social psych explanations - FAH Flashcards
who proposed the frustration-aggression hypothesis?
Dollard
what does the FAH see aggression being a result of?
frustration
outline Dollard’s FAH
- he argues that aggression is a psychological drive, like hunger
- believed that aggression results in catharsis
- he predicts a cause + effect relationship between frustration, aggression and catharsis
what is catharsis?
a form of emotional release, achieved by engaging in aggressive behaviour
frustration increases when: (3)
- our motivation to achieve a goal is very strong
- we expect gratification (rewards)
- there is nothing we can do about it
outline ‘arrow diagram’ of FAH
drive to goal -> obstacle to goal -> frustration -> aggression -> catharsis
what are the 3 reasons why aggression is not always expressed directly against the source of frustration?
- the source may be abstract e.g. frustration at the government
- the source may have more power than you and result in punishment e.g. parent, teacher
- the source may be unavailable at the time
who is aggression displaced onto in these circumstances?
- frustration/aggression is displaced onto a more suitable alternative
e.g. not abstract, less powerful, available target
who researched frustration-aggression?
Geen
outline Geen’s research
- asked male university students to complete a puzzle, using 4 conditions
1. puzzle was physically impossible
2. confederate interfered constantly, meaning they ran out of time
3. confederate insulted them whenever they made a mistake
4. no cause of frustration (control) - ppt’s were then asked to give electric shocks to confederate if they made mistakes on a different task
outline Geen’s findings
- all 3 groups gave stronger electric shocks than the control group
- insulted ppt’s (3) gave the highest shocks
- interfered ppt’s (2) gave 2nd highest shocks
- impossible puzzle ppt’s (1) gave 3rd highest shocks
what did Berkowitz research?
the role of cues in the environment
what did Berkowitz propose about aggression?
- argued that frustration doesn’t lead to aggression, but instead the ‘readiness’ for aggression
- aggression is most likely to occur when there is presence of aggressive cues in the environment
outline Berkowitz’ research
- ppt’s were given shocks by a confederate to illicit frustration
- they were then able to reverse roles and give shocks to the confederate
- in condition 1 there were 2 guns next to the shock machine
- in condition 2 there wasn’t
outline Berkowitz’ findings
- in condition 1, the average number of shocks given was 6.07
- in condition 2, the average number of shocks given was 4.67
- the presence of 2 guns, in C1, influenced ppt’s to give shocks 1.4V higher than confederates gave
who researched different types of frustration that led to different levels of aggression?
Dill + Anderson
outline Dill + Anderson’s research
- ppt’s shown how to make origami, but the teacher went too quickly (to cause frustration)
- condition 1: he said he had to go quickly because his gf was waiting (unjustified)
- condition 2: he said he had to go quickly because his boss had told him to (justified)
- ppt’s were then asked to rate the teacher (used to measure aggression)
outline Dill + Anderson’s findings
- in the unjustified C1, they gave more negative judgements than in the justified C2
- both conditions gave more negative reviews than control group (who were not frustrated)
evaluation: research support (Marcus-Newhall)
ID: a strength of the frustration-aggression hypothesis is that there is research to support it
Q: this comes from Marcus-Newhall, who conducted a meta-analysis of 49 studies on displaced aggression
EV: for example, he found that a provoked person is more likely to be aggressive towards an innocent party who is not provoked, than the direct source of aggression.
AN: therefore, suggesting that displaced aggression is a reliable phenomenon. this increases the credibility of the hypothesis because it solidifies displaced aggression is a key concept of the model
evaluation: aggression may not be cathartic
ID: however, a weakness of aggression is that there are doubts of it being cathartic
Q: this means that research suggests aggression may not always be a release of frustration
EV: Bushman. found that ppt’s who vented their anger by repeatedly punching a punching bag, actually became more frustrated. this contradicts as the frustration-aggression hypothesis assumes that releasing anger would reduce the psychological drive of aggression
AN: therefore, this is a limitation of the FAH as it casts doubt on the internal validity of the hypothesis, as as what Dollard. is studying is based of aggression being cathartic
evaluation: real-world application (Priks)
ID: a strength of the FAH is that it has real-world applications
Q: this means that research has shown it is applicable in external scenarios
EV: for example, Priks. carried out a study on the violent behaviour among Swedish football fans. he found that if their team went down in the league, they threw more stuff on the pitch. a 1-position drop in the league led to a 5% increase in aggressive behaviour
AN: therefore, this is a strength as it provides a clear link between aggression and catharsis as there is no other logical explanation of aggression here, other than a release of anger. this increases the external validity of the FAH as research supports the role of catharsis
