Chapter 11 - Aggression

Question 1

What is Aggression?

Answer 1

-Aggression is intentional behaviour (physical or verbal) aimed at causing either physical or psychological pain.
-Hostile Aggression: an act of aggression stemming from feelings of anger and aimed at inflicting pain or injury.
-Instrumental Aggression: aggression as a means to some goal other than causing pain.

Question 2

What are the types/forms of aggression:

Answer 2

-Physical aggression - hostile behaviour that inflicts physical pain or discomfort
-Verbal aggression - words that inflict pain by yelling, insulting, ridiculing, humiliating and so on
-Social or relational aggression - behaviours aimed at damaging relationships (e.g., ignoring, spreading rumours)
-Direct aggression - physical or verbal hostile behaviour that directly targets another person
-Indirect aggression - hostile behaviour by an unidentified perpetrator that hurts another person by indirect means (when there is a lot of ambiguity, it is generally described as indirect)

Question 3

What is Social Learning Theory?

Answer 3

-Social learning theory: we learn social behaviour (e.g., aggression) by observing others and imitating them.
-In Bandura’s (1961, 1963) “Bobo” doll studies, children who had watched an adult model aggressive behaviour towards the doll later imitated those behaviours.
-The children also engaged in novel forms of aggression towards the doll.

Question 4

What is a situational cause of aggression?

Answer 4

Frustration as a Cause of Aggression
-Frustration: the perception that you are being prevented from obtaining a goal.
-Frustration-Aggression Theory (Dollard et al., 1939): the theory that frustration will increase the probability of an aggressive response.

Question 5

What is Frustration as a Cause of Aggression?

Answer 5

Chances that frustration will lead to aggression are increased when:
–You are close to reaching your goal and are prevented from doing so.
–The frustration is unexpected.
Frustration is less likely to lead to aggression when:
–The situation causing the frustration is understandable.
–The cause of the frustration is legitimate.
–The cause of the frustration is unintentional.
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.
–Leads to frustration which causes aggression.

Question 6

What is the impact of exposure to aggression?

Answer 6

-Repeated exposure to media violence tends to reduce sensitivity to those events.
–Such exposure can numb people’s reactions to real-life aggression.
–Those who play violent video games are more likely to be oblivious to the needs of others (Bushman & Anderson, 2009).
–Media violence does have an impact on average children and adults, but its impact is greatest on those who are already prone to violent behaviour.