Chapter 13: Aggression

Question 1

define aggression

Answer 1

any action with the intent to harm
hostile aggression: motivated by anger or genuinely wanting to hurt the other person
instrumental aggression: behavior intended to harm another in the service of motives other than pure hostility (political advantages, seeking attention..)

Question 2

How does hot weather correlate with aggression?

Answer 2

• higher temperatures correlate with high crime rates
• people conceptualize anger as heat
• violent crime rises but nonviolent crime does not
• baseball pitchers hit batter more in hot weather

Question 3

what happens when participants are shown aggressive film clips in the lab?

Answer 3

they behave more aggressively afterwards than those shown non-aggressive clips or focused on the non-violent aspects of the video

• jv delinquents more aggressive after watching violence
• male college students gave more intense shocks
• violent porn increases aggression against women

Question 4

when are the effects of violent clips stronger?

Answer 4

when you identify yourself with the violent actor

you felt the violence was justified

Question 5

what is the mortal kombat golf study (Bartholow & Anderson, 2002)?

Answer 5

• participants played each game (violent game was kombat and other game was golf) against a confederate
• were given a loud burst of white noise when they lost
• when they won, could administer their own burst
• participants playing mortal kombat gave the opponent louder and longer burst of white noise

Question 6

what are the 5 documented reactions associated with playing violent video games?

Answer 6

1. increases in aggressive behavior
2. increases in aggressive thoughts
3. increases in aggressive emotions
4. increases blood pressure
5. reduces prosocial behavior

Question 7

What did MacDonaly & Leary (2005) find about social rejection?

Answer 7

• a strong evolutionary benefit to social groups puts pressure on those who are not in them
• being socially rejected activates same neural regions as physical pain
• increases stress and elevates blood pressure

Question 8

what have social rejection and aggression studies revealed?

Answer 8

• people who report chronic rejection are more likely to act aggressively in romantic relationships
• people who imagine a rejected future are more likely to blast strangers with white noise in the lab

Question 9

what does income inequality have to do with aggression?

Answer 9

• income inequality correlates positively with murder, rape, and assault rates
• children are more likely to experience conflict and bullying
• high income inequality neighborhoods experience more violence

Question 10

how does income inequality CAUSE aggression?

Answer 10

• feeling of social rejection, frustration
• undermines communal good will and trust
• increases competition

Question 11

the effects of anger influence the way we construe certain things. Thus, situational determinants will produce aggression more when we are angry.

• the SITUATION does nothing by itself: their influence is CHANNELED through CONSTRUAL processes.
  so. ..thinking about this, how might anger prompt behavior?

Answer 11

people may think things are more unfair
people may have negative intentions
people have more ways of inflicting harm onto others

Question 12

what is the gun and aggression study?

Answer 12

• participant and confederate worked on problems and evaluated each other
• participant was either shocked once or several times for performance
• participant then had to choose shocks to give to confederate. Next to shock machine there was either a badminton gear, a gun, or nothing
• participants shocked confederate more times when angry, and shocked them the most when they were angry AND there was a gun

Question 13

not all people construe things the same way…the presence of guns does not increase aggressive behavior in hunters…why?

Answer 13

most people construe guns as aggressive weapons BUT hunters construe guns as sporting/recreational gear

Question 14

define dehumanization

Answer 14

tendency to attribute nonhuman characteristics to outgroup members
-it’s easier to harm others who are seen as less human (Abu Ghraib, slavery)

Question 15

define culture of honor

Answer 15

a culture that is defined by its members’ strong concern about their own and others’ reputations
-leads to hypersensitivity to insults and willingness to use violence to avenge anyone that insulted them

Question 16

what is the culture of honor and insults study (Cohen et al 1996)?

Answer 16

-participants coded as either from South or North
-participants bumped by confederate and called an “asshole” while handing in completed paper
-participated then interacted with other confederates
-when insulted, SOUTH males showed more facial expressions of ANGER, shook hands more FIRMLY, had severe spikes in testosterone, refused to move out of way for other confederates, and were more likely to become more AGGRESSIVE
BASICALLY: southern acted in ways to reestablish their masculinity
Northerners may think its funny or weird

Question 17

what did the study about regional differences in the US find (Cohen 7 Nisbett, 1997)?

Answer 17

-murders in the context of a felony were about equally common in North, South, and Southwest
-but murders that occurred as a result of argument or perceived insult were far more common in the south
Reasons?
cultural heritage: farmers vs herders
historical situation: less law enforcement in the South

Question 18

what are rape-prone cultures?

Answer 18

rape is commonly used in war, ritual, or threat

-emphasis on male toughness and machismo

Question 19

define inclusive fitness

Answer 19

evolutionary theory that fitness of individual is based on reproductive success and passing of own’s genes down
-we WANT to increase our fitness, therefore we nurture our children

Question 20

what are the statistics about stepfamilies and violence?

Answer 20

• nurturing stepchildren does not increase inclusive fitness
• children younger than age 2 are 100 times more likely to be abused to death by stepparents than by genetic parents in the US
• in a south African tribe, 43% of stepchildren died before age 15 vs 19% in genetic family

Question 21

how does the aggression between men and women vary? and why?

Answer 21

men are more likely to be physically aggressive, whereas women are more likely to be emotionally aggressive

Question 22

what are the evolutionary explanations as to why aggression differs between men and women?

Answer 22

• women have higher reproductive cost -incentive to be choosy
• men have lower reproductive cost- incentive to compete for women
• physical aggression is a way of competing to gain higher status and showing they can protect offspring

Question 23

what are some of the biological explanations that differ between man and women?

Answer 23

• men have higher testosterone
• related to physical cues
• promotes status-seeking behaviors, such as asserting dominance and physical aggression
• increases adrenaline and automatic processes

Question 24

what are some of the cultural explanations as to why aggression differs between men and women?

Answer 24

-men are socialized into physical aggression

Question 25

what is the emotion study (Condry & Condry 1976)?

Answer 25

-parents shown a video of an infant being startled
-if parents told infant is a boy, they said he was angry
-if parents told infant is a girl, they said she was scared
parents talk more about emotions with daughters than sons
parents are more likely to encourage or accept violent behavior from sons than daughters

Question 26

define precarious manhood hypothesis

Answer 26

the idea that a man’s gender identity of strength and toughness may be lost under various conditions and that such a loss can trigger aggressive behavior
-basically, men are more sensitive to threats to manhood and more likely to resort to risky and aggressive behaviors to “prove” themselves

Question 27

what is the braiding hair study?

Answer 27

• male participants braid either hair (wig) or rope
• participants then hit a punching bag
• participants who braided hair hit much harder

Question 28

define reactive devaluation

Answer 28

attaching less value to an offer in a negotiation once the opposing group makes it
-the fact that the “enemy” makes an offer makes it suspicious

Question 29

simple reasoning is seductive, but rarely effective in solving conflicts

Question 30

what does face-to-face communication have to do with reconciliation?

Answer 30

face-to-face communication can greatly reduce conflict

“walk a mile in his shoes” “take a step back and breathe”

Question 31

what is the restorative justice system study?

Answer 31

• professionals mediate conversations between perpetrators and victims
• perpetrators try to apologize or offer reparation, victims try to forgive
• victims report fewer thoughts of revenge
• victims more likely to say justice system is fair