Aggression Flashcards
what is thought to shape what is meant by aggression?
societal and cultural norms
intent to harm =
aggression
there are many definitions for aggression but what don’t the definitions include?
the broader aims such as plans of aggression and intentions
what type of definitions in psychology allow aggression to be measured?
operational definitions
what are different ways of studying aggression?
- analogues of behaviour (Bobo dolls, delivering shocks)
- signals of intention
- ratings (self report, report by others)
- indirect (non-physical, relational, psychological aggression)
expression of willingness to use aggression in an experimental setting =
signals of intention
what things do we need to consider when studying aggression?
ethics
how generalisable are results from analogues of behaviour in the lab to real life context?
what are the 3 biological theories of aggression?
- psychodynamic
- ethology
- evolutionary
what are some of the features of the biological approach to aggression?
innate instinct beneficial adaptive shared by most species members goal directed and terminates in a specific consequence
what are the 2 conflicting human drives theorised by Freud?
Eros
thanatos
throughout life thanatos energy builds up and this needs to be released to maintain personal well-being = what model?
hydraulic model
what do net-freudians believe?
that thanatos can be released in a healthy way e.g. displacing energy into competitive sport (boxing)
aggression is functional and elicited by specific environmental stimuli called RELEASERS =
ethology
usually actual violence won’t occur as it is held back due to what things?
appeasement
subordination
what is the problem with humans developing technology such as weapons?
removes the human from the aggressive act > so we aggress more easily as doesn’t require us to see our victims up close
theory of spreading genes to next generation so aggression must be linked to living long enough to procreate =
evolutionary Darwinian theory
give examples of the evolutionary theory of aggression
aggressive mothers when infants are threatened
aggression to protect territory/resources
what are some of the limitations of the biological approach?
- instincts can’t be measured or studied
- approaches only supported by observational studies
- not useful for prevention/intervention work
list the social/biosocial approaches to aggression
- frustration and aggression hypothesis
- excitation transfer model
- social learning theory
- personality/individual differences
- situational variables
Dollard et al consider that aggression is caused by some type of frustration =
frustration and aggression hypothesis
what are the limitations of the frustration and aggression hypothesis?
loose definition of frustration
people can get frustrated over little things that don’t lead to aggressive acts
model too simplistic
can’t predict which frustrating behaviour leads to aggression
Zillman proposes that aggression comes from being aroused and then transferring that arousal into an aggressive response later on =
excitation transfer model
believes aggression is learnt via operant conditioning, aggression provides rewards and is socially acceptable (instrumental aggression) = what theory?
social learning theory
what were the results from Bandura, Ross & Ross who got kids to observe adult attack a Bobo doll when upset?
when the kids were left with the doll, more aggressive acts observed when observing the adult more directly (live and videotape). the cartoon still also had an effect on aggression