Aggression Flashcards
Chapter 12
How can aggression be defined? P500
As a behaviour that intends to harm a member of the same species .
Destruction of a person / property.
motivation to harm another living being which doesn’t want to get hurt.
How can aggression be measured? P 500
4 ways to measure it :
1 Analogues of behaviour
what kind of behaviour is usually associated with aggression?
2 Signal of Intention
saying, thinking or writing plans to act aggressive
3 Ratings by self or others
classmates, that rate how aggressive their peers are
4 Indirect Aggression
To destroy ones relationship or status
Nature- nurture controversy
Debate about whether behaviour is determined from your genes or mainly influenced from your enviroment.
What makes an instinct an instinct? 502
beneficial goal oriented unlearned adapted ( to a normal enviroment) developed ( in a clear way as the individual matures)
Theories around the origin of Aggression. P 502
Psychodynamic theory: Aggressions origin is in the so called death instinct we all have it in us. It starts with self destruction and turns to destruction towards others.
Ethology: ( says that everything is originated in our genes)
Aggressive behaviour is triggered by so called releasers. Stimuli that trigger aggression in every day life.
What do ethologists stand for? 502
Ethology: ( says that everything is determined in our genes)
Aggressive behaviour is triggered by so called releasers. Stimuli that trigger aggression in every day life.
Fighting instinct: an inborn instinct to aggress , which other animals have as well
Evolutionary social psychology502
a psychological approach that refers all social behaviour back on our biology.
Biosocial Theories 503
Theories that agree on the term of having a lot of biological originated behaviour, but it doesn’t spring from instincts, but is more influenced by the our social enviroment.
Excitation transfer model 504
Aggression emerges from excitation that you transfer on the given situation and the interpretation of the given situation. The behaviour is mostly learned and then applied in a triggering situation.
Road range 504
frustration of sitting in the car–> aggression
Social learning theory 506
Aggression is only learned. Through acquisition, maintenance and instigation.
Acquisition= to get something new, acquire knowledge/ skill…
instigation= to initiate something
Hate crimes 506
Crimes against a minority
What are the two different types of learning through experience subtypes ? 506
Learning by direct experience: Experiencing a situation where it is beneficial to act aggressive ( in a certain way) .
Learning by vicarious experience: Experiencing that another person is behaving in a certain way and getting a reward for it.
What do psychologists mean when they talk about a kid modelling a script? 507
- observational learning ( copying a model) - modelling
- a schema about a behaviour in a situation - script
Is the level of ones aggressiveness determined by his/ her personality? 510
- people differ in their tendency to act aggressive
- dependent of their attachment style = bonding in early childhood
- experiences they have made in relation to violence in early childhood.
Why don’t you want to be a type A personality? 510
- are overly active, competitive, working rather alone
- tend to get aggressive easily in concurrence situations.
- are more likely to commit crime/ abuse children
Hormones relation to aggression? 510
- study on transsexuals that showed increased proneness to aggression when being treated with hormones.
- link between noradrenalin, dopamine, serotonin testosterone and aggression
Gender difference in regards to aggression 512
(Lansford, Skinner, Sorbring, Di Giunta, Deater-Deckard, Dodge, et al., 2012):
1 Boys, like men, consistently show more physical aggression than girls.
2 Gender and nationality interact in the case of relational aggression – e.g. it occurs more frequently among Italian girls than Italian boys, but less frequently among Chinese girls than Chinese boys.
Why is the sociocultural theory important for the distinction of aggression ? 512
sociocultural theory/ gender role theory
- how much women/men adapt to the gender roles in the society they live in
–> across cultures men are more likely to act physically aggressive than women, but as likely as women to act verbally aggressive.
sexual selection theory 512
Sexual differences are determined with the nature of our gender and not by the society.
Catharsis / catharsis hypothesis 512
- anger and aggressiveness are signs of our body that is craving a release of emotions.
- through acting / letting it out we get it out of us
- -> theory goes back to Aristoteles and Freud
Which experiment demonstrated, that the catharsis hypothesis can not always be applied? 512
-experiment with listening to violent lyrics songs which increased the potential aggressive behaviour.
Desinhibition 516
- to loose control over ones behaviour through f.e. alcohol
How does the general aggression model try to explain development of aggressive behaviour? 520
- Triggers / Releasers can either be the Situation or a Person
- the Person acts than out of Arousal, Cognition or Affect
- either impulsive or thoughtful
- -> encounter a situation
What are the big five and what role do they play in the context of aggression? 521
- 5 Personality traits that are crucial for defining ones personality.
5 items are
openness to new experiences, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism and conscientiousness.
neuroticism= anxiety and nervousness
conscientiousness= how hardworking you are
what does a culture of honour address wrongly? 522
- that men should be honoured for becoming aggressive and acting out their aggressiveness.
- > they get honoured because their reaction is justified in the perspective of an “ existential “ financial or status threat, competent providers, strong protectors
Name 3 attributes of a culture of honour. 522
1 Female infidelity ( untreue) damages a man’s reputation, particularly in honour cultures.
2 A man’s reputation can be partly restored by exacting retribution ( hard punishment towards the woman) .
3 Cultural values of female loyalty and sacrifice on one hand, and male honour on the other, validate abuse in a relationship. The same values reward a woman who ‘soldiers on’ in the face of violence.
Subculture of aggression, Machismo 524
In a certain minority group, another form of violence and aggression is the accepted standard.
Machismo is solving differences in opinion or problems in regards to relationships with physical aggression.
Do Medias have an impact on aggression and if yes -name the studies! 526
- study with kids - correlation between their media consume and aggressive behaviour
- filling out a questionnaire before and after watching a violent movie.
How do erotica and aggression correlate? P 528
-nude pictures calm participants whereas pornography rather evokes aggression –> excitation transfer
Objectification theory 530
Through society and the gender roles every women has experienced objectification ( being made an object ) at least once in her life.
Why do we hurt the one we love? 530
The abuse syndrome–> factors that play a role in why we tend to abuse beloved ones.
- hierarchy in the family- makes it easy for the one that has the power to demonstrate it.
- learnt behaviour in childhood
- alcohol abuse - disinhibition
- proximity of the partners / family member- easier to get annoyed/ frustrated by them
social order 530
balanced order of a social system, rules norms…
Institutionalised aggression 532
Aggression that is part of a sport / an institution and is not viewed as morally wrong
longeterm effects of war 532
more aggressive sport, higher rates of crime , homicide and assault.
agentic state 534
A state of mind in which people transfer their responsibility to the one giving orders and act obedient and submissive .–> in war, a lab
peace studies
field that studies the promotion of peace
