Aggression1. What is the definition of aggression? - Behavior intended to injure anothero Behavior (not angry feelings)o Intended (not accidental)o Aimed at hurting (not assertiveness or playfulness)- Goals of aggressive behavior:o Freud hypothesized a “death instinct” to explain roots of aggressiono Incompatible with the logic of natural selectiono Cathartic releaseo Acting aggressively tends to increase later violent behavior2. Know and define the two major forms of aggression. - Indirect: attempt to hurt another without obvious face-to-face contacto Ex: spreading a rumor- Direct: behavior intended to hurt someone to his or her faceo Ex: punching someone- Emotional (hostile): hurtful behavior that stems from angry feelings (goal is just to inflict pain)o Ex: child throwing a temper tantrum- Instrumental: hurting another to accomplish another (non-aggressive) goalo Ex: spanking a child- Examples:o Jack kicks Joe because he’s angry at him – direct, emotional aggression, violenceo Pam spreads rumors about Joe – indirect, emotionalo George insults Tanya because he’s tired and irritated – direct, instrumental aggressiono Will plants incriminating evidence on his coworker’s computer so Will has a better chance at a promotion – indirect, instrumentalo Peter shoots his wife to get her life insurance – direct, instrumental, violence3. Are there gender differences in aggression? If so, what differs?- No difference in feelings of anger- Women:o Feelings of jealousy in relationshipso Physical aggression against partnerso Indirect aggression- Men:o Physical harmo Homicides- High level of testosterone related to dominance and aggressivenesso High levels found among: Adolescent boys Violent criminals Men and women with criminal records4. Define three hostile cognitive biases. How do they lead to increased aggression?- Inferences and expectations about others:o Hostile attribution bias – view ambiguous acts as aggressive Ex: if someone bumps into you at the bar, that person is aggressive and insultingo Hostile perception bias – perceive social interactions as being aggressive Ex: if 2 people are arguing, one with this bias will assume it will result in a violent fighto Hostile expectation bias – expect others to react aggressively Ex: you bump into someone at the bar you assume they will respond by fightingo People higher in these biases are more likely to be aggressive5. What is the frustration-aggression hypothesis?- Original: the theory that aggression is an automatic response to any blocking of goal-directed behavioro Frustration aggression- Revised: the theory that an unpleasant stimulation will lead to emotional aggression to the extent that it generates unpleasant feelingso Frustration + pain + heat + any other unpleasant experience negative feelings emotional aggression6. Is an unpleasant mood required for aggressive behavior? Why or why not?- Not required for aggressive behavior – plenty of aggressive behaviors occur when people are “cold”. All of the instrumental aggression would not be explained by frustration-aggression hypothesis7. What is excitation transfer? Give an example (discussed in class) of excitation transfer.- Excitation transfer theory: anger is physiological similar to other emotional states- Any form of emotional or physical arousal can enhance aggressive responses8. What is the weapons effect? Describe the Berkowitz and Page (1967) experiment.- Weapons effect: presence of weapons increases aggression- Berkowitz and Page:o Angry participants seated at desk Guns or sports equipment were present – told to ignore the items – shock a partnero Participants sitting in the presence of guns shocked their partner more9. Be able to list four unpleasant experiences that can lead to increased aggression.- Thwarted plans- Pain - Environmental frustrations—overcrowding, traffic, foul odors- Sweltering heat- Recession/unemployment10. Be able to describe the Bobo doll study and how it reflects modeling aggressive behavior.- Modeling – when aggression is modeled (and rewarded by others), causes increases in aggression- Bobo doll study:o Preschool children watched an adult either: Act aggressively toward a clown doll or act nonaggressively by playing with tinker toyso Later child left alone with aggressive toys and nonaggressive toyso Children exposed to aggressive model, later showed the most aggressive behavior11. What is one way in which the media can encourage violent behavior?- Children who watch a lot of violent TV are more violent towards peers- Experimental studies (violence controlled) effects of watching violence- College students randomly assigned to play a violent video game later had more aggressive thoughts and feelings than those who played a nonviolent game- Magnifies violent inclinations- Exposure to violent media leads to:o Negative feelingso High arousalo Aggressive thoughts/behaviors12. How does a culture of honor affect aggression?- Culture of honor: a set of societal norms whose central idea is that people (men) should be ready to defend their honor with violent retaliation if necessaryo Southern US has more honor-related homicideso Southern students respond more aggressively to an insult in a lab setting13. List and explain the various factors that increase aggression that were discussed in your book and class.- Provocation- Hormones/gender- Modeling- Behavior type (personality A or B)- Unpleasant situations- Protection (self defenders, perceived threats, culture of honor)14. What are some of the motivations that people have for acting aggressively?- De-individuation: o More likely to be violent when in a crowd or when they are anonymous- When status matters:o Blocked pathways to success: High testosterone with substantially greater risk in lower-class men – limited resources to achieve goals Pathways for respect are blocked so lower class men strive for respect through aggressivenesso Competition for mates: Men are most dangerous when testosterone levels are highest – “aggress to impress” femalesStereotyping and Prejudice1. Distinguish between old-fashioned versus modern expressions of racism and sexism.- Racism:o Old fashioned: Black people are generally not as smart as white people Bad idea for blacks and whites to marry one anothero Modern: Discrimination against blacks is no longer a problem in the US Possible: discriminated against for criminal
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