Psychodynamic and aggression (BP)

Question 1

Strength

Answer 1

I - Strength of Freud’s explanation of aggression is that there are supportive evidence.
J - Graham et al (2008) found that expressing anger can be cathartic. Participants who were allowed to rant were able to process emotions and aggression and had an improvement in control over pain and depressed mood.
E - Therefore, it shows that expressing anger may lead to healthier benefits, supporting the theory of catharsis, increasing the validity of the overall explanation of aggression.

Question 2

Weakness

Answer 2

I - Weakness of Freud’s explanation of aggression is that there are contradictory evidence.
J - Bushman, catharsis lead to more agression. 600 students recieved critism for essay allowed to hit punching bag or do nothing before second task. Those hit punching bag showed more anger in second task then those that did not
E - Therefore, this shows how expressing anger only causes more aggression contradicting the theory of catharsis. This means Freud’s explanation of aggression may be incomplete.