Aggression
behaviour that is
intended to harm another individua
Anger
consists of strong feelings of
displeasure in response to a perceived
injury.
Hostility
negative, antagonistic attitude
toward another person or group.
Violence
extreme acts of
aggression
Instrumental/pro-active Aggression
Harm is inflicted as a means to a desired end
Emotional/reactive Aggression
Harm is inflicted for its own sake (in reaction to something)
Culture and Aggression
• Aggression varies dramatically between cultures – The forms violence typically takes – People’s attitudes toward various kinds of aggression
Individual differences which predict aggression
- Low agreeableness
- Low openness
- High neuroticism
- Traits
overt agression (and gender)
more men
relational aggression (and gender)
more women
evolutionary perspective and aggression gender
Why gender differences?
– Males aggress to achieve and maintain
status.
– Females aggress to protect offspring.
biological factors and aggression (3)
- Genetics
Mixed overall results on heritability
of aggression
– Trend in research supports heritability of
human aggressiveness to at least some
degree - ○ MAOA gene linked to aggressive behaviour
• Serotonin ○ Low levels linked to aggression • Brain & EF ○ Abnormalities in PFC ○ Poor EF
biological differences in gender based aggression
• Testosterone
○ Association between testosterone and aggression
○ Especially if low in cortisol
social learning theory of aggression
○ The theory that behaviour is learned through the observation of others as well as through the direct experience of rewards and punishments
○ Bobo dolls
○ Those perpetrating violence have often witnessed violence
socialisation and gender differences in aggression
§ Overt aggression more acceptable amongst boys
§ Using relational aggression can allow a girl access to benefits
§ Culture of honor (males) - culture
□ Emphasising honor and social status - role of aggression
□ Promotes violent behaviour
socialisation and cultural differences in aggression
Socialization of aggression also varies from culture to culture. For example, Giovanna Tomada and Barry Schneider (1997) report that adolescent boys in traditional villages in Italy are encouraged to aggress as an indication of their sexual prowess
frustration-aggression hypothesis
- Frustration - which is produced by interrupting a person’s progress towards an expected goal - will always elicit the motive to aggress
- All aggression is caused by frustration
displacement
○ Aggressing against a substitute target because aggressive acts against the source are inhibited by fear or lack of access
catharsis
○ Reduction of the motive to aggress said to result from imagined, observed or actual act of aggression
problems with frustration-aggression hypothesis
○ Carthasis can inflame aggression
frustration-aggression hyp revised (Berkowitz, 1989)
Frustration is but one of many unpleasant
experiences that can lead to aggression
by creating negative, uncomfortable
feelings.
• It is the negative feelings (negative affect),
not frustration itself, that can trigger
aggression.
role of affect in aggression and situational factors
• Heat - increases negative affect = aggression
• Provocation
○ Social rejection
Positive Affect
• Research shows that inducing a pleasant mood can reduce aggression
arousal and aggression and situational factors
• Excitation transfer
○ Arousal created by one stimulus can intensify another response
○ Physical exercise - increase in aggression/violence
• Heat increases arousal
cognition and aggression and situational factors
Both automatic and deliberate thoughts
play a critical role in aggression
Automatic cognitions
– Weapons effect – tendency that the likelihood
of aggression will increase by mere presence
of guns
Higher order cognitions:
○ Angry person restrains self from aggressing because costs are too high
- rumination: thinking about aggressive thoughts over and over
immediate effects of violent media on aggression
○ Research shows people behave more aggressively after watching aggressive TV or playing violent videogames
long-term effects of violent media on aggression
.3 correlation between media violence and aggression
• Exposure to TV violence at ages 6-9
positively correlated with aggression as
adults.
habituation
○ Desensitisation to violence
○ Reduction in emotion-related physiological reactivity to real violence
cultivation
○ The capacity of the mass media to construct a social reality that people perceive as true, even if it isn’t
○ Violent acts reported more in the news etc
influence of non-violent and violent pornography on sexual and non-sexual aggression
○ Little support for causal link between nonviolent porn and sexual aggression
○ There is evidence for association between porn use and attitudes which support violence against women
• violent forms of pornography
○ Male to female aggression markedly increased following exposure
interventions/education leading to the reduction of sexual aggression due to violent pornography
○ Aggression Replacement Training
○ Self-control training
○ Behaviour modification
Aggression in collectivist cultures
- Males in china less likely to respond aggressively compared to US
- No difference between women
Aggression in indvidualistic cultures
• Higher freq. school violence
Traits tending to relate to aggression (5)
○ Emotional susceptibility
§ The tendency to feel distressed, inadequate and vulnerable to perceived threats
○ Type A personality
§ The tendency to be driven by feelings of inadequacy to prove one’s worth
○ Impulsivity
• High self-esteem if
○ Also high in narcissism
○ Threat to ego
• Narcissism
○ Inflated sense of self-worth and low empathy for others
• Low self-control
Evolutionary Psych perspective on whether aggression is innate (3)
○ Birth parents less likely to abuse or murder own offspring than stepparents and stepchildren
○ Male to male violence
§ Challenging status or social power
○ Females aggress to protect offspring
Punishment more likely to reduce aggression when
○ Immediately follows behav
○ Strong enough to deter aggressor
○ Consistently applied
○ Considered fair and legitimate by aggressor
Cycle of Violence
§ The transmission of domestic violence across generations
§ Those who experience parental violence or abuse are more likely to abuse their own children
hostile attribution bias
perceiving hostile intent in others
§ Aggressive people tend to hold this bias more
Impact of alcohol and caffeine on cognition and aggression
○ Lowering inhibitions against aggressive behav
○ Alcohol Myopia
§ Narrowing of focus of attention
§ Focusing on a perceived provocation for example
General Aggression Model
○ Aversive experiences, situational cues and individual differences can lead to
§ Negative affect, arousal and thoughts
□ Influenced by higher order thinking
® Aggression then may occur
i-cubed theory
○ Newer model (Eli Finkel 2012;2013) § Role of self control □ Instigation ® Social factors; provocation □ Impellance ® Personality and situational factors □ Inhibition
Factors and psychological processes involved in sexual aggression and porn
○ Rapists profile
§ High sexual arousal in response to violent porn
Expressing attitudes that condone violence against women
Aggression Replacement Training
§ Improving moral reasoning
§ Social competence training
§ Aggression control