Ch. 5 Aggression

CHAPTER 5: HUMAN AGGRESSION AND VIOLENCE

UNDERSTANDING AGGRESSION

• Defining Aggression:

  • Aggression can be understood as an intentional act aimed at causing physical or psychological harm

• Social Psychologist Perspective:

  • Focus on social contexts and dynamics influencing aggressive behaviors

• Passive-Aggressive Behaviors:

  • A covert way of expressing negative feelings instead of directly addressing them, minimization of anger

• Buss Classification System for Aggression:

  • Categorizes aggression into different types based on characteristics:

    • Active or Passive: Presence or absence of overt actions.

    • Direct or Indirect: Target of aggression. for ex: indirect is like putting something in someone’s coffee and direct is throwing coffee at someone

    • Physical or Verbal: Nature of aggression (physical harm vs. verbal attacks).

    • examples:

      • passive, direct verbal aggression: gossip

      • passive, indirect verbal aggression: refusing to perform a necessary task

TYPES OF AGGRESSION

• distinction between hostile and instrumental is the goal the aggressors are seeking

• Hostile (Expressive) Aggression:

  • Aim is to make the victim suffer, often seen in violent crimes like homicide and rape.

  • expressive aggression

  • frustration theory kinda explains how hostility build up

• Instrumental Aggression:

  • Aimed at attaining a goal or item of value rather than causing pain (e.g., theft, white-collar crimes).

  • Calculated acts such as hired murder fall into this category.

  • stems from desire, there’s no intent to hurt anyone except for hired killers.

UNDERSTANDING AGGRESSION FROM THE VICTIM PERSPECTIVE

• Emphasized by Bandura.

• Aggression:

  • Intentional acts aimed at causing physical or psychological harm.

  • psychological harm can be stalking or intimidation

• Violence:

  • A form of aggression that seeks to cause harm to others or property intentionally.

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON AGGRESSION

• Nature vs. Nurture:

  • Debate on whether aggression is inherited or learned.

• Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic Viewpoint:

  • Aggression stems from unconscious motivations.

• Ethological Viewpoint:

  • Aggression as an instinctive behavior necessary for survival.

  • defend territory , compete for resources.

  • adaptive

• Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis:

  • Suggests frustration leads to aggression.

  • This theory posits that when an individual is blocked from achieving a goal, the resulting frustration may incite aggressive behaviors as a means to regain control or assert dominance.

• Cognitive-Neoassociation Model:

  • Aggression triggers a chain of thoughts that promote aggressive responses.

  • unpleasent feelings turn to fight or flight ideas and escalate to aggression/violense

  • ex: grow in sheltered household where you think people are out to get you, ur cognitive script makes u react in a certain waty when u engage with others

• Excitation Transfer Theory:

  • Physiological arousal can enhance aggressive feelings.

• Displaced Aggression Theory:

  • Redirected aggression towards a safer target.

  • projection

SOCIAL LEARNING FACTORS IN AGGRESSION AND VIOLENCE

• Modeling:

  • Learning aggressive behaviors through observation.

• Bandura’s Bobo Doll Experiment:

  • Demonstrated how children imitate aggressive behaviors seen in models. ( beating air doll experiment)

• Types of Models:

  • Family Members: Influential in shaping behaviors.

  • Members of Subculture: Community norms and behaviors.

  • Symbolic Models in Mass Media:

    • Influence of television, films, etc.

  • Observation Modeling:

    • Emphasizes the role of witnessing aggression in social settings.

COGNITIVE MODELS OF AGGRESSION

• Cognitive Scripts Model:

  • Framework for understanding how individuals select behavior based on past experiences.

• Influence of Parents:

  • Parenting style influences aggressive behaviors and worldviews.

  • we adopt what we see

• Hostile Attribution Model:

  • Tendency to interpret others’ actions as aggressive.

• Peer Rejection and Its Influence:

  • Experiences of rejection can lead to increased aggression.

• General Aggression Model (GAM):

  • Integrative model explaining the relationship between personal and situational variables.

  • event is interpreted in aggressive manner due to lack of cognitive resource

• I³ theory

  • GAM advanced

  • multiple factors exist to create or induce aggressions

  • 3 categories

    • insitigating factor that starts to raise internal arrousal

    • impelling forces, factors that has exacesberating effect on innstigiated

    • non inhibiting factors, like if ur acting out of love

OVERT AND COVERT ACTS OF AGGRESSION

• Overt Aggression:

  • Observable acts; lacks cognitive consideration for alternatives.

    • Characterized by high emotion and arousal leading to violence.

  • generally decreases with age

• Covert Aggression:

  • Less visible forms, requiring planning and deceit (e.g., fraud).

  • Can adapt over time avoiding responsibility for actions.

FORMS OF AGGRESSION

• Reactive Aggression:

  • Emotional response; characterized by "hot-blooded" acts, such as tantrums and revenge.

• Proactive Aggression:

  • Strategically planned; involves manipulative behaviors like bullying, using control, and verbal insults.