Aggression in society

Question 1

Cognitive
What is cognitive priming for aggression?

Answer 1

Aggressive stimulus primes aggressive thoughts, later stimulus ‘triggers’ aggressive behaviour
Aggressive stimulus - e.g. video game, observing others, not a ‘one-off’
Below awareness - you don’t realise the prime influences you, so you’re primed in one situation and aggressive in another

Question 2

Cognitive
What is Hostile Attribution bias?

Answer 2

HAB means interpreting neutral behaviour as threatening (accident seen as deliberate)

Self-fulfilling because others respond to with aggression, confirming the HAB

Question 3

Cognitive
What are cognitive scripts and schema?

Answer 3

Scripts for aggressive situations, developed through observation and experience

Scripts stored as memory and prime us, triggered when we encounter aggressive cues (aggressive people have a wider range of scripts)

Question 4

Evaluate the cognitive approach as an application of aggression.

Answer 4

Practical applications - Therapy used to replace HAB’s with positive attributions, less aggression (Guerra and Slaby 1990)
Research support - HAB’s linked with aggression in children (de castro et al 2002). Song lyrics primed aggressive scripts (Fischer and Greitemeyer 2006)
Correlation not causation - Cognitive factors may not cause aggression (third factor?) so limited conclusions

Question 5

Social
What is the conformity to social/ norm groups?

Answer 5

Group membership depends on accepting group norms, including aggression
Gender norms - men ‘should’ use physical aggression and women ‘should’ use verbal aggression (Eagly and Wood 1991)
Culture norms - norms of aggression differ within countries and between cultures (e.g. homicide in UK vs Ireland)

Question 6

Social
What are stereotypes and aggression?

Answer 6

We predict behaviour based on social categories we put people in
Gender stereotypes - aggression associated with stereotyped masculinity, danger that it can lead to acceptance of violence by men against women
Ethical stereotypes - young black men stereotyped as aggressive, danger that it may lead to tolerance of racial aggression

Question 7

Social
What is the influence of media on aggression?

Answer 7

Role modelling - media provide aggressive models to imitate

Desensitistion - repeated viewing reduces psychological arousal, less empathy

Disinhibition - aggression is normalised, viewing loosens inhibition, new social norms more accepting

Question 8

Social
What is institutional aggression?

Answer 8

Prison environment is a strong cause of aggression
Gang membership - strongly predicts violence, leaders exercise control
Staff behaviour - violence linked to inconsistent use of discipline

Question 9

Evaluate the social approach as an application of aggression.

Answer 9

Practical applications - Reduce prison aggression by applying rules consistently (McGuire 2018), improves communication
Research support - Viewing violence lead to giving more electric shocks (disinhibition Berkowitz and Alioto 1973), arousal reduced with repeated viewing (desensitisation, Krahe et al 2011)
Role of biological factors - May outweigh social factors, e.g. testosterone in men and women linked to aggression, reduced in animals by castration

Question 10

Social learning
What is operant conditioning and aggression?

Answer 10

Aggression learned directly
Positive reinforcement (Skinner 1932) - real-world aggression only sometimes reinforced and unpredictable, but this has stronger effect and hard to remove
Types of reward - tangible (e.g. money, food) and intangible (e.g. social status through bullying, wartime aggression)

Question 11

Social learning
What is social learning and aggression?

Answer 11

Bandura 1973 - aggression mostly learned indirectly
Observational learning and modelling - observing aggressive model does not guarantee imitation
Vicarious reinforcement - observe consequences, model more likely to be imitated if rewarded

Question 12

Evaluate the social learning approach as an application of aggression.

Answer 12

Practical applications - Aggression underlying crimes learned through modelling (e.g. family), so provide alternative models (mentors)
Research support - Aggressive boys modelled each other’s behaviour (Poulin and Boivin 2000)
Limited explanations - Weak explanation of hostile aggression because may receive punishments not reward, other explanations better

Question 13

Biological
What is evolution and aggression?

Answer 13

aggression contributed to survival to reproduce, so genes passed on

aggression helped in competition for limited resources, men who retained partners through aggressive strategies (violence) passed gene on

Question 14

Biological
What is brain structure and aggression?

Answer 14

Limbic system regulates emotional behaviour
Amygdala - more sensitive in aggressive people, key role in assessing threats (Gospic et al 2011)

Question 15

Biological
What is biochemistry and aggression?

Answer 15

Testosterone - men have higher levels than women and more aggressive, most aggressive when levels highest (Daly and Wilson 1988)
Serotonin - low levels of OFC disrupt emotional stability leading to impulsive behaviours (Denson et al 2012)
Dopamine - brain’s ‘reward chemical’, aggression in winning competition rewarded with dopamine boost
Cortisol - low levels = aggression when testosterone high (Carre and Mehta 2011)

Question 16

Biological
What is genetics and aggression?

Answer 16

MAOA gene - low activity variant disrupts serotonin (Brunner et al 1993)
SRY gene - triggers testosterone, masculinises embryo, indirect influence

Question 17

Evaluate the biological approach as an application of aggression.

Question 18

Instrumental aggression definition

Answer 18

aggressive or violent behaviour to achieve a goal