Unit 11: Aggression Flashcards
Define aggression.
behaviour intended to harm another individual
Define violence.
extreme acts of aggression (distinguished from less harmful aggressive behaviours)
Define instrumental aggression.
inflicting harm in order to obtain something of value
Define emotional aggression
inflicting harm for its own sake
What are the differences in aggression across cultures?
- Aggression levels tend to be higher in individualistic cultures (e.g. USA) and lowest in collectivist cultures (e.g. China).
- Differences in the forms that violence typically takes and people’s attitudes toward various kinds of aggression. For example, in the United States there is more gun-related violence compared to the rest of the world and attitudes about guns tend to be more permissive and positive in the US.
- What is considered to be aggression and unacceptable in relation to children is different.
What is the proposed reason why some cultures are nonviolent?
Because their promotion of cooperation and their lack of competition may promote non-violence.
In what ways do men and women engage in aggression differently?
Men tend to be more overtly aggressive (physical aggression and direct-verbal aggression) than women. Women tend to be more indirectly or relationally aggressive than men.
Briefly explain aggression from the evolutionary psychology perspective.
According to the evolutionary psychology perspective, warriors would have been more likely to attract mates and be accepted as part of a group. Therefore, individuals who were aggressive and fought had a greater likelihood of reproductive success and they passed these tendencies to their offspring. The population-wide effect of this would be that tendencies toward aggression evolved to become part of human nature.
What is the evidence for the evolutionary perspective’s explanation of aggression?
- Aggression is inhibited against those genetically related to us in order to promote the survival of genes to the next generation. Evidence indicates that children living with a step-parent or foster parent are much more likely to be fatally abused than children living with both biological parents.
- Sexual jealousy triggers aggression for the purpose of enhancing the male’s confidence in his paternity of offspring. Male-to-male violence is most likely to occur when one male is perceived as challenging another male’s status or social power (e.g., by attempting to challenge his sexual relationship). Male-to-female violence is mostly triggered by sexual jealousy.
- When women aggress they do it to protect their own lives and their offspring against threats to others. Protecting themselves is relevant because offspring are dependent on their mothers for survival. This may be why women are less likely to use physical aggression and instead employ indirect aggression.
What is the evidence against the evolutionary perspective for aggression?
The significant research literature on learning (e.g. Bandura).
Describe the role of genetics in aggression.
Twin and adoption studies provide some evidence to support the role of heritability in human aggressive behaviour. However, the evidence is much stronger for physical aggression than it is for the heritability of relational aggression. Furthermore, it appears that a genes-environment interaction may be necessary given that in one study when a child with a genetic predisposition for aggression was in a prosocial environment, the aggressive behaviour was reduced and prosocial behaviour increased.
Describe the role of hormones in aggression.
There is a correlation between higher testosterone levels and aggression in men, women, and transgender individuals.
Describe the role of neurotransmitters in aggression.
Low levels of serotonin in the nervous system are associated with high levels of aggression.
Describe the role of the brain and executive functioning in aggression.
- Abnormalities in frontal lobe structures (prefrontal cortex = executive functioning) are associated with tendencies toward aggressive and violent behaviours.
- There is a link between poor executive functioning and aggression.
- In aggressive teenagers there is less activation in the areas of the brain associated with self-regulation and moral reasoning and increased activation of the reward circuit when observing someone inflict pain on another person.
What roles does positive reinforcement play in the learning of aggressive behaviour?
Positive reinforcement is when aggression produces desired outcomes. Positive reinforcement is a type of reward that increases the use of aggression.
What roles does negative reinforcement play in the learning of aggressive behaviour?
Negative reinforcement is when aggression prevents or stops undesirable outcomes. Negative reinforcement is a type of reward that increase the use of aggression.
What roles does punishment play in the learning of aggressive behaviour?
Punishment reduces aggressive behaviour under certain circumstances. Specifically, when punishment immediately follows the aggressive behaviour, when punishment is strong enough to deter the aggressor, and when punishment is consistently applied and perceived as fair and legitimate by the aggressor. Furthermore, the evidence indicates that the certainty of punishment is more important than its severity. Punishment does not reduce aggression when it is perceived as unfair or arbitrary. Instead, it actually creates an escalating cycle of aggression in these situations. In addition, punishment can offer a model to imitate and can increase aggression, especially when it is delivered in an angry or hostile manner.
Describe the social learning theory as it relates to aggression.
Behaviour is learned through the observation of others as well as through the direct experience of rewards and punishments. People can learn aggressive behaviours, attitudes, and beliefs from aggressive models. Learners construct aggressive scripts that serve as guides for how to behave and solve social problems. These scripts can be activated and followed automatically in various situations, leading to quick and unthinking aggressive responses. Non-aggressive models decrease aggressive behaviour.
How do social learning approaches account for gender differences and cultural variation in aggression?
Males and females are rewarded and punished differently for aggression and are presented with different models of aggression. Overt aggression is more socially acceptable in males roles than in female roles and males are more likely to be rewarded for aggressive behaviour. In contrast, females receive more social rewards for relational aggression than do males.
How does a culture of honour account for gender differences and cultural variation in aggression?
A culture of honour emphasizes honour and social status and the role of aggression in protecting that honour and particularly applies to males. Conflicts and disputes are viewed as challenges to social status and reputation and they trigger aggressive responses. Rates of violence are higher in cultures of honour and so is acceptance of using violence to protect one’s honour. The key is that individuals believe that most people in their culture have positive attitudes toward aggression in response to threats to one’s honour.
Is aggression determined by forces of nature, nurture, or a combination of the two?
Aggression is determined by the interaction between innate predispositions and environmental and social factors.
State the original frustration-aggression hypothesis as proposed by Dollard and others.
The original frustration-aggression hypothesis proposes that: (1) frustration produced by interrupting a person’s progress toward a goal will always elicit the move to aggress, and (2) all aggression is caused by frustration.
How has displacement been used to explain aggression against the source of frustration?
It refers to aggressing against a substitute target because aggressive acts against the source of the frustration are inhibited by fear or lack of access. In this case, the aggression is deflected from the target to a substitute target.
How has catharsis been used to explain aggression against the source of frustration?
Catharsis is a reduction of the motive to aggress that results from any imagined, observed, or actual act of aggression. It is a displacement of aggression in safer ways.
