CH 12: Aggression Flashcards
What were the 3 hypotheses of the Media Effects on Homicides?
1) Prizefighting causes an increase in gambling=provokes violent actions
2) Prizefighting merely precipitated a murder that would’ve occurred anyways
3) Social learning/ modeling hypothesis
What about the hypothesis that prizefighting causes an increase in gambling?
-This rate did not occur after the Superbowl, therefore, it was not supported
What about the hypothesis that prizefighting merely precipitated murder?
-There was no evidence of any dip in homicides after the peak, therefore, the hypothesis is not supported
What about the hypothesis of social learning/ modeling for prizefighting and homicides?
-There was victim modeling present= person is more likely to aggress if the target victim was similar to the victim= hypothesis supported
What is the relationship between black males watching black male prizefights and homicide rates?
-There was an increase in black male homicides (the same thing is true when white males watched white male prize fights)
How does Japan have low violent crime rates even when they show explicit nudity on tv?
- They don’t award their offenders
- The consequences of violence are shown (grief)
What is Cyberbullying?
-Threatening, harassing others through online communication
What is Aggression?
-Physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone/cause harm
What does the definition of aggression exclude?
- Unintentional harm like bumping into someone
- And situations that cause unintentional pain like at the dentist or assisted suicide
What are the 2 types of aggression?
-Physical and social aggression
What is Physical aggression?
-Hurting someone’s body= Kicking, hitting, slapping
What is Social Aggression?
- AKA Relational Aggression
- Hurting someone else’s feelings/ threatening their relationships
What is Hostile Aggression?
- Aggression that comes from anger w/ the goal to injure someone
- Starts w/ aversive situation–>triggers aggression–> provokes negative feelings–>ends w/ arousal
What is Instrumental Aggression?
-It aims to injure but only as a means to another end= committed to a pursuit of another goal
What are the 3 main ideas of Aggression?
- Biological influences
- Frustration
- Learned behavior
What are the subideas of Biological Influences on Aggression?
- Instinctive behavior/ Evolutionary Psych
- Neural Influences
- Genetic influences
- Biochemical influences
Where did Freud believe that Aggression was from?
-A self-destructive impulse= it redirects the Death Instinct to others
How did Lorenz see Aggression?
-Adaptive
What did Freud and Lorenz agree that Aggression is?
-The aggressive energy is instinctive
What area of the brain can aggression be stimulated in?
- In docile animals its in the hypothalamus
- In humans its in the amygdala
What are the Biochemical influences of aggression?
-Blood chemistry influences neural sensitivity to aggressive stimulation
(alcohol, testosterone, poor diet,
What is the Frustration-Aggression theory?
-Theory that frustration triggers a readiness to aggress
What is Frustration?
-When us reaching our goal is blocked
When does Frustration grow?
- When our motivation to achieve a goal is very strong
- when we expect gratification
- When blocking is complete
What is Displacement?
- The redirection of aggression to a target other than the source of frustration
- But the new target is usually safer & more socially acceptable
What was the real cause of the Iraq War?
-America directing their anger to ally Saddam because they could & bc they thought he deserved
What is a problem with the Frustration-Aggression theory?
-It would produce mixed results= sometimes the outcome would be aggression while other times it would be irritation
What does Frustration arise from?
-The gap between expectations and attainments
What is Relative Deprivation?
-The perception that you’re less well off than others when you’re comparing yourself to others
What example does Relative Deprivation explain?
-It explains why countries with a larger gap between the rich & the poor (bigger income inequality) experience lower levels of happiness & higher levels of crime
What is the difference between aggression based on instinct & frustration and learned?
-The instinctive/ frustration nature of aggression erupts from inner emotions while in the learned version, aggression is pulled out of us
What is Social Learning Theory?
-The theory that we learn social behavior by observing & imitating & being rewarded & punished
What is the Bandura Experiment?
- Having kids watch adults be aggressive to a Bobo doll
- It concluded that the kids were aggressive to the bobo doll after watching the adult do it and were even more aggressive when they saw an adult of the same-sex being aggressive
What are the specific influences on aggression?
- Aversive incidents
- arousal (pain, heat, attacks)
- The media
- Group context
What is the main principle of arousal?
- A state of arousal can be interpreted in different ways depending on the context
- And that arousal fuels emotion
What are the elements of Hostile Aggression?
-The aversive situation (pain, discomfort) leads to hostile thoughts/memories or aggression cue, angry feelings, and arousal which will lead to aggressive reactions
What happens when a man is shown fictional images of another man overpowering a woman?
- It can distort men & women’s perception of how women respond to sexual coercion
- and increase men’s aggression against women
What is the relationship between people watching porn & aggressiveness?
-People who watch porn are more likely to be sexually aggressive which includes physical force & verbal coercion & harassment
What was concluded when 8 year-olds who watch violence grew to be 19?
- Viewing violence as an 8-year-old modestly predicted aggressiveness at age 19
- BUT aggressiveness as an 8-year-old didn’t predict viewing violence at age 19
What is Prosocial behavior?
-Positive, constructive, helpful social behavior= opposite of antisocial behavior
What are Social Scripts?
- They are culturally provided mental instructions for how to act in various situations
- We rely on them when we are uncertain on how to act
When do we become Desensitized?
-When we get used to emotionally arousing stimulus that’s repeated over & over
Why would playing violent video games have a greater toxic effect than watching violent T.V?
- You identify w/ the character
- Actively partake in violence
- Repetition of violence behaviors
- Rewarded for violent acts
Do playing violent video games increase aggression?
- Yes
- Violent games lead to aggressive actions but the size of the matter is up for debate
What are the effects of playing violent video games?
- Increase in aggressive behaviors, thoughts, feelings
- Also leads to Habituation in the brain=gamers reacting less to negative images
- Greater likelihood to carry a weapon
- Decrease in self-control & empathy for others while an increase in antisocial behavior
What is the Catharsis Hypothesis of aggression?
-The aggressive drive is reduced when one releases aggressive energy by acting it out or fantasizing about it
How can groups amplify aggressive reactions?
-Diffusion of responsibility
What does Jean-Jaques Rosseau blame for social evils supporting the “noble savage” view?
-He blames society
What is the Noble Savage view?
-It’s the view that humans are gentle but society make us aggressive
What role does testosterone play in aggression?
- After handling a gun, men’s testosterone levels rise
- After age 25, testosterone levels & rates of violent crime decrease altogether
- Those w/ high testosterone are more prone to hard drugs, delinquency, aggression
What did Berkowitz propose for explaining hostile aggression?
-Aversive Stimulation is the basic trigger for hostile aggression
What type of pain heightens aggression?
-Physical and Psychological pain
What environmental factors can cause aggressive behavior?
- Air pollution
- Heat
- Cigarette odor
What can be considered to be aggression cues?
-Weapons, nonverbal actions, colors if they indicate that aggression/ violence might take place
What is the Weapon effect?
-The mere presence of a weapon increased aggressive thoughts & behaviors
What is Cognitive Priming?
-Explains that when people view violence they are more likely to use hostile explanations for other’s behaviors (when violence on yo mind, you interpret ambiguous things more violently)
What does the U.S Safety council refer to video games as?
-Sick & morbid
What is the primary characteristic of video games as said by the U.S safety council?
-It’s shift from imaginary visual images of destruction to actual behavioral actions taken by the player
Is there a causal link between playing violent video games and aggression?
- Yes bc it increases aggressive behavior, cognition, etc
- Scientific evidence is also consistent
- BUT there’s no detectable effect on criminal behavior
