Chapter 13: Aggression Flashcards
General aggression model?
A broad approach to understanding the causes of aggression through a focus on situational factors, construal factors, and biological and cultural contributions
What is general aggression? examples?
Behavior that is intended to injure someone
Punch, insult
What is hostile aggression?
examples?
Aggression resulting from negative emotional states (impulsive)
Road rage, bar fight
What is instrumental aggression?
examples?
Aggression that is motivated by goals other than harming the target (planned)
armed robbery, sporting contests
How does video games show greater aggression?
(1) increase aggressive behaviour such as giving more intense punishment to confederates in a study
(2) reduce prosocial behaviour
(3) increase aggressive thoughts, such as that the world is a hostile place or that some people are deserving of aggression
(4) increase aggressive emotions, especially anger and apathy
(5)** increase blood pressure and heart rate**, two physiological responses associated with aggression
What is a culture of honour?
A culture de ned by its members’ strong concerns about their own and others’ reputations, leading to sensitivity to
insults and a willingness to use violence to avenge any perceived slight
What is a rape prone culture?
A culture in which rape tends to be used as an act of war against enemy women, as a ritual act, or as a threat against women to keep them subservient to men
relational aggression?
examples
Aggression aimed at damaging another’s reputation or relationships (common in females)
gossip, ridicule
What is inclusive fitness?
an individual’s reproductive success, which ensures the transmission of an individual’s genes to future generations
What is the precarious manhood hypothesis?
The idea that a man’s gender identity, which significantly involves strength and toughness, may be lost under various conditions and that such a loss can trigger aggressive behaviour
What is overdetermination of behaviour?
multiple possible causes, any which of one alone is insufficient to explain a behaviour
What is aggression?
any form of behaviour that is intended to injure somebody else physically or psychologically
What are the prominent theories of aggression?
- biological influence
- evolutionary
- culture
How is aggression linked to genetics in biology?
- A person’s temperament early in life usually endures
- identical twins are more likely to both have criminal records than fraternal twins
- heritability is 40-50%
How is aggression linked to hormones in biology?
- testosterone is high in men and women
- testosterone is high amount criminals convicted of biolect crimes
- correlation doesn’t necessarily imply causation
What is Freud’s Dual Instinct Theory?
- Eros: life instincts: basic survival, pleasure, reproduction
- Thanatos: death instinct: re-direct self-destructive instinct toward other people
war is inevitable because otherwise, self-destructive
Evolutionary theories of aggression emphasizes – rather than –
genetic survival
survival of the individual
stepparents more likely thn biological parents to abuse/kill their child
Why do males, by evolutionary theory of aggression, aggress?
- means of attaining or maintaining status (to mate or reproduce)
- establish dominance over other males
- show jealousy when other man shown interest in mate
What is young male syndrome?
18-34 year old males are more likely o commit comcine in context of jealousy against another young male
Why do women aggress? Type?
- intrasexual competition in women leads to verbal aggression (relational aggression)
In most modern societies, status is based on many factors other than aggression/dominance such as
- occupational success
- wealth
- celebrity
how does culture relate to aggression?
aggression of culture can vary over time and by circumstance
(Iroquois were peace tribe until Europeans ignited conflict with Hurons)
What is the Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis?
Aggression is an automatic response to blocking of goal-directed behaviour
*Frustration always leads to aggression *Frustration is the only cause of aggression
Argument against frustration-aggression hypothesis?
many instances where frustration leads to other outcomes (ex. apathy)
acts of aggression aren’t always preceded by frustration (ex. hitman)
What is the Revised Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis?
- any unplesant stimulation will lead to hostile aggression, but only when it generates unpleasant feelings’
- frustration, pain, heat, social exclusion
How does pain cause aggression?
- animals in pain that can’t flee often attack anything on sight
How does heat cause aggression?
- violent crimes, riots, more likely to occur on hot days
- might be simply because more people are outside
How does social exclusion cause aggression?
- ostracism: being excluded, rejected, and ignored by others
- associated with -ve psychological effects
What were 3 experimental paradigms to test social exclusion and aggression?
- cyberball: virtual ball-tossing bame where P is excluded by 2 other Ps
- Life Alone: personality test result reveals P will end up alone
- Get Acquainted: other Ps did not select P to be in group
Reaction to being excluded from cyberball?
- rejected Ps while in fMRI activates same brain area (dACC) as does physical pain
What is the Cognitive neoassociation model?
- unpleasant experience (pain, heat, etc) -> negative feeling
* angry thoughts + objects/event priming aggression -> fight
* fearful thoughts and associations -> flight
What was the weapons effect experiment for cognitive neoassociation model?
- pickup truck remained stationary at green light and observations of honking were made
- a) control -> just truck
- b) a + gun rack with rifle
- c) a + b + bumber sticker reading vengeance
more motorist honking for c (priming aggression)
Social Learning Theory of Aggression?
example
Aggression is learned through observation and instruction of others modelling
Bobo doll expmt
Bobo doll study condition?
Toddlers assigned to one of three conditions in which aggressive behaviour toward a blow-up doll was shown
1. Live adult model
2. Filmed adult model
3. cartoon cat model
4. Control condition (adult played nicely with doll)
imitative aggressive behaviour most from 4-1 (live most)
Does media violent cause aggression or the other way around?
violent media images -> aggresive behaviour = socialization hypothesis
other way around = selection hypothesis
Byproduct of exposure to high levels of violent content through TV + MOVIES:
*“mean world” syndrome: “The world sure is a violent place!”
*Leads to increased feelings of fear / anxiety / overexaggerated risk of threat t obecoming a victim of violence
video game players Might have more of an impact than TV violence because players are:
- actively involved in planning aggressive acts
- reinforced for successful symbolic violence
How does aggression from video games affect helping?
took longer for violent video game players to respond to cry for help
Stronger evidence that media violence causes aggression in – than in adolescents or adults
children (12 and under)
