Freud (Psychodynamic Exp), Brendgen (Twin Study) Flashcards
Freud’s Psychodynamic Explanation of Aggression (P1)
- Ego - employs a range of defense mechanisms to deal with problems and conflict in life, includes aggressive urges
- Aggression originates from the redirection of self-destructive death instincts away from self and towards others
- Ego - tries to mediate the urges of the id, knows when it is acceptable to express emotions (aggression)
- Superego - develops around 4 yrs old, governed by the Morality Principle, has a sense of right and wrong which can delay the gratifications of the id, eventually leads to frustration
- Ego - employs specific defence mechanisms to direct this aggression outwards, away from self, towards others by catharsis
- Catharsis -> a way to vent aggression and release strong internal emotions (e.g. anger)
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Freud’s Psychodynamic Explanation of Aggression (P1: Supporting Evidence - Catharsis )
AO3 ‹+› Verona and Sullivan (2008) - found that people who reacted in an aggressive way to being made frustrated in a task had a reduced heart rate compared to those who did not react aggressively, supports aggression being cathartic (released aggression, experienced less aggression, physically calmed down)
Freud’s Psychodynamic Explanation of Aggression (P1: Refuting Evidence - Catharsis)
AO3 ‹-› Hokanson (1974) - found that a reduction in tension after aggressive behaviour is short-lived, seemed to increase the likelihood of later aggression, challenges the idea that releasing aggression is always cathartic (increases aggressive tendencies in the long term)
Freud’s Psychodynamic Explanation of Aggression (P2)
- One defence mechanism is displacement - redirect their aggression to a less powerful and more available substitute (a pillow or sibling - socially unacceptable)
- Another defence mechanism is playing contact sports (Rugby - socially acceptable)
- Another way to release frustration is to watch violence, such as a boxing/wrestling match
- All of these may be viewed as cathartic
Freud’s Psychodynamic Explanation of Aggression (P2: Influence Other Theories - Dollard et al)
AO3 ‹+› led to the development of the frustration-aggression hypothesis, proposed that frustration always leads to aggression (cathartic release of frustration for the individual), could apply Freud’s theory to how external factors (lack of money, dominating boss), can lead to aggressive behaviour towards other objects and even strangers in the streets
Freud’s Psychodynamic Explanation of Aggression (P2: Refuting Evidence - Bandura, Ross and Ross)
AO3 ‹-› showed that children who observe aggressive role models display more aggression themselves, not less - challenges watching aggression as being cathartic and reducing aggression (research has consistently shown that observing aggression usually leads to imitation of that behaviour)
Freud’s Psychodynamic Explanation of Aggression (Conclusion)
AO3 ‹+› U.A has led to the development of psychotherapies which support people in addressing the underlying causes of their anger and how to manage it
AO3 ‹-› it is not based upon scientific methods, the unconscious is unreachable by normal means, cannot measure the id, ego and superego - lack scientific credibility as his theory cannot be falsified
Contemporary/Twin Study: Brendgen (P1 - Aim, Sample, AO3)
- Aimed to investigate whether social and physical aggression have a genetic or environmental basis and whether one type of aggression leads to another
- Collected secondary data from 234 MZ and DZ twin pairs
- 6 yrs old, existing longitudinal twin study in Canada
- Written consent from parents of all the children in the classroom
- Research questions and questionnaires approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB)
AO3 ‹+› she did not directly manipulate the behaviour of the children in the study (use of secondary data), gained written consent from parents, and approval from the IRB -> more ethical when studying aggression in children
AO3 ‹-› data on physical and social aggression only collected for 6 year old, Canadian twins, cannot assume aggression in older children will have the same causes as younger children - reduced generalisability to other age groups and nationalities
Contemporary/Twin Study: Brendgen (P2 - Procedure, Results, AO3)
- Teachers -> rated each twin’s social and physical aggression on a 3-point scale using different statements (‘gets into fights’) - all responses added together to get a total physical and social aggression score
- Peer Ratings -> obtained from sociometric data about each twin’s physical and social aggression, used photos and behavioural descriptors (‘Circle the child who tells others not to play with a child’)
- Results: Physical Aggression - found that it was twice as high for MZ twins compared to DZ twins, suggests genetic factors influence aggression
- Results: Social Aggression - MZ and DZ correlations were similar, suggests environmental factors are more important
- Results: found that high physical aggression later led to high social aggression
AO3 ‹+› two sources of data (teachers and peers) had a high level of agreement between them, similar ratings demonstrate a high inter-rater reliability, consistent findings when rating social and physical aggression - increases validity
AO3 ‹-› use of ratings, based on memory recall, which can be inaccurate (may be influenced by expectations or favouritism of specific children) - reduce validity of ratings
Contemporary/Twin Study: Brendgen (Conclusion)
AO3 ‹+› U.A could be used to introduce interventions in schools to identify children struggling with physical aggression and provide them with strategies to manage it more effectively, reduce later social aggression, improve outcomes for perpetrator and victims
AO3 ‹-› use of secondary data from a longitudinal study, not able to personally see data collection of ratings from teachers and peers, may be inaccuracies, less reliable, lead to flawed conclusions about social and physical aggression
