Ch 6, Human Aggression

Question 1

aggression

Answer 1

intentional action aimed at doing harm or causing physical or psychological pain

Question 2

relational aggression

Answer 2

a more social, nonphysical form of aggression aimed at hurting others, by sabotaging reputations and relationships with peers, exemplified by spreading false rumors and malicious gossip

Question 3

catharsis

Answer 3

specifically, the release of energy; Freud believed that unless people were allowed to express aggressive behavior, the aggressive energy would be dammed up, the pressure would build up, and the energy thus produced would seek an outlet, resulting in violence or a symptom of mental illness

Question 4

frustration–aggression

Answer 4

when a person is thwarted on the way to a goal, the frustration will increase the probability of an aggressive response

Question 5

relative deprivation:

Answer 5

the feeling that occurs when people notice that other people have more or are doing better than they are, and that the system is treating them unfairly relative to what people around them have

Question 6

social cognitive learning theory

Answer 6

the theory that people learn how to behave through their cognitive processes, such as their perceptions of events and through observation and imitation of others

Question 7

weapons effect

Answer 7

when the mere presence of an object associated with aggression — gun, rifle, or other weapon — serves as a cue for an aggressive response

Question 8

deindividuation

Answer 8

a state of reduced self-awareness, reduced concern over social evaluation, and weakened restraints against prohibited forms of behavior

When we are made self-aware, we tend to uphold our own values (e.g., “Thou shalt not harm”); when we are anonymous and not self-aware, we tend to act more on impulse. This is why, for example, people eat less popcorn when they are standing in front of a mirror than when they are sitting in a darkened theatre

Question 9

desensitization

Answer 9

a process whereby we become decreasingly distressed when we see people hurt

Question 10

sexual scripts

Answer 10

implicit rules that specify proper sexual behavior for a person in a given situation, varying with the person’s gender, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and peer group