Aggression

what are the two biological explanations of aggression?

neural and hormonal influences

genetic factors

summarise neural and hormonal influences

structures in the brain such as the limbic system, and neurotransmitters like seratonin, and hormones like testosterone factor into aggression

• the limbic system is a network of subcortical structures in the brain including the hippocampus, hypothalamus and amygadala, and thalamus - they are associated with emotional behaviour

• seratonin is a neurotransmitter that influences both aggression and violent crime

• testosterone is a male sex hormone that has action on brain areas involved in aggression

summarise the limbic system in the involvement of neural and hormonal influences on aggression

the limbic system is made up of the hypothalamus, hippocampus, thamalus and amygdala

• this area of the brain is associated with emotional behaviour

• james pazez

• the amygdala is reactive to aggressive behaviour ( more responsive to aggressive person )

• it has a key role in allowing mammals to asses aggression and respond to environmental threats

• GOSPIC ET AL found that when participants during an fmri scan reacted aggressivley, their amygdala was quick to react

• a benzodiezapine drug is used to reduce the activity of the nervous system and decreases activity in the amygdala

summarise the neurotransmitter in the involvement of neural and hormonal influences on aggression

seratonin has been linked with aggression and violent crime as it slows down and dampens neural activity

• normal levels of seratonin in the orbitofrontal cortex are linked with reducing firing neurons which is associated with positive self control

• a defeciency in seratonin is linked to impulsive behaviour and less self control , including being aggressive

summarise the hormone in the involvement of neural and hormonal influences on aggression

testosterone is a male sex hormone that influences aggression from young adulthood onwards due to its action on brain areas involved in controlling aggression

• evidence comes from the observation that males tend to be more aggressive than females

• animal research by Wagner found that if a male mouse is castrated, their levels of aggression are reduced - without their sex organ they have significantly low levels of testorsterone proving it is involved in aggression

a03 for the neural and hormonal influences in aggression

Strength - supporting evidence

• GOSPIC ET AL used fmri scans to study the brain of someone becoming aggressive

• found the amygdala was quick to highlight

• supports the limbic system in the involvment of aggression

Strength - supporting evidence

• researchers found that 73% of loses whos testosterone levels rose decided to rechallange their opponent whilst less than half of those whos levels rose, had not decided to challange again because their testosterone levels decreased

• confirms that aggression occurs when tesosterone is higher, and the innate feeling of loss of ego or competiton can lead to aggressive behaviour

• HOWEVER can be said that this is only competitvness, not aggression and therfore should be studied more so the difference between aggression and competitvness can be distinguished

Weakness - correlational

• can not be said whether testosterone fluctuates DUE to being aggressive or not aggressive or if testosterone levels decide a persons aggression

• this risks oversimplifying the mechanisms involved in the human brain

• definatley more complex than our evidence on the mind provides

summarise genetic factors in aggression in relation to biological explanations

aggression may be inherited and criminality could be predisposed

• researchers found a 50% concordance rate in aggression in MZ twins and 19% in DZ twins, concluding that aggressive behaviour can be contributed to due to aggressive genetic factors

• a study of over 14,000 adoptees in denmark found that a significant number of adopted boys with criminal convictions had biological parents with criminal convictions also, supporting evidence for the genetic effect

• the MAOA gene produces MAO which is an enzyme thats function is to break down neurotransmitters after a nerve impulse has been transmitted

• MAOA low means that there is low MAO activity causing aggressive behaviour

• the MAOA gene causes increased aggression in those who have it, and has been named the ‘warrior gene’

a03 for genetic factors in aggression

weakness - Brunners research

• Brunners research was on just one family so therfore findings can not be generalisable to the wider public

• decreases validity and what can be concluded about EVERYONE

weakness - nature vs nurture

• it is not 100% definite to know if aggression comes soley from genes, if an aggressive parent or figure is present

• their nurture could be an aggressive environment, aswell as hereditary components in their aggression

• therfore its also important to interpret the environment WHICH is another point to twin studies as their environment is also not considered

summarise the ethological explanation of aggression

this approach proposes that aggression is instinctive and adaptive

• aggression allows a species to survive because a ‘defeated’ animal is rarley killed but forced to establish territory elsewhere

• aggression was to establish dominance in hierarchys of animal food chains

• eg. male chimpanzees use aggression to climb their social hierarchy and give themselves social status

• lorenz believe that animals CAN be extrapolated to humans because we all are governed by the same laws of natural selection

• ritualistic aggression is a series of behaviours set out in order

summarise ritualistic aggression in relation to the ethological explanation of aggression

• lorenz observed fights between animals and found that little actual physical damage was done

• most aggressive encounters involved ritualistic signals such as threat displays and appeasment gestures

• an example of ritualised behaviours is innate releasing mechanisms ( IRM’s ) which are a network of neurons in the brain that monitor aggression , and environmental stimulis ( like a dirty look) can trigger the IRM releasing a specific pattern of behaviours ( FAP’s)

• fixed action patterns can be stereotyped, universal, independant of individual experience, ballistic or specific triggers

a03 for ethological explanations of aggression

strength - supporting evidence

• brunner found that MAOA gene was linked closley with aggressive behaviour indicating a biological cause

weakness - cultural differences

• aggression is different across cultures and aggressive reactions can be more or less in different countries

• this leaves the question of ‘ if aggression is instinctive, why does it differ across the place on a map?’

weakness - generalisation to humans

• even though Lorenz finds it appropriate to generalise human behaviour to animals, it should be done VERY carefully

• animals dont have the complexity of the human mind, that counters in emotions towards the aggressor or aggressive situation eg. someone being kicked may be a trigger for past abuse that then leads for a more aggressive outcome than the other person

• animals dont have this sort of complexity and emotion that humans do, so extrapolation should be done carefully and can only be general

weakness - ritualistic behaviour

• to say that behaviour is ritualistic in humans, and that aggression is down to climbing hierarchy and establishing territory is wrong because there are several cases where humans take it too far and actually kill one another

• Lorenz saw that animals didnt actually physically hurt eachother, but humans have the aggressive drive to kill another person, why is this?

• instead of looking at animals behaviour that is based on respect, researchers should focus on human aggression that leads to the killing of the same species

summarise the evolutionary explanation of human aggression

evolution is deemed to be a key factor in why humans, particularly males, are aggressive

• the theory predicts that males have a fear of cuckoldry, and therfore become aggressive to potential infedelity from their wife

• this makes them more keen to guard against it , and can become keleous or aggressive to prevent their partner from ‘straying’

• wilson and daly identified direct guarding and negative inducements as mate retention stratagies involving aggression

• volk et al found that bullying has evolutionary causes, and is because it is used to monger attraction from women so they will feel they will be protected by their male

summarise wilson and daly’s mate retention stratagies

DIRECT GUARDING - involves over vigilence over partners behaviour, such as checking where they have been

NEGATIVE INDUCEMENTS - involve making threats of negative consequences

• these stratagies would result in aggressive behaviour , and there have been positive correlations in women who feel their partner is jealous easily and physical/domestic violence

summarise evolutionary explanations of bullying

volk et al found that bullying occured due to males wanting to be desirable to their chosen mate

• when bullying, it is seen as a perfect protector and it offs rivals and increases a males reproductive success

a03 for evolution in explaning aggressive behaviour

strength - supporting research

• shackleford et al found that male retention stratagies were associated with jealousy and aggression

• they found a strong correlation between male reports of mate retention behaviours, and womens reports of DV

• this supports the idea that aggression is based on retention stratagies and evolutionary fear of cuckoldry

weakness - accounts for indifferences between genders

• the evolution theory suggests that males are aggressors in relationships, as they have wired to be

• however females are just as aggressive but verbally, in order to retain a partner who provides recources

weakness - can avoid accountability

• this theory proposes that males ‘cant help’ their evolutionary drive to harm women, which can result in women being hurt without punishment and males then avoid accountability for what they have done

• therfore it should be carefully said about mens aggression towards women, as it can also be socially sensitive to domestic violence cases, AND can normalise aggressive behaviour from men

Weakness - lacks validity

• its practically impossible to prove aggression is evoluntionary due to the inability to go back in time and record human behaviours from many years ago

• all ideas are based on inferance or generalisation from animals, which decreases the validity

what are the social psychological explanations of aggression?

1. the fustration - aggression hypothesis

2. social learning theory

3. deinvidualisation

summarise the frustration - aggression hypothesis

DOLLARD ET AL - proposed the fustration aggression hypothesis that argues ‘ aggression is always a consequence of fustration and the existance of fustration always leads to aggression ‘

• this hypothesis is a psychodynamic concept of catharsis

• provides the idea that we engage in aggressive behaviour in order to reduce aggressive drives

• dollard et al believed that aggressive drives are governed by external factors in the social world that block our attempts to reach a goal and anything that blocks the goal leads to fustration

• fustration that arises aggression , aggression is not always directed at the source of fustration, for three reasons ; the fustration is abstract like an economic fustration, may be too powerful and we risk punishment being aggressive towards it , or the cause may be unavailable at the time

KULLICK AND BROWN - suggested that fustration doesnt automatically mean aggression, it depends on how fustrated a person is

BERKOWITZ - suggested that the environment may trigger an aggressive response if there is an aggressive cue value

a03 for the fustration - aggression hypothesis

strength - plenty of supporting evidence

• KOLLICK AND BROWN provided evidence that fustration does lead to anger, its just managed by the level of fustration

• HOWEVER BERKOWITZ provided evidence that the fustration - agression hypothesis may be too simplistic and there are other factors contributing to aggression like anger

weakness - evidence to support aggression may not be cathartic

• researchers found that when people were able to vent about their anger, aggression was less

• this makes the general assumptions of DOLLARD invalid

summarise social learning theory in aggression

BANDURA proposed that aggression can be learnt indirectly from observational learning

• his BOBO doll experiment where children replicated aggressive behaviour towards the dolls if they seen a role model doing so

• proposed the idea that ARRM is required to observe and learn and then model something ; attention, retention, reproduction, motivation

a03 for social learning explaning psychological explanations of aggression

Strength - helps us understand why children copy aggressive behaviour

• this study has practial implications for society, providing evidence that children will model and replicate aggressive behaviour if they see a percieved role model to be doing the same

• this can change family dynamics and what children see on tv from celebrities

• HOWEVER it is simplistic in only taking into account nurture factors, when he found that different genders reacted differently to aggression but this was never explored

Weakness - Banduras methodology

• Bandura conducted this study in a controlled environment where children are in unfamiliar and novel situations

• the children could have thought the role models behaviour was supposed to be immitated, and thats why they were there, and then subsequently acted aggressivley because thats what they percieved they had to do

• this opens up a new avenue of why aggression occurs especially in children which wasnt considered in this study

summarise deinviduation

deinviduation is referring to the process of decreased self assesment

• ‘the loss of ones self or individuatility’

• people usually dont act aggressivley when they are in social settings, but someone with deinviduation would have less constraint on their behaviour

• ZIMBARDO suggested that reduction of responsability could increase the likley hood of anti social behaviour as per his prison experiment where participents suffered deinviduation where they lost their individuality as they took the form of prisoners

a03 for deinviduation

strength - compatable with the social learning theory

• Banduras Bobo experiment teaches that behaviour can be learnt and observed, but it can not be exhibited due to social restraint

• when they are later deinviduatied, then they may act more violently

strength - support from research

• researchers found that when people lost their individuality online and hid behind a fake screen name, they were more free and able to be aggressive

• this supports the theory that it takes deinviduation to allow a person to be aggressive where they wouldnt usually if apart of their indivudal self

what are the two explanations of institutional aggression?

importation model and the deprivation model

summarise the importation model

• dispositional factor provided by irwin and cressey

• this suggests that prisoners bring their own social histories and traits into the prison environment and then this influences their behaviour

• this includes beliefs , values, and norms

• they use these to negotiate through unfamiliar and frightening prison environment which then influences their use of aggression to astablish power and to collect resources

• follows the idea that inmates predisposed to using violence would do so in any setting

• DeLisi found that in 813 juviniles who braught in negative dispositional feautures were more likley to engage in suicidal activity and acts of physical aggression

summarise the deprovation model

• situational explanation proposed by clemmer

• aggression is due to stress created by the prison environment

• clemmer argued that the harsh conditions are stressful , and therfore aggression is used to cope and is used as an adaptive solution to deprovation

• physchological factors include being deprived of freedom , independance

• physical factors or deprivation of material goods

• Stiener found that inmate on inmate violence was more common in prisons where there was more crowding and protective custody

a03 for aggression in institutions

weakness - importation model doesnt take into account situational experiences

• the importation model only focuses on the persons individual characteristics

• however both the importation model and the deprivation model should be used to explain insitutional aggression

strength - real world applications

• the deprivation model can be used to impliment new environments for prisons , ones that will create less aggressive and violent encounters

what are the three influences of media on aggression?

cognitive priming

role of desensitisation

role of disinhibition

summarise the role of cognitive priming

• repeated experience of aggressive media and violent images can provide us with a script for how violent situations may play out

• huesman explains why some people go on to behave aggressivley

• because the script is used to define situations and how to guide situations if similar situations occur

• the process is automatic, as their brains are primed and ready to be aggressive

• murray researched huesmans work, and using fmri showed that when watching violence, an area of the brain in the right hemisphere was activated which regulates emotion which shows that violence is stored where our attention for violence is kept in the brain

summarise the role of desensitisation

• normally when we see aggression we experience psychological arousal which is involved in the sympathetic nervous system that prepares our body for fight or flight

• when a child is exposed to aggression regularly from media, this psychological arousal is reduced and they become desensitied to aggression and it has a less of an impact

• researchers showed that after watching violent films on rape, males were desnsitised to rape cases and had less sympathy for victims of rape

summarise the role of disinhibition

• usually a person believes aggression is anti social and harmful, so tend not to be

• but media exposure can make a person have loosned restraints ( be disinhibited) towards aggression

• disinhibition is enhanced if aggression is rewarded and computergames that involve violence often have rewards for killing or violent behaviour

• researchers found that participents who were given a video on violence being justified due to vengence had been disinhibited and acted more aggressivley due to it being presented as justified

a03 of the media influences on aggression

strength - practical applications

• with knowing that frequent exposure to violence becomes desensitisation, children can be managed and kept away from violent encounters and aggressive upbringingings in order to prevent anti social behaviour

• this applies also the the gaming effects on children

weakness - not all psychologists agree

• not every researcher agrees that being exposed to violence means a person esentially ‘ignores’ how wrong it is

• some people may feel more strongly about abandoning aggressive cues or situations if they know what the outcome of aggressive situations can be

summarise the effects of computer games on aggression

experimental - bartholow and anderson put students on either a violent or non violent video game

• after 15 mins they had their aggression levels measured by punishing someone with noise

• those who played the violent game punished with louder noise than the ones who did not play a violent game

correlational - delisi studied juveniles and gave them interviews

• found that offenders aggressive behaviour of hitting parents was due to video games

longitudinal - robertson found that time spent watching tv was a reliable predictor of aggressive behaviour

• those who watched more tv were more likley to be diagnosed with an anti social personality and have aggressive personality traits

meta analysis - anderson et al found exposure to violent video games was associated with an increase in aggressive behaviours, thoughts and feelings

a03 for computer games effect on aggression

strength - many supporting studies from delisi, robertson and ,bartholow and anderson and anderson et al

• each of these studies proved that exposure to violence via video games and tv increased aggressive behaviour

• however, doesnt consider the biological factors like their inherited genes which may make them less or more aggressive

weakness - cause and effect

• can never know if people play aggressive games due to their nature, or aggressive games poision their thought processes

• this decreased validity

strength - practical applications

weakness - whats considered violent behaviour? is it towards another or destruction? SUBJECTIVE