Aggression - Theories and Definitions

Aggression

Behaviour intended or designed to harm another person or property.

Instrumental Aggression

• Rational and goal-oriented.

• Used to achieve personal gains (e.g., status, resources).

Emotional Aggression

• Reactive and impulsive.

• Driven by anger or frustration without strategic calculation.

Biological/Instinct Perspectives

• Aggression seen as innate or evolutionary.

• Freud: aggression stemmed from instinct for self-destruction turned outward.

• Lorenz: aggression served mating and survival functions in evolutionary history.

Situational Determinants of Aggression

External contexts can elicit aggression (e.g., heat, alcohol, cultural norms).

Social Learning Perspective

• Aggression learned through reinforcement and observation.

• Behaviour maintained if rewarded directly or vicariously.

Cultures of Honour

Norms that legitimise aggression in response to insults or threats to reputation.

Drive Theories of Aggression

• External events provoke internal drive to harm.

• Largely abandoned due to explanatory limitations.

General Aggression Model (GAM)

• Aggression results from interaction between:

  • situational factors (e.g., provocation, heat)

  • person factors (e.g., traits, beliefs)

• Influences affect, cognition, and arousal.

• Repeated exposure strengthens aggressive knowledge structures.

Punishment & Aggression

• Can reduce aggression if punishment is:

  1. prompt

  2. certain

  3. strong

  4. seen as justified

• Often fails in natural settings due to unmet conditions.

Self-Regulation & Aggression

• Controlling aggression requires cognitive resources.

• Ego depletion increases aggressive responding under provocation.

Prosocial Thought Regulation

Bringing prosocial schemas to mind reduces aggressive impulses.

Catharsis Hypothesis

• Venting anger believed to reduce later aggression.

• Empirically unsupported and may increase aggressive tendencies long-term.

Bolstering Self-Esteem

• In high narcissism, ego threat increases aggression.

• Self-affirmation procedures can reduce retaliatory aggression.