Aggression Flashcards
What is the definition of aggression?
it is very difficult to define
Behaviour that is intended to injure a person or destroy a property
- can be physical or verbal
- Serves to enhance self:motive
What are some examples of aggression?
war terrorism serious personal violence loss of temper Criticism / cutting remarks domestic violence
Self harm/suicide = aggressive behaviours directed at self
What are theories of aggression?
Nature vs nurture
Nature: aggression is an innate drive
- ethmological approach
- psychological theory
Nurture: aggression is a learned response
- social learning theory
What is the ethmological approach?
“the fighting instinct in beast and man which is directed against members of the same species”
Innate/instinctive
Allows evolutionary development of the species
Competition for limited resources: food/defending territory
Fights between rivals select the strongest and healthiest leaders
What is the psychoanalytic theory?
Described aggression as a basic drive such like hunger and libido
part of our id present at birth
- Id: basic instinctual drives, acts according to pleasure principle
- Ego: acts accordingly to the reality principle, balance between satisfying Id and the super-ego
- super-ego : internalisation of cultural rules and norms, contraindication to Ids
What was freud’s death instinct?
inborn destructiveness - to avoid destroying ourselves, aggression must be directed elsewhere
- “aggressive energy builds up and eventually have to be discharged in some way”
What is the steam boiler analogy?
- can be positive = directing aggression towards sports/physical occupations
- can be negative = aggression towards others
What is dollard’s frustration hypothesis?
Aggression is ALWAYS a consequence of frustration
Frustration ALWAYS leads to some form of aggression
What are the criticisms of the aggression-frustration hypothesis?
Aggression doesn’t always follow frustration
Frustration doesn’t always lead to aggression (learned helplessness, despair, withdrawal)
- argued that frustrations make aggression more likely but situational factors may prevent aggression from occurring
- Frustration induced arousal, whether aggression occurs depends on learned patterns of behaviour and environmental factors
What people commonly demonstrate learned helplessness, not aggression?
People with depression or people who have suffered domestic violence
How is social learning theory associated with aggression?
argued that aggression is a learned form of social behaviour - aggression is not innate
Can form from complex interactions between:
- past learning - including previous reinforcement
- current rewards or punishments
- current social and environmental factors
How is observational learning (modelling) linked to aggression?
Learning though observation of others
- aggressive models
- learning occurs spontaneously (model not deliberately trying to teach)
= individual can learn through observation only
BUT
imitation of behaviour depends on multiple factors including perceived consequences and reinforcement
Why is it important learners learn the consequences of a behaviour?
makes the behaviour more or less likely to occur
reinforcement or punishment
What does reinforcement do and what are the types?
Increases the behaviour
Positive reinforcement: giving treats if child cleans up toys, money, gain social approval or increase status
Negative reinforcement: doing behaviour avoids a negative event/stimulus e.g. seatbelt bleep
Punishment: decreases the behaviour
What is the bobo doll experiments?
Series of experiments looking at children reactions
3 groups:
- control group = no model
- non aggressive model group - experimental group
- aggressive model - experimental group
Experiments included showing the children the model being punished or rewarded
- children less likely to imitate behaviour if they had seen punishment
- However, when asked the children could demonstrate what they had seen (learning present but behaviour was influenced by punishment/behaviour
