Chapter 10 Flashcards
Define aggression
intentional behaviour aimed at causing physical/psychological pain to those who do not wish to be harmed
Define violence
aggression that has extreme physical harm, such as injury or death, as its goal - subset of aggression
Define proactive aggression, how can we also call it?
goal and outcome directed, calculated/thought out
• AKA Instrumental/cognitive aggression
Define reactive aggression, how can we also call it?
in response to a provocation, not thought out AKA hostile (coming from affect, want to inflict pain), emotional, impulsive aggression
What do researchers think about the proactive/reactive dichotomy?
Researchers argue that this dichotomy is not actually accurate: it’s a spectrum
Define physical aggression (Ex)
hitting pushing, biting
Define non-physical aggression (ex)
verbal (name-calling), relational (more covert, focused on social group)
Define relational aggression, who engages most in it?
- Stereotypic “mean girl” behaviour
- Intentionally harming another person’s social relationships
- It has been researched that females actually engage more in it; goal is to remove someone from a group - not just a stereotype
- This type is maintained while growing older; it stays
Aggression is adaptive. Name the 2 evolutionnary reasons males engage in aggression
- Establish dominance over other males
* Protect paternity through jealousy-motivated aggression
Explain the experiment with the rat and the cat: what happened? What does this show?
raised a rat with a cat in the same environment - the cat refused to chase rats afterwards, because they bonded together
shown that aggression is both instinctual and learned
What is the relation with aggressivity in childhood and adlthood?
- Children who are aggressive as infants are also aggressive when adults
- Behavioural genetics studies have found that criminal and aggressive behaviour is correlated at about .7 for identical twins and only at about .4 for fraternal twins
Describe the study about the MAOA gene
MAOA gene: produces serotonin
Low activity of MAOA = significantly more at risk to show a variety of aggressive behaviours in groups that were probably and certainly assaulted as children
Explain the 2 routes of the amygdala to process emotion
- Fast route (thalamus -> amygdala), bottom-up process
* Slow route (thalamus -> prefrontal cortex -> amygdala), top-down process
How will a lesion of the amygdala influence aggressive behaviour?
• Lesion will decrease behaviour
What role does testosterone play in aggressive behaviour?
- Affects the limbic system - increased emotional reactivity and heightened emotional vigilance
- More rough and tumble play in children - both males and females with higher levels of testosterone
Describe the experiment with serotonin. What were the results?
Experiment: 80 men and women, 1/2 had history of aggression
Divided into 2 groups
Low group: no history of aggression - high: history
Competitive reaction time game with a fictional opponent - the winner was allowed to shock the loser
Took serotonin reuptake inhibitor or placebo
Could gamble on the shock they would receive if they lost
Goal: situation where they felt provoked
In high group: those that received serotonin showed significantly lower aggression response
Serotonin plays a role in attenuating the effect of provocation
Why are chimps more aggressive than bonobos?
Chimps are aggressive
• Patriarchal society (aggression towards females)
• To be considered a male they have to attack females
* Bonobos live in forests where the food is easily available (plants) * Chimps sometimes live in areas where there are also gorillas who take all the plants, they need to forage in trees and fight for their food
Name the 3 main effects of alcohol that can interfere with aggressive behaviour
Decreased inhibition
Alcohol myopia
Alcohol expectancy
Define alcohol myopia
○ More self-focused and less aware of the social situation (ignore social norms, seek immediate gratification)
Define alcohol expectancy
○ Sort of self-fulfilling prophecy (if we expect alcohol to make us more aggressive, it will)
What are the influences of bad mood on aggressivity?
Angry, bad mood, tired, in pain, sick or frustrated
+ Likely to be aggressive
What are the influences of pain and discomfort on aggressivity? Give examples of pain/discomfort
Pain/other physical discomfort can lower the threshold for aggressive behaviour
Ex: Heat, humidity, air pollution, offensive odours, chronic disease
Explain how potential terror plays a role in our self-esteem and sense of belonging
Self-preservation + Awareness or mortality = potential terror -> used to create cultural worldview (anxiety buffer - makes us feel like we are part of something bigger than we are) and to increase self-esteem (by being part of a cultural group)
Describe the experiment with hot sauce and the mortality salience
2 groups - mortality salience high or low and control
2 groups - worldview threatened or consistent
Mortality salient: asked to think about their own death Control: think about an upcoming important exam they would take Then asked to read an essay in which their worldview was threatened or not Asked to decide on the quantity of hot sauce that the author of the essay would ingest
Define frustration
perception that you are being prevented from obtaining a goal
Explain the frustration-aggression theory
the theory that frustration will increase the probability of an aggressive response
• Frustration is increased when we feel we are close to a goal
• More frustration when it is unexpected
• We feel like we are at the limit of our emotional regulation skills
Define displaced aggression
if we cannot explain our frustration to someone we might displace it to someone that can understand it
Define relative deprivation
the perception that you have less than you deserve, less than what you have been led to expect, or less than what people similar to you have
Explain the experiment where researchers gave monkeys grapes or cucumbers
Getting cucumber or grapes - sense of inequality made them frustrated (when they saw that the other one had a grape)
How do we normally respond to confrontation?
People usually feel the urge to reciprocate after being provoked by intentional aggressive behaviour from another person
Most people will not retaliate if the aggression is perceived to be unintentional
Ex: you wont push people back in a crowd, but alone in the street yes
Explain the relationship between exclusion and aggression
Research has shown that the pain of being excluded from a group of peers increases aggression
Correlational studies also show a link between peer rejection and aggression in children
Define the social learning theory
we learn social behaviour (eg: aggression) by observing other and imitating hem
Explain the bobo doll experiment, name some of its flaws
- Children imitated the aggressive adults
- Children in the control condition almost never showed aggression
Model’s face did not look angry - bias
• Individual differences not accounted for - bias
• No consequences for aggression - child led to believe that it was ok (bias)
Explain the relationship between seeing violence in the media and aggressive behaviour
Experimental evidence demonstrates that watching violence does increase the frequency of aggressive behaviour, angry emotions, and hostile thoughts
• Repeated exposure to media violence tends to reduce sensitivity to those events
• Such exposure can numb people’s reaction to real-life aggression
• Those who play violent video games are + likely to be oblivious to the needs of others
• However: the impact of media is light compared to the impact of environment and nature (genes, family, peers)
Describe the experiment in which people were asked to play a videogame aggressive or not. What are the conclusions?
played a violent video game or not, and asked to read a story in which someone made a mistake (car accident) - those who played violent video games were aggressive in their response to the driver that caused the accident (conclusion as strong as smoking causing cancer or studying improving grades!!!)
Explain the role of priming in having guns at home
Seeing violence leads to aggressive thoughts, which creates violent behaviour
Having guns at home makes violence more cognitively accessible - therefore increases violence
Define desensitization
tendency to become used to, an thus less influenced by, a stimulus
What is violent pornography associated with?
Research demonstrates that the viewing of violent pornographic material is associated with:
• Greater acceptance of sexual violence toward women
• Acting aggressive towards women
Describe the experiment in which males were shown different types of movies
1 violent w rape, 1 non violent and 1 violent and non sexual
• Then participated in a Milgram’s task: shocking a women
• Those who had viewed the violent film gave + and bigger shocks
Define catharsis. Do studies support this concept?
The notion that “blowing off steam” relieves built up anger and aggressive energy and reduces the likelihood of further aggressive behaviour
• Studies do not support this: it actually might increase aggression
• Catharsis may actually INCREASE aggression
• More beneficial to acknowledge our anger, put ourselves in time out until we are able to articulate it and communicate with others appropriately
Explain the experiment with 5th an 6th graders, and how self-esteem relates to aggression
5th and 6th graders
• Children’s perception of themselves was evaluated w Rosenberg self-esteem scale
• Other-concern was also assessed
* Self-perception was associated with agentic goals: others respect and admire you (one's own goals and social status) -> proactive aggression * Lower levels of agentic goals = prosocial behaviour * Higher in perception of peers (other-concern) was associated with communal goals: group is valuable to them -> lower levels lead to withdrawal (disconnected from the group) and higher levels led to prosocial behaviour * Higher self-esteem (inflated) meant higher levels of aggression
Explain the main differences in gender and aggression
• Males tend to act more physically aggressive than females
○ They are also more reinforced for being aggressive
• Females are + likely to use covert/relational aggression
• When confronted with insults both men and women respond aggressively
• In Canada, although the rate of violent crime by females almost doubled in the pas 20 years, the rate in males is still 4x higher
Describe the cultural differences in aggression
- Human cultures vary widely in their degree of aggression
* In a given culture, levels of aggression may change over time with changing social conditions
Define cultures of honour
• In “Cultures of Honour”, violence is often seen as an acceptable way to protect one’s honour and reputation
○ Culture of honour: social norm that condones and even encourages responding to insults with aggression
Describe the experiment in which student from southern states were compared to other students
shows that students in southern states have + testosterone and + aggression behaviour
Those form the southern are often cattle farmers - vulnerable to theft, therefore had to show a strong front in order not to get robbed
Why do we blame the victims for aggressions?
- Once one aggresses against someone else, they: experience cognitive dissonance
- Tends to derogate the act of cruelty and reduce the dissonance
- Therefore blame the victim (we see this in women’s aggression, racism, etc)
Describe the steps that Zimbardo described as the steps to becomming evil
- Mindlessly taking the 1st small step
- Dehumanization of others (seeing someone as “less than”)
- De-individuation of self (anonymity)
- Diffusion if personal responsibility
- Blind obedience to authority
- Uncritical conformity to group norms
- Passive tolerance of evil through inaction or indifference
How is punishment effective to stop aggression?
- Punishment is prompt and certain
- It is unavoidable
- In real life, however, these conditions are often not met, and severe punishment does not seem to deter violent crime
- In general, punishment does not work for these situations (like corporal punishment, etc)
Name some strategies to deal with anger
- Communication, problem solving
- Diffusing anger through apology
- Modelling non-aggressive behaviour to children
- Building empathy to counter dehumanization
- Disrupting the rejection/rage cycle
