Psychology Chapter on Aggression and Violence

Aggression and Violence

• Aggression is any behavior—physical, verbal, or relational—intended to harm someone unwilling to be harmed.
• Features of aggressive behavior:
  • It's observable action, not an internal response.
  • It's intentional, not accidental.
  • The victim wants to avoid harm.
  • It may or may not achieve its goal.
  • The intention is to harm another person intentionally.
• Examples of aggression:
  • Danny telling a coworker that Sarah is stealing printer ink.
  • Tristan punching someone in a club, missing the target.
  • Susie kicking her partner under a dinner table.

Violence

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

Frustration-Aggression Theory 1

• The theory posits that aggressive behavior is always caused by frustration.
• Frustration always leads to aggression.
• Frustration occurs when a person is prevented from achieving a goal.
• Limitations include ignoring other causes of aggression (e.g., fatigue, stress).

Reformulated Frustration-Aggression Model 2

• Frustration creates aggressive inclinations only when it produces a negative emotional response.
• Frustration and other discomforts lead to aggression if they:
  • Prompt negative feelings.
  • Prompt aggressive inclinations.
• Frustration doesn't automatically cause aggression

Negative Affect and Aggression

• Aggression stems from negative emotional reactions (affect) associated with frustration.
• Unintentional or meaningless frustration may reduce the likelihood of aggression.
• Anticipation of negative outcomes can reduce feelings of frustration.

Expectation and Aggression

• Understanding potential failure can lessen frustration, negative affect, and aggression.
• The closer one is to a desired outcome at the point of failure, the greater the resulting frustration, negative feeling, and aggression.

Factors Influencing Aggression

• Factors that may influence or contribute to aggression include:
  • Personality
  • Mood
  • Gender
  • Culture
  • Cognitive biases
  • Alcohol
  • Media

Social Norms and Aggression

• Social norms influence aggressive behavior.
• Consequences play a role in preventing aggression.
• Target Attributions: Men feel aggressive more than women, and are more likely to act aggressively.
• Victim Attributions: People are more aggressive against those of the same sex and age.

Gender and Aggression

• Unprovoked men tend to be more aggressive than unprovoked women.
• Emotional arousal in men may heighten aggression more than in women.
• Men often engage in physically aggressive acts more than women.
• Women may exhibit indirect aggression more than men.
• No significant difference in verbal aggression between genders.

Culture and Aggression

• Culture plays a role in aggression.
• People in honor cultures feel obligated to defend their reputations.
• Various subgroups or cultures display different norms and views around honor culture.
• Cultures often differ on use and perception of violence.

Culture of Honor

• An honor culture is a societal group where individuals feel obligated to protect their reputation from insults, threats and violence toward others.
• Honor cultures exist in:
  • America
  • Southern American
  • Inner cities
  • Middle East
  • Jails
  • Mafia
  • Action Movies
• Honor cultures develop due to:
  • Lack of authority
  • Lack of effective law enforcement
  • Situations where people need to protect themselves

Culture of Honor and Aggression

• Some research suggests that cultures of honor are linked to higher levels of aggression.
• The perception of injustice and reputation can motivate aggressive behavior.
• Certain aspects of culture influence how and when people respond to potentially hostile situations.
  • Research shows that implicit social stereotypes can influence how people respond when frustrated.

Violence and Self-Protection

• Violence that is used to protect oneself or others can be viewed as justifiable.
• This aligns with certain cultural expectations around defending oneself.

Results of Studies and Hormones

• Testosterone increases aggressive responses and anticipation of aggression in individuals.
• Insults can have a more impactful effect on honor in groups with specific cultural norms.
• Men in honor cultures might respond aggressively to protect their reputation or masculinity.
• Honor cultures are associated with an increased risk of war and conflict.
  • A study indicates that American presidents from the southern U.S. are more likely to use military force and engage in conflict.

Cognitive Biases and Aggression

• Hostile attribution bias is the tendency to interpret ambiguous actions by others as hostile.
• A consistently high hostile attribution style relates to aggression, stemming from early experiences.
• It influences how individuals perceive events and others.

Alcohol and Aggression

• Alcohol is used to reduce anxiety or increase aggression.
• Alcohol can increase the likelihood of violent crime.

Media and Aggression

• Exposure to violent media (TV, video games) can desensitize individuals to violence and increase aggressive behavior in individuals.
• Exposure to displays of violence can diminish emotional responses to violence.

Video Game Violence

• Learning via observation can lead to imitation of aggressive behaviors seen in media (like video games).
• Violent video games might not necessarily cause aggression, as other factors influence whether or not someone will behave aggressively.

Mood Management and Aggression

• Individuals can choose media content to manage and improve their moods.
• Violent or dark media might be chosen to cope with stress or depression.
• Studies might not show a decrease in hostile feelings after engaging with violent video content.

Limitations of Studies

• Quasi-studies find correlations, but not causation between variables.
• Sample sizes might not be large or representative.
• Experimental setups may not adequately replicate real-world frustration levels impacting aggression.