Chapter 11 - Aggression

Aggression

Behavior intended to harm another individual.

Catharsis

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

Corporal punishment

Physical force (such as spanking or hitting) intended to cause a child pain—but not injury—for the purpose of controlling or correcting the child’s behavior.

Culture of honor

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

Cycle of violence

The transmission of domestic violence across generations.

Dark Triad

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

Displacement

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

Executive functioning

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

Frustration-aggression hypothesis

The idea that frustration always elicits the motive to aggress and that all aggression is caused by frustration.

Hostile attribution bias

The tendency to perceive hostile intent in others.

Pornography

Explicit sexual material.

Proactive aggression

Aggressive behavior whereby harm is inflicted as a means to a desired end.

Reactive aggression

Aggressive behavior where harm is inflicted for its own sake.

Rumination

Involves repeatedly thinking about and reliving an anger-inducing event, focusing on angry thoughts and feelings.

Social learning theory

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

Weapons effect

The tendency that the likelihood of aggression will increase by the mere presence of weapons.