Psychology: Aggression and Violence

Aggression and Violence

• Aggression is defined as any behavior (physical, verbal, or relational) intending to harm someone unwilling to be harmed.
• Features of aggression include observable actions, intentional intent (not accidental), the victim's desire to avoid harm, possible or not achievement of the goal, and intentional harm to another person.
• Examples of aggression include:
  • Danny telling a coworker that Sarah is stealing printer ink.
  • Tristan punching someone but missing.
  • Susie kicking her partner under the table.

Violence

• Violence is aggression intended to cause severe physical harm, serious injury, or death.

Frustration Aggression Theory 1

• Aggressive behavior is always caused by frustration.
• Frustration leads to aggression.
• Frustration occurs when a person is prevented from achieving a goal.

Limitations & Problems of Frustration Aggression Theory 1

• Ignores other causes of aggression like tiredness, anxiety, or overwhelm.
• Aggression can cause other things besides frustration (sadness, depression)

Reformulated Frustration-Aggression Model 2

• Frustration leads to aggressive inclinations only if it results in negative feelings.
• Frustration and other negative feelings can lead to aggression if:
  • It elicits negative feelings.
  • It elicits aggressive inclinations.
• Frustration does not automatically cause aggression.

Other Factors Related to Aggression/Negative Affect

• Unintentional or accidental frustration reduces the chance of aggressive incidents.

• Anticipating potential problems reduces frustration.

• Failing to reach a goal when the outcome is expected will lead to higher frustration, negative emotions, and aggression.

• Expectations about achieving a goal can influence frustration, negative emotions, and aggression.

  • If people understand they might not reach a goal they experience less negative effects if the goal is not achieved.
  • Closer proximity to a wanted object increases negative reactions if the object is taken away at last minute.

• Negative feelings can be caused by:

  • Frustration
  • Pain
  • Discomfort
  • Heat or humidity
  • Offensive odors

Factors Influencing Aggression

• Personality
• Mood
• Gender
• Culture
• Cognitive biases
• Alcohol
• Media (violent)

Aggressive Behavior Influencers

• Social norms
• Consequences (of aggression)
• Target attributions (Men more likely to aggress)
• Victim attributions (e.g., gender differences in aggression; people more aggressive against same sex)

Gender and Aggression

• Unprovoked men are more aggressive than unprovoked women (2002, Knight et al.).
• In emotional situations, men are more aggressive than women (e.g., 2007, Burton et al.).
• Men are more physically aggressive.
• Men and women differ in the type of aggression they exhibit (physical vs. indirect).
• Difference in aggression levels between men and women have been quantified as about 5%.
• The type of aggression varies between men and women.
• Women tend to use more indirect aggression, while men exhibit more physical aggression.

Culture and Aggression (Honour culture)

• Honour culture: individuals feel obligated to defend their reputation through threats or violence.
• Honour cultures exist in America, Southern America, inner city neighbourhoods, the middle east, jails, mafia, and action movies.
• Honour cultures develop due to:
  • Lack of authority
  • Lack of law enforcement
  • Lack of reliable authority protecting citizens
  • People needing to protect themselves
• Responding with disproportionate violence, aiming to be a leader, or protecting oneself.
• Culture influences aggression (e.g., Cohen et al. 1996 South).
• Law enforcement may be problematic for these communities.
• Honour cultures create self-reliance in the pursuit of justice.
• Cultures influenced by honour culture, aggression is more likely.
• These cultures foster aggression via social norms.

Culture of Honour and Domestic Violence

• Increased intimate partner violence and school violence in honour cultures
• Less likely to seek mental health support.

Cognitive Biases and Aggression

• Hostile attribution bias: perceiving ambiguous actions as hostile.
• This bias is linked to aggression.
• It develops from early experiences and personality styles.
• People tend to perceive negative actions from others and see harm in things that may not have been intended as such. This perception can escalate conflict and aggressive behaviors.
• Children with this bias potentially lead to more aggressive adults and are also potentially more likely to die before 50.
• A cognitive bias from aggressive interpretations that results in aggression, more issues in a relationship, and the likelihood of death before 50.

Alcohol and Aggression

• Alcohol is used to encourage aggression.
• Soldiers are given alcohol to reduce anxiety. Leads to aggression.
• Increased violet crime with alcohol.
• Alcohol's disinhibitory effect makes people less cautious about unacceptable actions.
• Reduced glucose causes reduced self-awareness.
• People associating alcohol with aggression is heightened by societal influence.
• Alcohol exposure and aggression are linked.
• Younger people who have been exposed images of alcohol have a greater association between alcohol and aggression.

Media and Aggression

• Exposure to violent media increases aggressive behaviors in children.
• Violent video game exposure can lead to aggressive behaviors.
• Television and films with violence, in particular, can create desensitization effect. People watching violence act more aggressively towards others.
• Watching violence desensitizes onlookers to the act of violence.

Video Game Violence

• Social Learning Theory posits that people learn by observing others.
• Watching violent acts (video games, movies) might lead to internalization and enactment of similar acts in real life.
• The catharsis hypothesis, which suggests that expressing aggression reduces feelings of frustration, is problematic due to study limitations.
• Mood management suggests people actively choose media to regulate moods.
• Violent games may help to calm people down in stressful circumstances.

Study Limitations

• Quasi-studies measure correlation, not causation.
• Limited sample sizes in studies limit the validity of the conclusions that can be drawn.