Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis Flashcards
What is the frustration aggression hypothesis?
Dollard explained aggression as being caused by frustration over not being able to get what you want. Getting what we want is a huge reinforcement to us, and something we crave. If we are denied it, then aggression is our natural response. It is said that the aggressive act is a reliever of this frustration and acts as catharsis (relief through the release of frustration and other emotions).
What does this hypothesis view aggression as?
Dollard et al’s hypothesis is babes on the psychodynamic approach - as a psychological drive, we experience frustration if our attempt to achieve a goal is blocked by an external factor.
What is displaced aggression?
If we are not able to act aggressively to the thing that has caused frustration (because the cause of frustration is abstract, e.g. The government, too powerful and we risk punishment, e.g. A teacher who would give you a low grade, or unavailable, e.g. The teacher left before you saw the grade), we express aggression indirectly. For example, your teacher gives you a detention when you think you haven’t done anything wrong, but you know that if you were aggressive towards your teacher then things would get even worse. In this case, people will often act out their aggression on another target which is not abstract, is weaker and is available.
What are issues with this hypothesis?
- Frustration does not always lead to aggression.
2. You can be aggressive without being frustrated.
What is the revised Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis?
Berkowitz outlined:
- Frustration is just one of the negative experiences which can lead to aggression.
- Unpleasant experiences create unpleasant, negative feelings in the person (known as ‘negative affect’ because in Psychology ‘affect’ means emotions and feelings).
- Unpleasant feelings tend to lead to aggression.
- Unanticipated negative affect is more likely to lead to aggression, because unexpected bad surprises are felt more negatively than if you can predict it happening.
- Likelihood of aggression is linked more to how negative the feelings are, not how frustrating the stimuli.
Strength: useful real-life applications.
Berkowitz’s argument that !the trigger can pull the finger’ has featured in the gun control debate in the US. Some states allow ‘open carry’, where a gun does not have to be concealed. But presence of a weapon acts as a cue to aggression making its use more likely. Research into the weapons effect may reduce gun-related violence by showing that aggressive cues should be removed from the environment, saving lives.
Strength: there is research evidence
Marcus-Newhall et al conducted a meta analysis of 49 studies of displaced aggression (aggressive behaviour directed against a target other than one that caused frustration). Participants who were provoked but unable to retaliate directly against the source of their frustration were significantly more likely to aggress against an innocent party than people who were not provoked. The researchers concluded that displaced aggression is a reliable phenomenon, supporting a central concept of the hypothesis and increasing its validity as an explanation of aggression.
Limitation: there is evidence that aggression is not cathartic.
Bushman found participants who vented their anger by hitting a punchbag became more angry and aggressive, rather than less. Venting to reduce anger is like using petrol to put out a fire - but this is the advice many therapists give to clients. This casts doubt on the validity of a central assumption of the hypothesis.
Strength: the original hypothesis was reformulated to fit the evidence.
Frustrations does not always lead to aggression and aggression can occur without frustration. So Berkwitz argued frustration is just one of many aversive stimuli that create negative feelings. Aggression is triggered by negative feelings generally rather than by frustration specifically. The outcome of frustration can be a range of responses; only one is aggression. This is a strength because it highlights the flexibility of the hypothesis and is how science operates - a theory is adapted when evidence comes along that it cannot explain.
Limitation: the effects of justified and unjustified frustration.
Dill and Anderson showed participants a paper-folding task but frustrated them by making it difficult to follow, either because the experimenter was in a hurry to meet his girlfriend (unjustified) or because his boss told hi to be quick (justified). Participants who experienced unjustified frustration produced most aggression (negative judgements of the experimenter). Justified frustration produced less aggression but more than the control condition (absence of frustration). This finding shows that some forms of frustration can create more aggression than others- a serious challenge to the validity of the original hypothesis.
How is aggressive behaviour cathartic?
Expression of the aggressive drive on behaviour is cathartic because the aggression created by the frustration is satisfied. This reduces the drive making further aggression less likely -we feel better for getting it ‘off our chest’.
What is the weapons effect?
Berkowitz and LePage found once students became frustrated in a lab task, they were more likely to give (fake) electric shocks when they could see a weapon next to them. Weapons effects shows that frustration only creates a readiness for aggression - and then aggressive cues in the environment make it more likely that aggression will happen.
What was the procedure of Geen’s study of frustration and aggression?
Male university students completed a jigsaw puzzle, during which level of frustration was manipulated in one of three ways:
1. For some participants the puzzle was impossible to solve.
2. Others ran out of time because another student (a confederate) kept interfering.
3. Others were insulted by the confederate.
Then the participants gave (fake) electric shocks to the confederate whenever he made a mistake on another task.
What were the findings of the frustration and aggression key study?
Gene found that insulted participants gave the strongest shocks on average, then the interfered group, then the impossible-task participants. All three groups selected more intense shocks than a (non-frustrated) control group.
