
energy builds up and is released on another provocative behaviour of someone else
How does aggression link to evolutionary?
Social behaviour is adaptive and helps the individual to survive so being aggressive allowed procreation and pass on genes to the next generation
What problems does the psychodynamic and evolutionary have?
- Limited evidence for the psychodynamic theory
- Ethological account struggles to explain the functional value of aggression in humans
- Aggressors often find themselves punished and excluded from the group
- Limited practical application; research has shown that attempts to release aggressive impulses do not work
What is the social learning theory study?
Bandura, Ross and Ross (1961)
- Children watched an adult playing with Bobo Doll
- 3 conditions :
1. Observed real life aggressive model (kicking and hitting)
2. Observed non aggressive model (playing nicely)
3. Control group - no model
what was the findings from Banduras study?
Children exposed to aggressive model displayed significantly more aggression
What is the frustration - aggression hypothesis (dollard et al 1939) ?
Aggression :
The occurrence of aggressive behaviour always presupposes the existence of frustration and the existence of frustration always leads to some form of aggression
Frustration :
An interference with the occurrence of an instigated goal response at its proper time in the behaviour sequence
What is scapegoating? (Hovland and sears)
If target is too powerful, unavailable or not a person displace aggression onto alternative target
What was Barker (1941) study on frustration- aggression hypothesis?
- Children are shown a room full of toys
- Initially not allowed to play with them
- Allowed to play without waiting
- Assessed how children played with toys.
How did the frustrated group act in the frustration - aggression hypothesis?
- Smashed toys on the floor
- Threw against the wall
- General destructive behaviour
What three things impact how frustration does not always lead to aggression?
- Aversive events
- Negative affect
- Situational cues
- Frustration ill defined
What is excitation transfer (Zillman 1979, 1988)
Expression of aggression is a function of 3 factors :
- Learnt aggressive behaviour
- Arousal or excitation from another source
- The persons interpretation of the arousal state - such that an aggressive response seems appropriate
What is a Type A personality?
Striving to achieve, time urgency, competitiveness na hostility
More conflict with peers and subordinates but not superiors
what are some other theories of personality?
Psychoticism, low agreeableness
does heat affect aggression?
yes heat has an independent affect
where findings have shown that hotter areas have higher violent crime rates even when controlling for confounding factors
what is the simple priming experiment ?
- Ppts were shown images and words commonly associated with heat
- Ppts with heat related words and imagery led ppts to perceive neutral facial expressions as aggressive and to have more aggressive thoughts
what is the link with heat and climate change / factors influencing aggression ?
Mares and Moffett (2016) analysed violence data from 60 countries, finding a significant link between heat and violence, particularly in conflict zones
Their models suggest a 1c global temperature rise due to the climate crisis could increase homicide rates by up to 6%
How does presence of a weapon influence aggression?
Klinesmith et al 2006
Men took part and held a gun or held a Childs top
Measured aggressive person
And holding a gun increased aggression eg gave more electric shocks
how does alcohol affect aggression? miller and parrot 2010
Intoxicated ppts behave more aggressively and respond to provocations more strongly
Also low aggressors become more aggressive when intoxicated whereas high aggressors did not
How does Narcism influence aggression? Bushman and Baumeister
Ppts wrote a pro life or pro choice essay on aborton
Some given negative feedback such as this is one of the worst essays ive read
Later they had to deliver blasts of music to another ppt and adjust level and found that
Narcissistic ppts gave the person whom they thought had criticised their easy louder bursts but not other ppts
