Aggression Flashcards

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1
Q

What is aggression?

A

A verbal or physical act intended to cause harm to people who wish to avoid such harm or property

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2
Q

Evolutionary approach to aggression

A
  • Humans are instinctively aggressive
  • Spreading genes through sexual access
  • Explains disproportionate degree of male aggression
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3
Q

Limitations of evolutionary approach

A
  • Many species do not reward aggression
  • Cannot explain aggression against genetic kin
  • Hypotheses are not really falsifiable
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4
Q

Cathartic approach to aggression

A
  • Conflicting human drives, eros (creation, love) and thanatos (destruction)
  • Thanatos energy builds up and needs to be released (hydraulic model)
  • Aggressive outputs directed outwards
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5
Q

Limitation of the cathartic approach to aggression

A
  • Frustration does not always lead to aggression
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6
Q

Who did the frustration-aggression hypothesis?

A

Dollard et al. 1939

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7
Q

What is the cognitive neoassociationalist model of aggression?

A
  • Frustration -> anger -> aggression

- Cues are associated with aggression through classical conditioning

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8
Q

Berkowitz & Lepage (1967)

A
  • Ppts given shocks by fellow ppt
  • Given opportunity to shock back
  • Two independent manipulations, level of anger (how many times they shocked), and presence of aggressive cue (guns/no guns)
  • More shocks in high anger and cues condition compared to high anger, no cue
  • No difference in shocks in low anger and cue / low anger and control condition
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9
Q

What is the social learning theory of aggression?

A
  • Aggression learned via operant conditioning

- Models teach that aggression provides rewards and is socially acceptable - instrumental aggression

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10
Q

Bandura, Ross & Ross (1963)

A
  • Nursery school kids observe adult attack a ‘Bobo doll’ when upset, in person, in a video, in a cartoon and control
  • Kids mildly frustrated, then left with toys
  • More children were aggressive when seeing live model, video and cartoon, than in the control
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11
Q

Social roles explanation of aggression

A
  • Stanford prison experiment
  • Young upper/middle class, educated, European American men for a prison study
  • Questioned to eliminate those with health problems, antisocial behaviour
  • Study ended early after guards became aggressive towards prisoners
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12
Q

Socio-cultural norms in explanation of aggression

A
  • Societal norms and authorities sanction and reward aggression
  • State actions/sports/media portrayals
  • Exposure to norms promotes aggression through various mechanisms
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13
Q

Exposure to norms promotes aggression via…

A
  • Cultivation of world view (word as hostile)
  • Attributions of hostility (individuals as hostile)
  • Scripts of aggression (how to respond)
  • Instrumentality (aggression is rewarded)
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14
Q

Archer & Gardner (1978)

A

When countries participate in war, the homicide rates among the civilian populations increase

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15
Q

Phillips (1983)

A

After highly publicised boxing matches, homicide rates increase among civilian populations

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16
Q

Leyens et al. (1982), Eron et al. (1972)

A

Exposure to violent media increases aggression among children

17
Q

Personality and ideological explanation of aggression

A

Personalities and ideologies influence choice to be in a particular situation and the behaviour in that situation

18
Q

Dispositional aggression

A

Propensity for hostility and anger

19
Q

Right-wing authoritarianism (RWA)

A

Belief in authorities and authoritarian aggression

20
Q

Social dominance orientation (SDO)

A

Support for group-based hierarchy (and aggression to maintain it)

21
Q

Dispositional empathy

A

Tendency to take others’ perspectives (less tolerance for aggression)

22
Q

Carnahan & McFarland (2007)

A
  • Placed 2 different advertisements for ppts
  • One advert stated prison life other didn’t
  • Measured on aggression, RWA, SDO, and empathy
23
Q

Carnahan & McFarland (2007) results

A
  • Empathy was highest, followed by SDO, RWA and aggression

- All measures were higher in the prison condition than control except for empathy

24
Q

Frustration-aggression hypothesis

A

If aggression cannot be targeted at the cause of the frustration (as the person is too physically or socially powerful, or the cause is a situation) it may be redirected onto a more realistic target

25
Q

Weapon effect

A

Weapons not only provide a means to cause violence, they also increase the likelihood that an act of violence will occur

26
Q

Excitation-transfer model

A
  • Zillman (1984)

- Arousal in one situation can carry over into a completely different situation

27
Q

Traits associated with aggression

A
  • Irritability
  • Rumination
  • Emotional susceptibility
28
Q

Friedman’s personality types

A
  • Type A - ambitious, high-achieving, perfectionists, in a rush to achieve their goals
  • Type B - relaxed, uncompetitive and creative
29
Q

Which personality type shows more aggression when threatened

A

Type A

30
Q

Alcohol expectancy theory

A

People hold certain expectancies about how alcohol affects behaviour, we generally believe that alcohol leads to extroversion, less inhibition and more aggression

31
Q

Situational norms affecting aggression

A
  • Temperature
  • Crowding
  • Noise
32
Q

Temperature

A
  • Increased temperature increases aggression

- Heat leads to physical arousal, discomfort and irritation, can spark aggression

33
Q

Affective aggression

A

Purpose of aggression is to cause harm

34
Q

Instrumental aggression

A

Aggression serves a different purpose (e.g. a robbery)

35
Q

Crowding

A
  • Increase in crowding increases aggression
  • Increases physical arousal, discomfort and irritation
  • People are also deindividuated in crowds
36
Q

Noise

A
  • Loud, unpredictable noises increase aggression

- Increases psychological arousal and stress levels

37
Q

Relative deprivation

A

If an individual feels they are being unjustly disadvantaged compared to others, and believes they aren’t able to improve their disadvantaged means, they may act aggressively

38
Q

Staircase to terrorism

A
  • Moghaddam (2005)
  • Ground floor - perceptions of relative deprivation
  • First floor - perceptions of procedural justice
  • Second floor - displacement of aggression
  • Third floor - adoption of alternative moral code
  • Fourth floor - categorical thinking and perceived legitimacy
  • Fifth floor - the terrorist act