Human Aggression Overview

Human Aggression

• Aggression is defined as intentional action aimed at harming or causing harm.
• The statement "In all of nature, there is nothing so threatening to humanity as humanity itself," highlights the potential for human aggression.
• This quote was made by Lewis Thomas in 1981.

Types of Aggression

• Instrumental aggression is when harm is inflicted as a means to another goal, not as a primary goal.
  • Examples of goals include personal gain, attention, and self-defense.
  • Immediate conditions for instrumental aggression include opportunity for gain with low perceived risk. Long-term conditions include poverty, perceived crime as a means to resources, and norms supporting aggression to achieve resources.
• Emotional aggression is when harm is inflicted for its own sake, to cause pain.
  • This is often impulsive, but can also be calm and calculated.
  • Immediate conditions for emotional aggression include threats to self-esteem, status, or respect, especially in public situations. Saving face is another condition. Long-term conditions include repeated threats to self-worth or status.
• Symbolic aggression involves no physical harm to the victim.
  • Aggression is directed towards property, or takes other forms.
• Sanctioned aggression is aggression that is approved of and perhaps rewarded by society. This can include self-defense and war.

Gender Differences

• Men are generally more violent than women, a finding consistent across time and cultures.
• However, the type of aggression matters. This means, the differences in levels of violence between men and women might depend on the form of aggression.

Gender and Aggression

• Intent to harm: This considers ways of harming others beyond physical violence.
• Direct aggression: This includes verbal and physical aggression.
• Indirect aggression: Refers to forms of harming others covertly, such as relational aggression.

Causes of Aggression

• Biological bases:
  • Brain: Studies of the limbic system have examined case studies and animal research.
  • Hormones: Correlational studies examine testosterone levels and aggression, including comparing male vs. female aggression and XY vs. XYY individuals, and studying animals.
• Learning:
  • Social learning theory: Learning by observing others, such as Bandura's "Bobo doll" studies, and studies of media violence and aggressive behavior, is a major factor.
  • Cultural norms: Specific cultural norms, like The Culture of Honor, can influence aggression levels.
• Motives and emotions:
  • Frustration-aggression hypothesis (Dollard & Miller): Frustration always leads to aggression, and aggression is always preceded by frustration.
    • Problems with this idea include that frustration does not always lead to aggression, and other factors can cause aggression.

General Aggression Model (Anderson)

• The model looks at Individual Differences and Situational Variables that impact aggression.
  • It notes aggressive thoughts and feelings, physiological arousal, appraisal processes which lead to the final behavioral choice.

Why Are People So Aggressive?

• Instinct theories:
  • Freud's psychoanalytic theory, with its focus on death instinct (Thanatos) and life instinct (Eros), along with how aggression is turned outward.
• Evolutionary theories:
  • Darwin's observations on genetic survival and selection for aggression.

Explore the concept of human aggression, including its definition and the various types. Learn about instrumental and emotional aggression, their motivations, and conditions that lead to such behaviors. This quiz delves into the complexities and implications of aggression in human interactions.