SPRING aggression Flashcards
what is aggression
intentional behaviour with the goal of harming another (physically/psychologically)
what is hostile aggression
stem from feelings of anger
aim to inflict injury or pain
impulsiev and thoughtless
ie retaliating to provocation
what is instrumental aggression
premediated means of reaching a specific goal
means to an end
not intend to harm
ie shoving someone who has football
freud psychoanalytic view of aggression (genetic)
aggression is an innate personality characteristic
motivated by secual drive ie oedipus and electra
conflict between eros (life) and thantos (death) energies - displace negative energy onto others to prevent self destruction via mental illness
evolutionary perspective
evolved both aggressive tendencies and inhibitory mechanisms - recog appropriate context for certain behaviours
suggest necessary for males express dominance to protect group, perpetuate genes, establish paternity
testosterone link with aggression
females- relational aggression, damage socially
bandura et al SLT and aggression
inborn tendency to respond to provocative situations BUT depends on interplay between learnt inhibitory resonses and the social situation
learnt in social situations when observe behaviour and reward/punishment - likely to perform to recieve the same reward(internal/external)
determine what we deem acceptable in response
culture and aggression
cultural rules can restrict or govern aggressive behaviours
ie societies accept and ustify acts of aggression in response to threst to honout
vandello et al 2009 culture and agg
chile (honour and agg) and canada
listen to couples argument where either express jealousy or not
chile increase in acceptability of violence if jealous but not canada
- cultural values determine appropriateness of responses
dewall et al 2007 provocation and agg
feedback following interview - provoke (neg) or non provoke (pos)
give eva of feedback persoin
- provoke more likelt to give neg feedback
frustration and agg
agg provoked by frustration of not achieving an expected goal or gratification
may displace agg to other object or withdraw
berkowitz and le page 1967 weapons effect
purposely anger students by insult
some in room with gun some with badmington racket
opportunity to administer electric shocks
gun pps administer stronger and longer shocks than badmingon
- prime?
agg and discomfort
heat, pain and unpleasant smells increases violent crimes
- because more likely to go outside? - more social interaction
BUT domestic crime also goes up??
general model of agression (Anderson and bushman 2002)
input vairable - situational factors/personal factors - current interna state - affect/cognition/arousal - appraisal and decision process - thoughtful/impulsive action
general model of agression (Anderson and bushman 2002) situational factor
ie frustration or provocation
exposed to agg models/cues
discomofrt or neg affect
general model of agression (Anderson and bushman 2002) personal factors
neg affect
irritability
agg beliefs
pro agg alues
general model of agression (Anderson and bushman 2002) affect
mood influence
ie nega ffect due to discomfort
incresae hostility and express in motor ie facial expressions
arousal and aggression
not considered a part of affect - enhance tendency to behave aggressively but nothing to do with cause of anger or frustration
ie heightened arousal due to external factor increase frustration - may attribute to original external factor or current problem
original external reduce agg and current increase agg
violdent video games and agg
link to povery, iq and agg
repeat exposure - desensitised, less empathetic and more aggressive
learn agg responses
alcohol and agg
alcohol is a social lubircant that lowers inhibitions, reduces anxiety an cautiousness - more ag in response to provocation
disinhibition - depleted self control, and a bias and narrowed perception of the situation
how might agg be controlled
improve communication - express non judgementally without ridicule etc
enhance empathy
catharsis? - thought to raise oppose to subdue
awareness of state BUT goal fulfillment
indirect expression ie write letter
what is anger rumination
spontaneously reflect on situation by removing from a self immersive perspective which perpetuates feelings of anger
weiner et al 1982 controlling agg
apologising to someone else if they are behaving agg
humour which is incompatible with agg
conditioning ie punish
train to prevent by focus on communication and empathy
lorenz hydraulic model of motivation - origins of aggression (genetic)
aggresstion is an instinctual behaviour that serves to benefit species for survival
aggressive/neg energy accumulates and if cannot be directly released then implement on a sub/unrelated object
what is catharsis
performing an aggressive act that releases built up aggressive energy and is therefore thought to reduce the likelihood of further agressive behaviour
DiLalla 2002 inheritance of aggression
review agg genetic studies - parent child influence is bimodal
parent responds to child which is partly determined by childs phenotype - child shapes own environment based on genetics
BUT the way the parent responds is determined by their phenotype also - context and parent just as likely to have an influence
Ge et al 1996 inheritance of agg (adopt)
adopted childrens antisocial behaviour predicted by bio parents psychiatric disorders
+ adopted parents discipline practices predicted based on childrens behaviours
Eibl-Eibesfeldt 1963 inheritance of agg (rats)
rats use same patterns of threat and attack as rats that are raised socially
innate means of agg behaviour in reaction to certain stimuli
rowe and osgood 1984 inheritance of agg (twin)
sequences of delinquency traceable to individual differences in genes
twin study
agga nd delinguency = 70% heritability BUT sig contribution of the shared environment
problem with studies investigating the inheritance of aggressive tendencies
doesnt identify difference between aggressive behaviours and others (ie delinquency - rowe and osgood)
reliance on self report - bias in report, + twin - genetic tendency to respond in the same way?
Adopt - agg tendencies may also be influenced by the parents behaviour - BIMODAL
Rats - humans better because RANGE of influences and not likely to be as influenced by genetics than other animals
wrongham, wilson and miller 2006 aggression across species
chimps share 98% genetics with humans
only non human species that hunts and kills other members of own kind at same rate as humans
dewaal 1996 aggression across species
bonobos share 98% genetics with humans
‘make love not war’ species just as likely to have involved a strong inhibitory mechanism that supressess aggressive responses when necessary
bonobos have sex to diffuse potential conflict
female dominated
Deaux and la france 1998 evolutionary perspective of agg - boys
boys more physically agg in non playful manner than girls
more likely to hit/push etc
daly and wilson 1988 evolutionary perspective of agg - age
male aggression increases between 15 and 18 y/o - prime reproductive years
males more likely ‘all or none’ in terms of offspring so fight for females as have more to lose
females less likely to not be able to have any offspring
define relational agg
indirect agg behaviour
harms others by damaging social relations
ie verbal harrassment, rumour spreading
campbell 1995 relational agg
females lower fitness variance and likely to produce at least 1 offspring
physical agg not necessary
compete with other females for high quality males so reproduce healthier and successful offspring
borkqvist 1994 relational agg
women indirect means of agg as physically weaker than men
straus gelles and steinmentz 1974 evidence of male physical agg > female in real life
no sex diff in aount of violence between husband and wives in north america
BT more physical injury as a result of male violence
(reportedly)
problems with gender aggression studies
culture
- males meant to be viewed as more powerful and strong
less reports of female physcial aggression as dont want to appear weak/vunerable
how might testosterone play a role in agg
testosterone is an androgen thought to play a role in the development of stereotypically masculine characteristics
causes the prnatal development of testes
absence/oestrogen strimulates the dev of ovaries
albert et al 1986 testosterone and agg
removal of testosterone in mats via castration
sig decline in agg behaviour
when reintroduces- raise agg similar to levels of those castrated but injected with testosterone
bjorkqvist 1994 problem with looking at hormones on agg behaviour
social and cognitive mechanisms are likely to play a much greater role in the performance of agg acts in humans
SLT and social intelligence argument (bjorkqvist et al 1992)
indirect agg increase in girls around 11
direct agg decrese in boys in late adolesence
overall more verbal and indirect
thought to relate to developing a social intelligence where recognise how to inhibit response and behave appropriately
bergegron and schneider 2005 culture and agg SLT
co op collectivitst values have lower levels of agg than european cultures
brown osteman and barnes 1009 culture of honour SLT
students in culture of honour more likely to experience school masacre than other states - twice as many shootings per capita
cohen et al 1996 culture of honour SLT
southern and northern students at the uni of mischigan ‘accidentaly’ bumped into then insulted
southern increase in thinking that rep threatened and more upset (increase in cortisol levels) and more primef to respond agg
bandura ross and ross 1961 agg SLT
observe agg role model at bobo doll
more likely to imitate agg acts if observe agg model than if not
more likely when model is the same gender
beyond imitation - improvised behaviours - permits a variety of agg
bandura ross and ross 1961 what might same gender role models suggest
there may be genetic differences between genders either as a results of purely genetics or hormones etc that may cause certain genders to respond in diff ways
plus - similarity of role model increase
mccarthy and kelly 1978
hockey played who go in penalty box for agg more likely to score and earn highest role
culture praises aggressive behaviours
children learn that fame and fortune and success achieved by agg
situational determinants of agg
provocation frustration weapons effect discomfort arousal
provocation and agg
agg stem from feeling the need to reciprocate response in defense of a proviking agg behaviour by another person
the situation, provocation and agg
johnson and rule 1986
not always reciprocate agg following provocation
intentionality/mitigating circumstances of the social situation have an influence
100 male undergrads inslted by assistant after told the assisstant got a bad grade or not
opp to deliver adverse noise to assistant
if know that got bad grade then less likely to evoke neg noise and less likely to respond in annoyance/offense to insult
frustration agg theory Dollard et al 1939
prevention from goal attainment increases the likelihood of an agg response
whe instigated to agg following frustration then outwardly agg
when frustrated then also expressed through additional means ie withdrawal/displacement
define displacement
directly aggressive behvaiour towards a person.object that is not the cause of agg
braker, dembo and lewin 1941
frustration and agg in children
children shown toys out of reach
control play immediately but exp elayed
exp more destructive in play, express frustration of not obtaining immediate goal
difference between frustration of not obtaining a goal and deprivation
depreivation is when no way of getting to goal ie children not in presence of toys to play with
frustration is when have the reasonable expectation to be able to achieve a goal and it is thwarted
expectation and frustration
kulik and brown 1979
aggression increase when thwat of goal is unexpected
students with high expectation of donations and comission increase phone verbal agg towards callers than those who have low expectations
size and strength of goal determines level of frustration and following aggressive behaviours
problem with the frustration aggression model
extreme - assumes all agg = frustration
likely to be an association but not direct correlation between the two
attribution of frustration and agg
kreigelmeyer, wittstadt and stack 2009
intentionality of anothers behaviour determines if become frustrated as a result
pps get pos or neg eval for work then either apologetic mistake letter or not
apology resude agg BUT not affect - GSR still relate to feelings of agg just not outwardly express
goal fulfullment and attribution of frustration
jreigelmeyer wittstadt and stack 2009
both unintentionality and intentionality of behvaiour greater agg affect than control
control: express aggression then measure implicitly
goal fulfilment of frustration expression reduces access to anger constructs
berkowitz 1993 revised frustration agg model: cognitive neoassociation theory
when frustrated, anger may be evoked by a cue
ingitgates to aggress and outwardly aggressive (Actions depend on who attribute agg to)
cues during averse event associated with cognitive and emotional responses
cue activates neg thoghts memories responses etc - linkedotgether in semantic assoc structure
priming concept spreads semantic activated to related concepts and increases agg response
appraisal theory of agg and frustration
when not achieve a goal that leads to frustration
either lead to anger - when thwart due to someone else
OR lead to sadness when recognise own fault
weapons effect and priming
gun may activate related scemas in therms of thoughts, affect and behaviours
links to anger ,retaltiaiton and death
gun = power
agg = gun use SLT
klinesmith et al 2006 weapons effect
testosterone levels increase when play with gn for 15 mins than play non threatening game
link to direct physical ag in males
carlsmith and anderson 1979 discomfort and agg heat
riots between 1967 and 1971 more likely to occur on hot days than cold
stoff and claims 1997 discomfort and agg overall stimuli
heat, humidity, air pollution, crows and offensive odours lowers threshold for agg behaviours
griffitt and veitch 1971 discompfort and agg temp and affect
work in room in normal temp or 90 degrees
hot room report increse in agg affect and more hostility towards stranger asked to describe and eval
arousal and agg
excitation transfer theory
zillman
arousal = excitaion of sympathetic NS
zillman and bryans 1974 excitation transfer theory study
20 undergrads either disc threating (no arousal )or bike ride (arousal)
2 mins after - provoked or not by opponent
6 mins after - given the opportunity to retaliate
bike increase retaliation than no arousal
arousal can increase anger or frustration even when not linked to the cause
arousal awareness and aggresion
when aware that arousal is due to a previous factor then reduced agg expression
aware that frustrated due to other means
general model of agression (Anderson and bushman 2002) cognition
hostile thoughts increse accessibility of agg constructs in memory ie priming
general model of agression (Anderson and bushman 2002) arousal
physiological and psychological mens do not always conincide so can have a varied impact
ie heat increases heart rate but leads to the perception of reduced arousal/more lethargic
general model of agression (Anderson and bushman 2002) appraisal and decision process that leads to a thoughtful action
1- immediate appraisal - auto awareness and likely to determine immediate response
2 - resource sufficient to eval? ( no - impulse , yes - next.)
3- is the outcome important/satisfying (no - impulse , yes - next..)
4 - reappraisal -effortful elab of alternative vies - lead to thoughtful act
THOUGHTFUL ACT CAN STILL BE AGG BUT MORE INTENTIONAL/SPECIFIC TO GET SPECIFIC OUTCOME
james bulger case violence in the media
2 10 year old boys kidnapped and murder 2 y/o james bulger
thought to be recreating horror film and played violen video gaes
anderson and bushman 2002 violence in the media
repeated exposre to violence or agg either via media or in own home leads to increase agg in adults by developing autonomizing and reinforcing aggresstion related knowledge structures
ie activate agg beliefs/attitudes, expectations behavioural scripts
may create a bias view as more likely to identify aggressive expression and therefore more likely to respond
anderson et al 2003 media violence impact
increase physiological arousal
trigger automatic tendency to imitate
prime existeing ideas and expectations of agg ie social scripts of how to behave
define desensitisation
repeated exposure to agg and violdence numbs alter perception of events as less agg or violent
media violdence may make agg more acceptable in modern world and reduce empathy for victims
dehumanise victims?
cline croft and courier 1973 media violence and desensitisation
watch lots of tv = decrease in physiological arousal and indifference to boxing match BUT less TV increases arousal and aggitation
(BUT depends on what is watched)
josephson 1987 desensitisation and predispositions of agg
children watch violent or non violent film then play hockey
increase in agg acts by those prev rated by teachers as already expressing aggressive tendencies
catharsis and media
thought that Freuds idea of catharsis may mean that by watching violence or agg in the media we can displace our aggressive tendencies and reduce agg within society
bushman 2002 catharsis
provoked pps then made hit punching bag while thinking of being physically fit or thinking of being a provocateur
later given opportunity to aggress against provocateur
punch increase agg than control
punch and thinking of provocateur increase than thinking of firness
denzler et al 2009 agg and goal fulfilment
accessability to goal related constructs reduced agg once fulfill
zeigarnik effect
fulfilling goal to aggress either really or imagines reduces agg BUT mearly expressing agg increases even when thinking of goal (MUST FULFILL)
catharsis may have influence if believe expression constitutes as a means of goal fulfillment
de waal et al 2007 self cotnrol and agg
pps recieve neg feedback for essay
ask to prepare snack for marker
told dont like hot sauce
pps with lower levels of self control more likely to give hot sauce than higher sc
alcohol, expectations and agg
marlatt and rosenow 1980
respond more aggresively when legally drunk and when not - respond in the way you expect you will with you drink
alcohol provides and excuse to behave in a way that is not usually socially acceptable
pennebaker 1990 indirect agg expression and anger reduction
writing letters to provocateur/about what annoyed about reduce by gaining insight and durhter awareness into the situation
mischowski et al 2012 fly on the wall ‘anger rumination
pps provoked then self distance reflect (3rd person) self immerse reflect (1st) control - no reflect 3rd person reduces anger whereas first and control increase
Baron 1976 empathy and agg
car fail to move after green like 90% in second car honk BUT pedestrian crossing on crutches 5% 2nd car honk evokes empaty and conscientiousness
punishment for aggression and agg reduction
to have an impact, punshment:
must be immediate
must be certain and unavoidable following the beaviour
must be mild - harsh methods may serve to increase anxiety or anger/give individual reaction they wanted
training agg reduction
improving communicaiton, empaty and perspective taking
toch 1980 - lower social skills more prone to violence and relationship problems
learn how to communicate constructively and compromise in the face of conflict
feshback 1997 training to reduce agg
30 hour programme involving exercise qs designed to develop perspective taking
ie listen to stroies, retell from character views, play roles of character an video, view video and talk about expressions
found to be more empathetic, generous, higher SE and less aggressive
encourages cognitive flexibility
