Chapter Eleven: Aggression

violence

violence

extreme acts of aggression

hostility

a negative, antagonistic attitude toward another person or group

repetition

the victim is targeted a number of times

power imbalance

the bully abuses their power over the victim

cyberbullying

bulling through electronic devices and social media

indirect aggression

acts like telling lies to get someone in trouble or shutting a person out of desired activities

relational aggression

a kind of indirect aggression that targets a persons relationships and social status

Big Five factors

five dimensions that account for a great deal of variability in peoples personalities across gender and culture

conditions of provocation

situations in which the individual feels threatened, insulted, or stressed

emotional susceptibility

the tendency to feel distressed, inadequate, and vulnerable to perceived threats

type A personality

the tendency to be driven by feelings of inadequacy to try to prove oneself through personal accomplishments

impulsivity

being relatively unable to control ones thoughts and behaviors

narcissism

having an inflated sense of self-worth and self-love, having low empathy for others, tending to focus on the self rather than others, and being especially sensitive to perceived insults

Machiavellianism

characterized by manipulativeness

psychopathy

characterized by impulsivity, poor self-control, and a lack of empathy

executive functioning

the cognitive abilities and processes that allow humans to plan or inhibit their actions

uncinate fasciculus

the part of the brain that connects the orbitofrontal cortex with the anterior temporal lobe

positive reinforcement

when aggression produces desired outcomes

negative reinforcement

when aggression prevents or stops undesirable outcomes

Corporal Punishment

physical force intended to cause a child pain, but not injury, for the purpose of controlling or correcting the childs behavior

Social Learning Theory

the theory that behavior is learned through the observation of others as well as through the direct experience of rewards and punishments

cycle of violence

children who witness parental violence or who are themselves abused are more likely as adults to inflict abuse on intimate partners or their children or be victims of intimate violence

machismo

challenges, abuse, and even differences of opinion must be met with fists or other weapons

culture of honor

a culture that emphasizes honor and social status, particularly for males, and the role of aggression in protecting that honor

displacement

aggressing against a substitute target because aggressive acts against the source of the frustration are inhibited by fear or lack of access

excitation transfer

the arousal created by one stimulus can intensify an individuals emotional response to another stimulus

weapons effect

the tendency for the presence of guns to increase aggression

rumination

repeatedly thinking about and reliving an anger-inducing event, focusing on angry thoughts and feelings, and even planning or imagining revenge

alcohol myopia

alcohol narrows peoples focus of intention

instigation

social factors that often trigger aggressive impulses, such as provocation or social rejection

impellance

personality and situational factors that promote the urge to aggress when encountering instigating factors

inhibition

the various factors of self-control

desensitization

reduction in emotion-related physiological reactivity to real violence

confluence model of sexual aggression

for the subset of individuals who already score high on multiple known risk factors of sexual aggression, consuming pornography increases the risk of sexually aggressive attitudes and behaviors

behavioral modification

treatments that try to alter an individuals behavior through learning principles that reinforce nonaggressive actions

True or False: In virtually every culture, males are more violent than females.

True

True or False: For virtually any category of aggression, males are more aggressive than females.

False

True or false: Children who are spanked or otherwise physically disciplined (but not abused) for behaving aggressively tend to become less aggressive.

False

True or False: Blowing off steam by engaging in safe but aggressive activities (such as sports) makes people less likely to aggress later.

False

True or False: Exposure to TV violence in childhood is related to aggression later in life.

True

Dark Triad

A set of three traits that are associated with higher levels of aggressiveness: Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism

frustration-aggression hypothesis

the idea that (1) frustration always elicits the motive to aggress and (2) all aggression is caused by frustration

pornography

explicit sexual material

proactive aggression

aggressive behavior whereby harm is inflicted as a means to a desired end

aggression

Behavior intended to harm another individual.

reactive aggression

Aggressive behavior where the means and the end coincide; harm is inflicted for its own sake.

catharsis

A reduction of the motive to aggress that is said to result from any imagined, observed, or actual act of aggression.

hostile attribution bias

The tendency to perceive hostile intent in others.

cultivation

The process by which the mass media (particularly television) construct a version of social reality for the public.