Problem 5 Aggression

Question 1

Nature-nurture controversy

Answer 1

genetic or environmental factors determine human behaviour. Scientist generally accept that it’s an interaction of both

Question 2

Instinct

Answer 2

Inborne drive or impulse genetically transmitted
→goal directed – e.g. attack
→beneficial to the individual
→adapted – to a normal environment
→shared by most members of the species
→developed
→unlearned on the basis of individual experienced

Question 3

Fighting instinct

Answer 3

Innate impulse to aggress which ethologists claim is shared by humans with other animals

Question 4

Social learning theory

Answer 4

that aggression is not inborn but learned from appropriate models

Question 5

Learning by direct experience

Answer 5

Learning behaviour we were rewarded for our behaviour.

Question 6

Learning by vicarious experience

Answer 6

Learning behaviour we were rewarded for our behaviour.

Question 7

Modelling

Answer 7

tendency for a person to copy behaviour, attitudes and emotions of real-life or symbolic model. Also called observational learning

Question 8

Learning a script

Answer 8

(a schema about an event)

Question 9

Type A personality

Answer 9

a behavioural correlate of heart disease characterised by striving to achieve, time urgency, competitiveness and hostility
→more prone to abuse children, prefer to work alone to avoid the incompetence of others.

Question 10

Disinhibition

Answer 10

A breakdown in the learnt controls against behaving impulsively or in this context aggressive (out of character)

Question 11

Deindividuation

Answer 11

Process whereby people lose their sense of social norms

Question 12

Collective aggression

Answer 12

Unified by a group of individuals against another individual group

Question 13

General aggression model

Answer 13

A model that includes personal and situational factors, and cognitive and affective processes in accounting for different kinds of aggression

Question 14

The weapons effect

Answer 14

the presence of a weapon increases the probability that it will be used aggressively

Question 15

Biosocial theories

Answer 15

context of aggression theories that emphasise an innate component, though not the existence of a full-blown instinct

Question 16

Frustration-aggression hypothesis

Answer 16

all frustration leads to aggression, and all aggression comes from frustration

Question 17

Excitation-transfer model

Answer 17

The expression of aggression is a function of: A learnt aggressive behaviour, trigger from another source, and the persons interpretation of the trigger state, such that an aggressive response seems appropriate

Question 18

Desensitisation

Answer 18

a serious reduction in a persons responsiveness in view of violence or sexuality

Question 19

Neo-associationist analysis

Answer 19

A view of aggression according to which mass media may provide images of violence to the audience that later translate into antisocial acts

Question 20

fight and flight

Answer 20

when you think your resources are equally large or larger than your needs you fight when they are smaller you will flee

Question 21

Hate crime

Answer 21

A class of violence against members of a stereotyped minority group

Question 22

Subculture violence

Answer 22

A subgroup of society in which a higher level of violence is accepted as the norm

Question 23

Machismo

Answer 23

A code in which challenges, abuse and even differences of opinion must be met with fists or other weapons

Question 24

Intimate partner violence

Answer 24

→evolutionary perspective: fear is a natural response to threat that reduces exposure to physical danger
→biological perspective: oxytocin is a hormone that regulates several reproductive and maternal behaviours. When released responding to danger it mediates the reduction of stress associated with fear
→Intimate partner violence: Oxytocin decreases stress and increases the likelihood of female aggression
→cultural norms

Question 25

Institutionalised aggression

Answer 25

Aggression that is given formal or informal recognition and social legitimacy by being incorporated into rules and norms

Question 26

How to cope agression

Answer 26

• Social order: The balance and control of a social system, regulated by norms, values, rules and law
• Individual level: where the person is the focus as the aggressor, effective interventions involve political decisions, a budget, and a community will
• Anti-Bullying: involves modifying the behaviour of both the bullies and their victims and the non-involved bystanders
• Laws: gun ownership laws in America
• Peace studies: Multidisciplinary movement dedicated to the study and promotion of peace (education)

Question 27

Catharsis

Answer 27

a dramatic release of pent-up feelings: The idea that aggressive motivation is drained by acting against a frustrating object (makes it worse)

Question 28

Catharsis hypothesis

Answer 28

The notion that acting aggressively, or even just viewing aggressive material, reduces feelings of anger and aggression
• Believe in catharsis can lead to the willing to play violent video (even the believe that catharsis decreases aggression leads to increasing aggression)

Question 29

Ethology

Answer 29

Approach the animal behaviour should be observed in their natural physical and social environment. Behaviour is genetically defined and controlled by nature selection

Question 30

Releasers

Answer 30

specific stimuli in the environment thought to trigger aggressive responses

Question 31

Evolutionary social psychology

Answer 31

An extension of evolutionary psychology that views complex social behaviour as adaptive, helping the individual, to help the species as a whole to survive

Question 32

Sociocultural theory

Answer 32

Psychological gender differences are determined by individuals adaptions to restrictions based on their society.

Question 33

Sexual selection theory

Answer 33

Sex differences in behaviour are determined by evolutionary history rather than society

Question 34

Crowding and aggression

Answer 34

people feel their personal space threatened

Question 35

Big five

Answer 35

the five major personality dimensions of extraversion/surgency, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and intellect/openness to experience

Question 36

Objectification theory

Answer 36

Women’s experiences and gender socialisation routinely include experiences of sexual objectification

Question 37

Abuse syndrome

Answer 37

factors of proximity, stress, and power that are associated with the cycle of abuse in some families

Question 38

Agentic state

Answer 38

Characterises unquestioning obedience, in which people transfer their responsibility to the person who gives orders, blinder-gehorsam