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.