social psych explanations - FAH

Question 1

who proposed the frustration-aggression hypothesis?

Answer 1

Dollard

Question 2

what does the FAH see aggression being a result of?

Answer 2

frustration

Question 3

outline Dollard’s FAH

Answer 3

• 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

Question 4

what is catharsis?

Answer 4

a form of emotional release, achieved by engaging in aggressive behaviour

Question 5

frustration increases when: (3)

Answer 5

• our motivation to achieve a goal is very strong
• we expect gratification (rewards)
• there is nothing we can do about it

Question 6

outline ‘arrow diagram’ of FAH

Answer 6

drive to goal -> obstacle to goal -> frustration -> aggression -> catharsis

Question 7

what are the 3 reasons why aggression is not always expressed directly against the source of frustration?

Answer 7

1. the source may be abstract e.g. frustration at the government
2. the source may have more power than you and result in punishment e.g. parent, teacher
3. the source may be unavailable at the time

Question 8

who is aggression displaced onto in these circumstances?

Answer 8

• frustration/aggression is displaced onto a more suitable alternative
  e.g. not abstract, less powerful, available target

Question 9

who researched frustration-aggression?

Answer 9

Geen

Question 10

outline Geen’s research

Answer 10

• 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

Question 11

outline Geen’s findings

Answer 11

• 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

Question 12

what did Berkowitz research?

Answer 12

the role of cues in the environment

Question 13

what did Berkowitz propose about aggression?

Answer 13

• 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

Question 14

outline Berkowitz’ research

Answer 14

• 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

Question 15

outline Berkowitz’ findings

Answer 15

• 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

Question 16

who researched different types of frustration that led to different levels of aggression?

Answer 16

Dill + Anderson

Question 17

outline Dill + Anderson’s research

Answer 17

• 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)

Question 18

outline Dill + Anderson’s findings

Answer 18

• 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)

Question 19

evaluation: research support (Marcus-Newhall)

Answer 19

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

Question 20

evaluation: aggression may not be cathartic

Answer 20

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

Question 21

evaluation: real-world application (Priks)

Answer 21

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