aggression

Hostile Aggression

Behavior intended to harm another, either physically or emotionally, and motivated by feelings of anger and hostility

Instrumental Aggression

Behavior intended to harm another in the service of motives other than pure hostility.

Situational Causes of Aggression

○ Heat
○ Media
○ Social Rejection
○ Income Inequality

Heat=Aggression

○ Higher temperatures are related to higher rates of aggression
■ More violent crimes occur in summer months
■ More acts of violence occur in cities that have higher average temperature
■ One study found that baseball pitchers are more likely to hit batters with the ball as the
weather gets hotter

Media violence

○ Evidence that media violence can increase
aggressive behaviors
○ Effect of childhood media consumption
■ Longitudinal study found that boys with high
preference for violent TV at age 8 were more
likely to engage in criminal behavior by age 30
● Regardless of how aggressive the boys
actually were when they were 8

Social Rejection

○ Evolutionarily explanation: Aggression is a threat defense triggered by detrimental things in our environment (i.e. rejection)

Being rejected leads to painful consequences

○ Shame
○ Distress
○ Self-doubt
○ Changes in posture (slouching)
○ More likely to blast noise at a disliked person

Income Inequality

In countries characterized by high economic inequality, the average citizen is much more likely
to be murdered and assaulted than in countries with less economic inequality
○ Children in countries with greater income inequality are more likely to experience conflict with
their peers and to report being victims of aggression

Frustration-aggression hypothesis:

Proposes that frustration (being blocked from a desired goal) always leads to aggression (to motivate goal achievement)

Critiques of the frustration-aggression theory

Aggression can result when goals are not directly blocked
■ Example: heat increases aggression, but it’s not clear how aggression in that
situation helps to achieve any goal
(Hitting someone isn’t going to lower the temperature)

The Neo-associationistic model of aggression:

aggression may be caused by situational factors, and feelings based on interpretations of those situational factors
○ Example: Being on the beach on a hot day vs. being stuck in traffic on a hot
day

The Gun Priming Study

A male participant and a confederate worked on a series of problems
○ The participants would try to solve a problem and would receive shocks from the
confederate.
○ Randomly assigned participants to # of shocks given
■ “neutral” condition (only shocked once)
■ “anger” condition”(shocked several times)

“Culture of honor” in the American South

○ White southerner males tend to be more sensitive to perceived insults
○ Southerner Insult Study:
■ Participants (Southern and Northern males) complete a questionnaire and walk down a hallway to deposit it.
■ Along the way, they are bumped by a confederate who calls them an expletive
■ Southerners vs. Northerners
● Showed more anger
● Were more upset (higher cortisol)
● Were more ready for aggression (higher
testosterone)
● Gave firmer handshakes
Culture & Aggression

Gender differences in types of aggression

○ Large gender differences in violent crime rates (homicides)
○ Males much more likely to be involved in violent and criminal behavior
○ Male also more likely to be the victims of homicides
○ Possibly due to differences in hormone levels, social learning, or evolved tendencies

Women & Aggression

● For certain domains, women tend to demonstrate higher rates of aggression.
● Young men are more prone to acts of physical aggression, while young women are more prone
to emotional aggression.
● Women seem to exceed men in “relational aggression”—they gossip, form alliances, and exclude others (Coie et al., 1999)

Cultural Explanations For Gender
Differences

Boys and Girls are socialized to be more/less aggressive--
Parents, teachers, media sources, and social institutions systematically cultivate more aggressive tendencies in men.

Misperceptions in Conflict

Disputes between groups often are perceived as a conflict of good vs. evil (Bar-Tal, 1990)
● Groups tend to dehumanize outgroup members: attribute non-human characteristics to them
(The other group is less capable of complex thoughts and feelings)

False polarization:

Opponents in ideological conflicts over such issues as abortion or the death penalty overestimate the extremity of their opponents’ attitudes (Ross & Ward, 1995)

A depiction of the false polarization effect

The top shows people’s actual views on an issue (e.g., Republican v. Democrat) - this difference is obtained by
using a survey asking people to indicate their views on a topic.
People see themselves as being slightly more moderate than the group, and a larger disparity between their
views and the average outgroup.

Reactive devaluation:

a cognitive bias that occurs when a proposal is devalued if it appears to originate from an antagonist

Simple vs. Complex Reasoning:

People’s simplicity vs. complexity in their position is defined by:
■ (1) the level of differentiation, or number of principles and arguments in the
position
■ (2) the level of integration, or connections drawn between the different
principles and arguments.

Resolving Conflict

● Extremists on both sides tend to use simple reasons, while moderates tend to reason complexly
● Increasing complexity of reasoning and rhetoric may actually lead to more effective
peacemaking.
● In the study of British politicians, more complex politicians on both the right and the left deemphasized differences between the two parties, expressed tolerance of their
opponents’ views, and resisted blaming their opponents.