Agression

Question 1

What is aggression?

Answer 1

An act performed with the intent to harm another who wishes to avoid this harm. The perpetrators intention is key in aggression.

Question 2

What are the different forms of aggression?

Answer 2

Direct - physical and verbal vs. indirect - an attack on social relationships

Proactive/instrumental - means to an end vs. reactive/emotional - harm inflicted for its own sake

Question 3

What is the frustration-aggression (Dollar et al., 1939) hypothesis?

Answer 3

Frustration always elicits the motive to aggress. It is as much a psychological drive as it is physiological. Which can lead to displacement and can be reduced by catharsis.

Question 4

In the 1939 frustration-aggression model, how does catharsis play role in reducing aggression?

Answer 4

You can release this anger through punching a bag, or imagining you have committed the act.

Question 5

What did studies find to support the frustration-aggression model?

Answer 5

Children who were high in frustration were more likely to behave destructively. People are frustrated when they are close to reaching a goal and something unexpected happens.

Question 6

What is a revised edition of the frustration-aggression model?

Answer 6

It is the negative feelings (caused by multiple stimuli), rather than the frustration itself, that causes aggression.

Question 7

What are some ways in which people might become aggressive?

Answer 7

Provocation (if the mitigating factors are not known)

Pain

Heat

Offensive doors

Air pollution

Question 8

What are some limits involved in the emotion of aggression?

Answer 8

As the intensity of negative stimuli increases, so does negative affect and aggression, but only to a point. This is where escape or fatigue may become more dominant.

Question 9

What is the effect of aggression-related objects on those that are already high in aggression?

Answer 9

People’s anger increases when an angered cue is present.

To support this, people were given shocks, their aggression levels increased when in a room with a gun.

Question 10

What is the behavioural perspective on learning aggression?

Answer 10

Direct experience with rewards and punishments can effect the likelihood of future aggressive responses.

Question 11

What is social learning theory (Bandura)?

Answer 11

Indirect experiences (observing others) affects the likelihood of future aggressive responses.

Question 12

What was the bobo doll experiment?

Answer 12

This is where children were exposed to an adult modelling aggressive and non-aggressive behaviour towards a doll.

Children were left alone with the doll and those in the frustration condition exhibited aggressive behaviour towards the doll. It showed that modelling aggressive behaviour was hardly cathartic.

Question 13

What are the results of the bobo doll experiment?

Answer 13

Children came up with novel forms of aggression not exhibited in the video. They learnt specific aggressive behaviour and produced a “script” of that behaviour. Generally, they developed more positive attitudes and beliefs about it.

Question 14

What are the results of children who watch violent media and its effects on modelling behaviour?

Answer 14

Children exposed to violent media had pressed the hurt button more than those who didn’t. Showing violent media has an effect on aggression.

Question 15

What are some factors that contribute to strengthen aggression?

Answer 15

When something is described as fictitious vs. real.

It is morally justified by the situation.

Described as revenge

Is carried out by something participants connect with.

Is approved by an adult

Question 16

What did Greitemeyer and Mugge find in their meta-analysis of 98 studies assessing violent and prosocial video games?

Answer 16

It was to assess the correlation between violent and prosocial video games and there effects on behaviour, cognition and affect. They found that thoughts, feelings and behaviours would change depending on the video game played.

Question 17

What is the culture of honour, how does it relate to behaviour in social relations?

Answer 17

The emphasis is placed on honour and status and aggression is a means to support this honour. Minor conflicts can be a challenge to status and reputation triggering aggressive responses. This may be due to social influence and privilege of military and enforcement.

Question 18

What are two individual factors that can effect aggression?

Answer 18

Narcissim

levels of self control

Question 19

What did Bushman and Baumeister (1998) find in there studies of narcissism and aggression?

Answer 19

When provoked by negative feedback on an essay, those higher in narcissism showed higher aggression.

Question 20

What is some behaviour that those lower in self-control exhibit?

Answer 20

Poor self-control predicts greater aggression. Engaging in aggression towards partners and strangers, crime and cyberbullying.

Question 21

What is alcohol myopia?

Answer 21

It narrows attention to salient aspects of a situation limiting the ability to think through implications of external cues.

Question 22

What is inhibition conflict in relation to alcohol myopia?

Answer 22

Usually a salient cue is pushing for one, with inhibiting cues encourage resistance to that cue (i.e. an insult). With alcohol myopia this falls apart as people process the salient cue but not the inhibiting cue.

Question 23

What did the Zeichner and Phil (1979) find in there alcohol myopia study?

Answer 23

Participants had to administer a shock to people who were blasting them with noise. Those that had alcohol in their system delivered more shocks due to inhibition conflict.

Question 24

What are the main factors that are related to aggression?

Answer 24

Negative feelings
(frustration, pain, heat, provocation)

Agressive cues
(guns)

Learning
(Reinforcement, social learning, violent media, culture of honour)

Individual differences
Narcissism
Lack of self-control

Alcohol
(if aggression would otherwise be inhibited)

Question 25

What are some factors that may make someone more susceptible too aggressive behaviour?

Answer 25

Traits
(dark triad, low empathy)

History
(Agressive role models, see aggression rewarded)

Agressive cues 
(Weapons and models)

Affect, arousal, cognition

Rumination

Question 26

What are some ways in which people will inhibit aggression?

Answer 26

They have good executive functioning

Cognitive resources
(not depleted through fatigue, alcohol)

Traits and empathy
(high in empathy and prosocial models)

Question 27

Why would punishment not be a great method to stopping aggression?

Answer 27

It impact on someones psychology by a reduction in empathy and thinking of others wellbeing. It also provides someone with behaviour that is appropriate to model.

Question 28

When can aggressive behaviour be positive?

Answer 28

It must be prompt, directly after the behaviour has been committed and certain. It also needs to be seen as fair and legitimate.

Question 29

What is the issue with catharsis as a mode of reducing aggression?

Answer 29

It backfires and makes people more aggressive. This was in the Green study where people shocked the confederate more when in the catharsis condition. Because this aggression is loosened it is easier to keep going and motivation to justify behaviour.

Question 30

How does empathy help to reduce aggression and how were children taught this in a school program?

Answer 30

By seeing something from another point of view it reduces someones need to perpetrate harm. They asked children several questions that would prompt this. Children in this program had higher self-esteem, more generous and less aggressive.

Question 31

How have researchers increased self-control?

Answer 31

By doing a manual task using your non-dominant hand. The link between provocation, anger and aggression is reduced when self-control is higher.

Question 32

What are some interventions to reducing reactive aggression stemming from anger?

Answer 32

Cognitive appraisal
cognitive control training
Self-control training

And when angry, to inhibit it from becoming aggression mindfulness has worked.