Psych 315 1nd EditionExam # 3 Study Guide Lectures: 12-17Aggression- 4 sources of Evil1. Instrumentality: Evil Acts as a Means to an End. We use aggression to benefit self/ a. A way to resolve a conflictb. Effective in the short-term; usually ineffective in the long-termc. Probably not the most significant source of evil acts 2. Threatened Egoism: We attack others who have wounded our pride: Narcissistsa. National pride and war: Germany after WWI? When Germany was humiliated. There self- esteem was damaged. May have motivated WWII3. Idealism: Doing bad to do good: Killing bad people to create an ideal world. Most important one ***. a. Hitler and the Holocaust: Hitler wanted to create a better Germany, only way he could do that was kill the Jews. b. Pol Pot and Cambodia: moved his country to the basic society. Started to hill people that were in the upper part of society (Professors, students, Lawyers)c. Islamic Extremists d. Hollywood and the Dirty Harry Mentality: Breaking the law to preserve the law 4. Sadism (Marquis De Sade and the Catalog of Sexual Perversions, including sexual violence) sadism = pleasure from inflicting pain. Associated with Sexuality. a. Normally a natural revulsion from inflicting pain: German soldiers were able to harmpeople because they become desensitized to horror and killingb. The developmental path to sadism is unclear- Biological factors that are causes of aggressionBiology- Neuroscientists have found brain areas in humans that encourage and inhibit aggression.- Some people are more inclined to be aggressive than others. - The prefrontal cortex, which inhibits aggressive impulses from deeper brain areas is smaller and less active among imprisoned murderers and men with anti-social personalities. Genetics- Can breed lines of mice and other species to produce very aggressive and very passive animals- In Sweden, study of siblings of convicted violent criminals found to be 4 times more likely to be convicted of violent crime. Not true of adopted siblings.- Identical twins, if one has violent criminal record, the probability that the other does is .50. - Identical twins more likely than fraternal twins to have “violent tempers.” Other Biological Factors- Testosterone= aggression- Teenagers and young adult males with higher testosterone are more aggressive.- Testosterone is higher for prisoners convicted of violent crimes- In violent males, reduce levels of testosterone, reduce levels of aggression- After men reach age 25, both testosterone and aggression decline together- Prenatal exposure to testosterone may explain sex differences in violent aggression- Psychological causes and triggerso Other Triggers of aggression Pain – hand in cold water; blast with white noise  Heato What summer heat is high in U. S. violent crime is more likelyo Across the Northern Hemisphere, more violent crime in: hotter seasons, hotter years, hotter cities, and hotter regionso A study in Phoenix in summer showed that people in cars without air conditioning were more likely to honk at a stalled car. o Physiological arousal – intensifies emotions, including anger, and makes aggression morelikely.  The gun effect:o A person was insulted and had a chance to retaliate by giving electric shocks to the insulter. A shotgun and a handgun were present or were not when the person was givingthe shocks. If present, the person gave higher levels of shocks.  War and Post-War homicide: Study of 37 nations at war from WWI to Vietnam. After war ended 27 saw increase in homicide rate and 10 saw decreases. Control group (no war) 16 saw decreases and 9 saw increases. Why? No agreement on interpretation. Desensitization to violence? - The Psychopath (Sociopath) o Lack of ability to empathizeo Grandiose sense of self wortho Insensitivity to punishmento Criminal violence motivated by personal gain more often than for non-psychopatho Criminal violence much less likely to be motivated by emotion than non-psychopatho Crime is cool, calculated for personal gain- Teaching aggression/ coercive cycleo Abusiveness and Physical discipline (even ordinary spanking) are associated with more aggressive children and adults o “Teaching” aggression in the family by rewarding aggression: The coercive cycle. Based on partial reinforcement. Mom makes ordinary demands. Child id defiant. Mom’s demands become more severe or mom may give up and let the child get away with his defiant behavior. o What follows from the coercive cycle? Child is rewarded and continues acting out.  Problems with aggression at school and among peers Rejection by normal peers and poor grades in school Commitment to a deviant peer group Delinquent Behavior; aggression, vandalism, theft, etc.- Interviews of murderers and how they were taught to be aggressiveo Violent Subjugation of Self – powerlessness. They are put down by others and feel powerless.o Violent Subjugation of Close Others – guilt and powerlessness. Witness others being abused and wanted to help the abuser. Involves more feelings of powerless because they couldn’t helpo Violence Coaching: someone explains to them that the only way to get through life is to be aggressive. If being provoked and you don’t stand up for yourself then you are weak. o Resolution to Defend Oneself with Violent Behavior against those who provoke or attack you o All of these leads to the first Violent Acto Social Rewards and Changed Self-concept. Makes a conscious decision that they wont be pushed around. People get rewarded and have a reputation for being aggressive. They change who they are and do not feel powerless and gain a higher self esteem. - Accepting or endorsing the idea that one is a violent person, accepting the notoriety that comes with violence and reaping the benefits of having others fear what you might do if they provoke you- Feeling exulted and powerful, the violent actor now becomes increasingly impressed with himself and self-confident. He resolves to continue to use violence and to do so with less and less provocation. He is now ready to become an ultra-violent person. - Gene by Environment Interactions- Humans with a defective MAMO gene are more violent- Studied men with this gene who were or were not abused as children- Found that the defective gene alone did not increase criminal convictions, but the gene plus abuse led to three times as many convictions as the gene alone. - Culture of honor and the experiment - More