Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis Flashcards
what is the frustration aggression hypothesis?
2
sees aggression as the consequence of frustration
frustration is defined as “any event or stimulus that prevents an individual from attaining some goal and its accompanying reinforcing quality”
features of the frustration aggression hypothesis
4
frustration aggression hypothesis
justified and unjustified frustration
displaced aggression
a revised frustration aggression hypothesis
basic beliefs of the frustration-aggression hypothesis
5
Dollard et al (1939) claimed that there is a link between frustration and aggression — known as the frustration aggression hypothesis
they argued that “the occurrence of aggressive behaviour always presupposes the existence of frustration” and that “the existence of frustration always leads to some form of aggression”
the basic claim of the frustration aggression hypothesis was that all aggression was the result of frustration
frustration is caused when people are prevented from getting something they want
Dollard et al claimed that frustration was a necessary condition for aggression, but they also believed that contextual factors such as threat of punishment could inhibit aggressive behaviour in some situations
outline the relationship between aggression, frustration and catharsis
4
the hypothesis predicts a cause and effect relationship between frustration, aggression and catharsis
catharsis is a form of emotional release that is achieved by the person engaging in aggressive behaviour or having aggressive thoughts about the target
according to the hypothesis, frustration leads to the arousal of an aggressive drive which then leads to aggressive behaviour
aggressive urges can be relieved through the production of aggressive behaviour, which therefore has a cathartic effect on the individual
when does frustration increase?
3
frustration increases when….
• our motivation to achieve a goal is very strong
• we expect gratification
• there is nothing we can do about it
Brown et al (2001) surveyed British holiday makers who were prevented from travelling by ferry to France because French fishing boats blocked the port of Calais
they found an increase in hostile and aggressive attitudes towards the French as a result of the passengers’ frustration
justified and unjustified frustration
8
Doob and Sears (1939) conducted a study to investigate the conditions under which frustration would lead to aggression
they asked participants to imagine how they would feel in a number of different frustrating situations, such as waiting for a bus which went by without stopping
most participants reported that they would feel angry in all of the frustrating situations
however, Pastore (1952) distinguished between justified and unjustified frustration, arguing that it was mainly unjustified frustration that produces anger and aggression
Pastore produced different versions of the situations used by Doob and Sears, using situations involving justified as well as unjustified frustration
for example, the situation involving a bus that did not stop was changed to indicate that the bus was clearly displaying an ‘out of service’ message
under this justified frustration condition, participants expressed much lower levels of anger
a bus that doesn’t stop may create frustration and anger, but less so if the reason for not stopping is seen as justified (i.e. the bus is out of service) than if it is seen as unjustified (i.e. the driver chooses not to stop)
displaced aggression
5
the frustration aggression hypothesis states that when people are frustrated, they experience a drive to be aggressive towards the object of their frustration
however, it is often impossible or inappropriate to behave aggressively towards the source of frustration and as a result any attempt to be aggressive is inhibited
Dollard et al assumed that aggression is sometimes displaced from the real source of the frustration on to someone or something else
this is sometimes referred to as the ‘kicking the dog’ effect because a person may have an impulse to attack the source of their frustration (e.g. their boss) but because this is impossible, they respond by kicking the dog instead
in order to experience catharsis, a scapegoat needs to be found and the person needs to displace their aggression on to something else
a revised frustration aggression hypothesis
8
a major problem with the original frustration aggression hypothesis is that frustration is neither necessary nor sufficient for aggression
aggression can also occur in the absence of frustration and frustration does not necessarily result in aggression
Berkowitz (1989) revised the frustration aggression hypothesis and argued that frustration is only one of the many types of unpleasant experience that can lead to aggression
these unpleasant experiences create ‘negative affect’ in the individual (i.e. negative, uncomfortable feelings) which is what triggers the aggression rather than the frustration itself
anything that interferes with our ability to reach an anticipated goal is an unpleasant experience
this frustration produces negative affect such as anger and it is the anger that creates the tendency to engage in aggressive behaviour
Berkowitz argued that an unanticipated interference is more likely to provoke an aggressive reaction than an anticipated interference because an unanticipated interference is experienced as more unpleasant
the nature of the frustrating event is less important, what’s more important is how negative the resulting affect is
x4 evaluation points
aggression is not an automatic consequence of frustration
lack of research support for the central claims
support from a real life study
real world application
EVALUATION
aggression is not an automatic consequence of frustration
6
frustration does not necessarily result in aggression
social learning theorists such as Bandura (1973) argue that aggressive behaviour is only one possible response to frustration
they claim that frustration produces only generalised arousal in the individual and that social learning determines how that arousal will influence an individual’s behaviour
an individual may respond to frustration by engaging in aggressive behaviour if it has been effective for them before (direct conditioning) or if they have observed it being effective for others (social learning)
this suggests that rather than frustration always leading to some form of aggression, as claimed by the frustration aggression hypothesis, an individual learns to produce aggressive actions and also learns the circumstances under which they are likely to be successful
this challenges the view that frustration always leads to aggression
EVALUATION
lack of research support for the central claims
6
critics of the frustration aggression hypothesis claimed many of the central claims made by Dollard et al simply have no support, either in research or in real life
for example, the concept of catharsis involves the belief that aggression reduces arousal, so that people are less likely to be aggressive
but this has not been supported by researchers, in fact some researchers such as Bushman (2002) have found challenging evidence
Bushman discovered that behaving aggressively is likely to lead to more rather than less aggression in the future
aggressive behaviour keeps aggressive thoughts and angry feelings active in memory and tends to make people more angry and more aggressive
this directly contradicts the claims that catharsis reduces aggression, which is a key belief of the frustration aggression hypothesis
EVALUATION
support from a real life study
7
however, Priks (2010) found supporting evidence for the frustration aggression hypothesis in a real life study of sports violence
he studied violent behaviour among Swedish football fans, using teams’ changed position in the league as a measure of frustration and the number of objects such as missiles and fireworks thrown as a measure of aggression
the study showed that when a team performed worse than the fans expected, fans threw more things onto the pitch
a one-position drop in the league lead to a 5% increase in such aggressive behaviour
it was also found that supporters were more likely to fight with opposition supporters when the team performed worse than expected
these findings suggest that fans become more aggressive when expectations of good performance are frustrated, thus supporting the frustration aggression hypothesis
it also supports the claim made by Berkowitz in his revised frustration aggression hypothesis in which he claimed that an unanticipated interference is more likely to provoke an aggressive reaction
EVALUATION
real world application
6
the frustration aggression hypothesis has been used to explain mass killings
Staub (1996) suggests that mass killings are often rooted in the frustration caused by social and economic difficulties within a society
these frustrations typically lead to scapegoating (finding someone to blame) and then discrimination and aggression against this group
examples of this can be seen in real life — for example, following the WW1 many Germans blamed Jews for the loss of the war and the severe economic problems that followed
although ordinary Germans were not directly responsible for the subsequent murders, some historians have argued that they condoned the violence directed at Jews during this period, seeing them as being responsible for Germany’s plight
this shows that widespread frustration, particularly when skilfully manipulated by propaganda, can have violent consequences for a scapegoated group
