The frustration-aggression hypothesis

Outline and evaluate the frustration-aggression hypothesis as a social psychological explanation of aggression. (16)

What is the frustration-aggression hypothesis (according to Dollard)?

Says that aggressive behaviour is always the result of frustration and that we act aggressive as acting aggressively is cathartic (makes you feel better, so removes the negative feeling)

What is frustration?

the feeling that's experienced when our attempts to meet a goal are blocked

What are the two types of frustration?

1. Justified
2. Unjustified

What was the study that Pastore (1952) carried out on these types of frustration?

Asked pps how they feel if they were waiting for a bus that went past without stopping when it was either:

1. ‘out of service’ (justified)

2. ‘didn’t stop when it was meant to’ (unjustified)

Justified frustration led to lower levels of anger.

What did the results of Pastore's study suggest?

That the type of frustration experienced can have an impact on the amount of anger, and thus aggression was shown

What procedure did Green (1968) carry out?

- Male uni students were asked to complete a jigsaw, there were 3 conditions:

> Condition 1- impossible puzzle

> Condition 2- a confederate made them run out of time by interfering

> Condition 3- the confederate insulted the participant as they failed to solve the puzzle

> Control- normal jigsaw

- Pps were then given another task where they needed to give electric shocks to the confederate when they made a mistake on another task

What were Greens (1968) findings?

- All frustrated participants gave more intense shocks than the control group
- Condition 3 gave the most intense shocks, then 2, then 1

What is displacement and when does it occur?

Displacement is when we 'take out' our anger on someone or something else.

It occurs when:
- the source of our frustration isn't tangible
- the source of frustration might be an authority figure
- we might not have access to the source of frustration

What is the revised frustration-aggression hypothesis (Berkowitz 1989)?

Says that frustration creates a readiness for aggression but does not always lead to aggression, and that whether or not aggression occurs is largely dependent on aggressive cues (or lack of).

What research did Berkowitz and LePage (1967) carry out that supports the revised frustration-aggression hypothesis?

- had a confederate give participants electric shocks (to create frustration and anger).
- When they could then shock the confederate, they administered more shocks (av. 6.07) when there were two guns on the table (aggressive cue), than not (av. 4.67).

What other supporting research is there for the frustration-aggression hypothesis?

Dill and Anderson:

- Pps were given a very rushed origami tutorial that was hard to follow

1. Unjustified condition- teacher explained his hurry by saying his girlfriend was waiting for him.

2. Justified condition- said that his boss had asked him to hurry.

Results followed the same pattern as Pastore

Why was Dill and Andersons study an improvement of Pastore's?

Because pps actually experienced the study rather than imagining it (like in Pastore's)

Outline Priks (2010) study (other supporting research for the frustration-aggression hypothesis) along with an evaluation point.

Found that Swedish football fans threw more objects onto the pitch when their team performed worse than expected
+ Ecologically valid study

What is a limitation of the catharsis component of the frustration-aggression hypothesis?

Bushman (2002) found that aggression leads to more (not less aggression like the theory of catharsis suggests).

- Pps were tested for anger levels using self-report before and after punching a punching bag while imagining someone they disliked
- Found that pps were angrier afterwards

Give research that supports the limitation of the F-A H that factors other than frustration can lead to aggression

Reifman et al (1991) found that as temperature increased, so did aggressive behaviour from pitchers to batters (in baseball games)

How can the frustration-aggression hypothesis be used to explain genocide?

Often the targeted group has been scapegoated as a cause of something negative.
E.g. Jewish people were scapegoated as a cause of Germany's economic problems