Final: Aggression

Question 1

Aggression

Answer 1

• Intentional behavior aimed at doing harm or causing pain to another
• Usually known to be out of anger

Question 2

Types of Aggression

Answer 2

• Angry/hostile aggression: stems from anger, goal is to harm
• Instrumental aggression: intent to harm but means to some other goal, not an accident but goal isn’t to harm although process may harm
• Passive aggression: indirect verbal or physical actions/behaviors out of annoyance/anger
• Relational aggression: threatening and exclusion

Question 3

Theories of Aggression

Answer 3

• Aggression Instinct
• Biological Influences
• Frustration Aggression Hypothesis
• Social Influences

Question 4

Aggression Instinct

Answer 4

-No support for catharsis: express aggression = relieves build up anger and reduces aggression
-Doesn’t make you feel better, makes you more aggressive
-Watching aggression increases hostility
-Often feel worse psychologically and physically after aggression
-Aggressive instinct can be circular = hard to test
^^born with instinct that makes us aggressive because we’re evolutionarily aggressive

Question 5

Biological Influences

Answer 5

• Amygdala: controls emotions like aggression
• Heredity: 1 in 1000 men have XYY and 2% of men in prison do
• Male Sex: more aggressive and more likely to be victims of aggression
• Testosterone: more hormone, more aggressive

Question 6

Male vs. Female Sex

Answer 6

• Male sex is more aggressive & more likely to be a victim
  a. evolutionary theory (secure status, compete for females)
  b. hormones (testosterone)
  c. social role (media depicts men as dominant and strong and parents/peers/teachers act as if it’s okay for boys to act aggressive if for self-defense)
  d. males are 9x as likely as females to commit murder
  e. males are 4x as likely as females to be a murder victim
  f. both men and women kill males more than females
  g. men are provoked more than women

Question 7

Frustration Aggression Hypothesis

Answer 7

• Frustration: perception you are blocked from attaining a goal
• Frustration increases aggression BUT frustration doesn’t always lead to aggression
• Depends on…
  a. ability to retaliate/fear of retaliation
  b. if frustration is understandable
  c. if provocation is intentional
  d. if aggression will achieve the goal
• Frustration isn’t the same as deprivation: not having what you need
• More related to relative deprivation: when we get less than what we expect or deserve
• Problem is increased expectations

Question 8

Social Influences

Answer 8

• Social Learning Theory
  a. rewards/punishments
  b. modeling (those we respect/admire, growing up in violent homes = risk factor)
  c. victimization: abuse alters information processing by interpreting ambiguous situations as threat
• Aggressive Stimulus: object associated with aggression and whose mere presence can increase aggression
  a. weapons effect
  b. may depend on whether weapon is viewed as an aggressive stimulus in the situation
• Alcohol
  a. reduces inhibitions
  b. disrupts information processing
  c. “think drink” effect (expectations about drinking alcohol has a greater effect than actual amount of alcohol)
• Heat/Pain/Discomfort lowers threshold for aggression
• Publicized acts of aggression
• TV/Media
• Sexual & Physical Assault

Question 9

Television (Social Influences)
How do we study TV & aggression link?
Explanations for the link?

Answer 9

• Lots of aggression on TV/media
• Majority of violence goes unpunished
• Watching violence leads to aggression
• Aggressive individuals more likely to watch violent TV
• Aggressive individuals more prone to effects of violent TV

How?

• Laboratory studies (IV = violent tv clip and DV = use of electric shock, noise, or punching Bobo doll)
• Field studies (control for initial aggression, IV = amount of tv exposure and DV = criminal, juvenile, and parent/peer records or reports)

Why?

• Observational learning
• Attitude change (increased tolerance for aggression, view violence as acceptable, less trusting of others, impatient, etc.)
• Desensitization (less physiological arousal)
• Priming (aggression becomes salient)
• Justification (for own aggressive behavior)
• Social Isolation

Question 10

Sexual Assault

Answer 10

• Schema for rape: stranger rapte
• But 85% of all actual or attempted rapes are acquaintance rape
• Situational case: sexual scripts
  a. traditional female role is to resist he male’s sexual advances
  b. traditional male role is to be persistent
  c. men tend to misperceive women’s behaviors
• Characteristics of sexually aggressive men
  a. narcissistic
  b. inability to empathize with women
  c. feel hostility and contempt toward women
  d. sense of entitlement
  e. accuse women of provoking them

Question 11

Physical Assault

Answer 11

• Female violence is not only in self-defense
• Women are equally likely as men to initiate violence
• Common couple violence: m = f
• Intimate terrorism: m > f

Question 12

Ways of Reducing Aggression

Answer 12

• Punishment
• Reduce antecedents
• Teach ways to control expression

Question 13

Punishment (Reducing Aggression)
Does it work?
When is it effective?

Answer 13

Does it work?

• Modeling behavior you are trying to extinguish
• Might lead one to imitate action
• Tells you what not to do but not what to do
• Threat of mild punishment is more effective than severe punishment
• Severe = external justification for behavior change

It’s effective if…
-Immediate & certain

Question 14

Reduce Antecendents

Answer 14

• Reduce frustration
• Model non-aggressive behavior
• Reduce availability of aggressive stimuli
• Apologize to prevent retaliation

Question 15

Teach Ways to Control Expression

Answer 15

• How to communicate anger
• Increase empathy
• Allow to dissipate feelings of anger