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Chpt 12: Aggression (Are certain ppl more likely to be aggressive?…
Chpt 12: Aggression
Are certain ppl more likely to be aggressive?
Cultural diff
herding community
culture of honour
small disputes put a man's reputation for toughness on the line, requiring him to respond aggressively to restore his status
even today, in cultures of honour
bringing weapons to school for self-defence is more acceptable
manslaughter in defence of family reputation is more likely to be forgiven and less likely to be stigmatised
Restoring status through violence is tolerated
ppl value male aggressiveness
herds are extremely valuable and more vulnerable-->could lead to lost of livelihood by theft in the absence of reliable legal reinforcement
agriculturally based society
ppl more cooperative & tolerant to insults as they depend on cooperative strategies for survival
expt of North vs South
northern white males tend to simply shrug off insult
southerners more likely to think their masculine reputation was threatened-->became more upset, more primed for aggression-->more likely to engage in aggressive behaviour after incident
each participant was "accidentally" bumped into by confederate who then insulted him
Physiological influences
Pain & Discomfort
riots more likely to occur on hot days than cool ones
in a number of cities in US, the hotter a given day, the greater the incidence of violent crime
lowers threshold for aggressive behaviour
Alcohol
Disrupts information processing
intoxicated ppl often respond to
earliest and most
obvious aspects of a social situation
tend to miss the subtleties of the situation
"think drink" effect
when ppl expect alcohol to lead to their aggressive impulses, they become more aggressive even when they are drinking smth non-alcoholic
Reduces inhibitions-->make us less cautious than we usually are
Gender diff
no sex diff when aggression is less extreme/violent and equally likely to retaliate when provoked
Relational aggression
Women more likely to use this form of aggression
spreading rumours and gossiping
evolutionary theory
higher levels of testosterone which fuels aggression
eg. Testosterone levels higher among prisoners convicted of violent crimes than nonviolent crimes
being in an aggressive, competitive situation increase testosterone production
Males expected to be more physically aggressive
to secure status over other males since females prefer males who offer greatest protection and resources for their offspring
in response to sexual jealousy to ensure their paternity-->reduce likelihood that they are raising another male's child
Def
Hostile aggression
Primarily driven by feelings of anger to inflict pain
Instrumental aggression
Primarily motivated to attain some goal other than causing pain
intentional acts that cause physical and/psychological pain to others
Situational and social causes of aggression
Weapons as aggressive cues
weapons effect
an increase in aggression that can occur because of the mere presence of a gun or other weapon
weapon expt
Participants made angry in the presence of either a gun or badminton racket, then allowed to administer electric shocks to another student
those made angry in the presence of the gun administered higher levels of electric shock
Frustration-aggression theory
factors
frustration only produces annoyance & a readiness to aggress IF other things abt the situation are conducive to aggressive behaviour
Goal proximity
closer to the goal-->more likely for frustration-->aggression
eg. confederate cutting queue in front of 2nd person compared to 12th person
Unexpectedness of frustration
more unexpected-->more frustration
does not always lead to aggression
when
based on a legitimate outcome
the other person frustrated us unintentionally
understandable eg. traffic jam
size, strength of person responsible and the person's ability to retaliate
frustration, or ppl's perception that they are being prevented from attaining a goal will increase the probability of an aggressive response
insult study
students who knew abt the mitigating circumstances before being insulted were less aggressive
did not take the insult personally-->didn't feel the need to retaliate
students were insulted by the experimenter's assistant who received an unfair low grade for a chemistry exam
Social learning theory
Bobo doll experiment
Control condition
children almost never showed aggression
aggressive adult condition
imitated exact aggressive behaviour
treated doll in abusive way and came up with new methods of aggression
We learn social behaviour by observing others and imitating them through observational learning
Violence from media
Effects of media
glorifies violence
desensitises audience to the effects of violence
Increases accessibility of violent concepts
Gives perception that the world is a more violent place than it actually is
Provides models of aggressive behaviour
Reasons why media increases aggression
Watching violence may put people more in touch with their feelings of anger and make an aggressive response more likely through priming
desensitisation
desensitises us to horrors of violence & reduces our sympathy for victims-->easier to live with violence and act aggressively
never-ending cycle
exposure to violent media decreases physiological arousal to subsequent violence-->need to watch even more violent media to feel excited which then desensitises us again
exposure to hard-core violent & rape porn was positively correlated with sexual assault
it might trigger imitation, providing them with ideas as to how they might commit aggressive acts
makes people think the world is a dangerous place, they might be more apt to be hostile to a stranger who approaches them on the street, aggression becomes the default response
When people see characters behaving violently, it may weaken their previously learned inhibitions against violent behavior