the frustration-aggression hypothesis:

Dollard’s frustration-aggression hypothesis:

sees aggression as being a consequence of frustration

when people are prevented from getting what they want, they get frustrated and may therefore commit a crime

frustration is a necessary condition for aggression

frustration:

occurs when an event or stimulus prevents an individual from attaining some goal and its accompanying reinforcing quality

aggression:

violent behaviours, emotions or thoughts that have the desire or intention to inflict harm onto oneself, another individual or an inanimate object

catharsis:

process of releasing, and providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions

how does frustration lead to aggression?

leads to the arousal of an aggressive drive, which then leads to aggressive behaviour

by producing an aggressive behaviour, aggressive urges can be relieved, therefore having a cathartic effect

when does frustration increase?

when motivation to achieve a goal is strong

when we expect gratification

when we are in a situation we cannot do anything about e.g. traffic jams

displaced aggression:

when it is impossible or inappropriate to behave aggressively towards the source of frustration, aggression is displaced onto someone or something else

in order to experience catharsis, a scapegoat needs to be found

A03: strength Geen

male uni students, jigsaw

puzzle was impossible, ran out of time due to confederate interference, confederate insulted ppts that failed

boys told to give electric shocks to confederate when they made a mistake on another task

strongest shocks from 3,2 then 1

A03 strength: Newhall et al

meta-analysis of 49 studies of displaced aggression

ppts who were provoked but unable to retaliated directly were more likely to aggress against an innocent party than those who were unprovoked

researchers concluded that displaced aggression is a reliable phenomenon, supports general concept of the hypothesis

increases validity as an explanation of aggression

A03: contradiction Bushman

found aggression was not cathartic and lead to more aggression

casts doubt on validity of the central assumptions of the hypothesis

A03: alternative Berkowitz

revised frustration-aggression hypothesis

suggests aggression is due to an interaction between internal emotional state and environmental cues

frustration alone is not sufficient to produce aggression

frustrating experience creates readiness to show aggression- whether aggression will occur depends on stimulus cues

A03: practical applications

understanding the presence of aggressive objects can increase likelihood of aggressive acts being useful in the US for informing discussion around gun-control policy

states advocate ‘open-carry’ policy, meaning they carry guns in full view

can lead to more aggression or aggressive triggers