Aggression Flashcards
Aggression
The intent to harm
Operantionalising aggression
Analogues of behaviour
Signals of intention: expression of willingness to use aggression
Ratings: self report, reports by others
Indirect: non-physical, relational/ psychological aggression
Biological
Aggression is innate, instinctual
Beneficial to individual and or species
Adaptive
Shared by most members: goal directed
Social
Social context is key
Sometimes involve biological components too, hence bio social
Frustration and aggression
Excitation transfer
Biological - psychodynamic
Conflicting human drives
Thanatos energy builds up, needs to be released to maintain personal wellbeing
Biological- ethology and evolutionary
Ethology
- Aggression is functional, elicited by specific environmental stimuli
- Humans lack appeasement / subordination repertoires, develop technology that enables us to aggress to easily
Evolutionary social psychology:
- spreading genes to next generation
- aggression linked to living long enough to procreate
- mothers when infants are threatened
- related to territory/ resources
Social (bio social): frustration aggression hypothesis
Frustration at antecedent to aggression
Excitation transfer
Zillman
Aggression comes from:
- learnt aggressive behaviour
- arousal
- interpretation of the arousal in a way that makes an aggressive response seem appropriate
Social learning theory
Aggression learnt via operant conditioning
Provide rewards and is socially acceptable
Bandura- bobo doll
Social: personality / individual differences
Aggression proneness seems to develop early
Aggression as a personality trait
Affected by age, gender, experience, culture
Other traits:
- low self esteem and poor tolerance
- narcissistic
- attachment insecurity
- type A personality
Hormones
Van Goozen
Increased aggression when transitioning from female to male
Decreased aggression when transitioning from male to female
Testosterone implicated in aggression
Gender
Socialisation of different gender characteristics
Men tend to be more aggressive than women
Women tend to engage in more indirect forms of aggression
Alcohol
Makes people more aggressive
Compromises cortical control and increases activity in more primitive brain areas
Disinhibition hypothesis
Placebo effect- expectations that alcohol will make aggressive
Priming effect- activating thoughts of alcohol increased aggressive behaviour
Heat
Increased ambient temperature is associated with various types of aggression
Crowding
Leads to fighting
Population density has been linked to crime rates
Household density and neighbourhood density
General Aggression Model (GAM)
Anderson and bushman (2002)
Interplay between personal and situational variables
3 internal states: cognition, affect, arousal
Disadvantaged groups
Social disadvantage lead to aggression and target of aggression
Likely due to a mix of social and ecological factors
Absence of pro social norms
Relative deprivation- discontent coupled with feeling that chances of improving conditions through legitimate means is minimal
Culture of honour
Some societies endorse male violence as a way to address threats to means reputation as dominant, strong protectors
Female infidelity damages a mans reputation
Cultural values of female loyalty and sacrifice, and male honour, work together to validate abuse
Subculture of violence
Found in minority subgroups- can be a reward for violence and sanctions for non compliance
Mass media
Easy access to sanitised versions of aggression/ violence in the media has been argued to desensitise viewers
Institutionalised aggression
War
Societies with more war have more war like sports
More severe punishments for crimes
Higher rates of homicide and assault
Institutionalised aggression
Role of state
Warfare only possible with supporting psychological structures involving beliefs and emotions of a people / population
If lacking, use propaganda
Legitimises prejudice
Institutionalised aggression
Role of person
Obedience to authority - Milgram
People can enter agentic state- give up their responsibility and become agents of others
Pornography
Link between Exposure to pornography and sexual deviancy, sexual assault, attitudes to intimate relationships, and belief in rape myths
Desensitises makes to aggression against women
Depicting women enjoying the acts
Intimate partner violence
IPV
Causes
Learned patterns of aggression persist across generations ‘abuse syndrome’
Proximity of family members- those close to us annoy us the most
Stresses- financial, unemployment, illness
Traditional notions of power in nuclear families
Alcohol consumption
IPV and football
Increase in risk 26% when England won or drew
Increase in risk 38% when England lost
Violent offending increases on match days
Alcohol likely to play a role
