Chapter 10: Aggression and Antisocial behaviour Flashcards
Aggression
Any behaviour intended to harm another person who is motivated to avoid the harm
What is aggression
- Behaviour
- Deliberate and intentional
- Victim wants to avoid harm
- It involves at least 2 people
Forms of aggression
Physical
Verbally
Displaced agression
Any behaviour that intentionally harms a substitute target rather than the provocateur
Expressing aggression directly
Any behaviour that intentionally harms another person that is physically present
Expressing aggression indirectly
Any behaviour that intentionally harms a person that is physically absent
Reactive aggression
Impulsive, angry behaviour motivated by the desire to harm someone
Proactive aggression
Premeditated, calculated harmful behaviour that is a means to a practical or material end
Antisocial behaviour
Behaviour that damages interpersonal relationships or is culturally undesirable
Instinct theories
Charles Darwin said: aggression is evolutionary adaptation that has helped creatures to survive better.
- An innate tendency to seek a particular goal such as food
Learning theories
People learn aggressive behaviour by direct experience and by observing others
Frustration-aggression hypothesis
proposal that ‘the occurrence of aggressive behavior always presupposes the existence of frustration’, and ‘the existence of frustration always leads to some form of aggression’
Frustration
Blockage of or interference with a personal goal
Excitation transfer
Arousal deriving from non aggressive sources
Appetitive aggression
Aggression that is motivated by an intrinsic enjoyment of the aggressive act
Desensitisation
A psychological process that occurs when emotional reactions to a stimulus decreases following exposure to it
thrill of the hunt
- Experience a surge of adrenaline
- followed by disinhibitory devices (de-humanisation)
- Killing becomes pleasurable
Sadists
People who engage in sensation seeking by hurting an innocent person
In what manner do hostile/aggressive people view the world
In a hostile manner
Hostile cognitive biases
People are more likely to behave aggressively when they perceive ambiguous behaviours as having hostile intentions.
What are the three hostile cognitive biases
> Hostile ATTRIBUTION bias: the tendency to perceive ambiguous actions by others as aggressive.
Hostile PERCEPTION bias: the tendency to perceive social interactions in general as being aggressive.
Hostile EXPECTATION bias: the tendency to ASSUME that people will react to potential conflicts with aggression.
What do aggressive people tend to do?
They have inner biases that make them:
a. Expect others to react aggressively
b. View ambiguous acts as aggressive
c. Believe that when someone hurts or offends them, it was deliberate and intentional
When it comes to age and aggression, wha age is more aggressive?
Very young children are the most aggressive human beings on earth. They naturally rely on physical aggression to resolve disputes.
FIGHT OR FLIGHT SYNDROME
A response to stress that involves aggressing against others or running away.
