lecture 15- aggression and violence

aggression

any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone or something

• different from assertiveness

violence

aggression intended to cause extreme harm

• ex: injury, death

• all violence is aggressive, but not all aggression is violent

hostile aggression

behavior intended to harm that is motivated by feelings of anger and hostility

instrumental aggression

behavior intended to harm that has other motives than hostility

predictors of aggression

• age → 25% of 1-3 year olds’ interactions are aggressive & most murders committed by ppl 18-24

• personality → aggressiveness almost as stable as intelligence over time

  • dark triad (narcissism, psychopathy, machiavellianism)

• cognitive biases/perceptions

• gender

• honor culture

cognitive sources of aggression

hostile attribution bias, hostile perception bias, hostile expectation bias

hostile attribution bias

tendency to perceive ambiguous actions as hostile

• attribute ambiguous actions to hostile intent

hostile perception bias

tendency to perceive social interactions as being aggressive

hostile expectation bias

tendency to expect others to react aggressively

gender and aggression

men → more physically aggressive

women → more likely to engage in relational or emotional aggression

• testosterone → higher levels = more dominant, assertive behavior (not necessarily aggressive)

culture of honor

a culture defined by its members’ strong concerns a/b their own and others’ reputations, leading to sensitivity to insults and a willingness to use violence to avenge any perceived wrong

frustration-aggression hypothesis

frustration always leads to aggression, and aggression is always the result of frustration

frustration

response to having a goal blocked

what increases frustration?

greater anticipated satisfaction from original goal, proximity to goal completion prior to frustration, more complete goal blocking, more frequent goal blocking, blameworthiness of goal blocking

learned helplessness

repeated uncontrollable negative outcomes leads people to give up trying to avoid them

• evidence against frustration-aggression hypothesis

  • frustration can, but does not always lead to aggression

Berkowitz (1989) - updated frustration-aggression theory

arousal → interpretation → anger = aggression

• aggression can occur w/o frustration

  • higher temperature = increased aggression/violence

weapons effect

mere presence of a weapon can increase aggressive behaviors, especially in individuals who are already experiencing anger or have a predisposition towards aggression

• situational cues can increase likelihood of anger

  • physical pain can also increase aggression

• aggression can occur w/o frustration

correlational evidence for aggression and media

• kids who engage w/ more violent media tend to be more violent

• watching violent TV as a child → more likely to commit violent/criminal acts as a teen

• Anderson and Bushman (2001) → playing violent video games associated w/ increased aggression

experimental evidence for aggression and media

• Bandura Bobo Doll → social learning theory, children who saw aggression modeling displayed aggression w/ doll

• juvenile delinquent camp in Belgium →

• floor hockey study → children aggressive prior to watching violent film showed most aggressive behavior

• conclusion → violence in media has small effect on aggression, and effect is short-lived

why is media related to aggression?

increased arousal, situational cues, imitation (social learning theory), perceived norms (identifying w/ perpetrator and media that justifies violence), desensitization

reducing aggression

catharsis?, punishment?, early intervention (non-aggressive values, non-aggressive models, develop empathy), mindfulness practice