Aggression and Antisocial Behaviour

Aggression and Antisocial Behaviour

Chapter Outline

  • Defining aggression, violence and antisocial behaviour
  • Is the world more or less violent now than in the past?
  • Is aggression innate or learned?
    • Instinct theories
    • Learning theories
    • Nature and nurture
  • Inner causes of aggression
    • Frustration
    • Being in a bad mood
    • Hostile cognitive biases
  • Age and aggression
  • Gender differences in aggression and violence
  • Interpersonal causes of aggression
    • Selfishness and influence
    • Domestic violence: Hurting those we love
  • External causes of aggression
    • Weapons effect
    • Mass media
    • Unpleasant environments
    • Chemical influences
  • Self and culture
    • Norms and values
    • Self-control
    • Wounded pride
    • Culture of honour
  • Other antisocial behaviour
    • Lying
    • Cheating
    • Stealing
    • Littering
    • The social side of sex
    • Sexual aggression and rape
  • Food for thought
    • Is there a link between diet and violence?
  • Trade-offs
    • Creativity and cheating
    • Money matters
    • Money and antisocial behaviour
    • What makes us human?
    • Putting the cultural animal in perspective

Defining Aggression, Violence, and Antisocial Behaviour

Aggression is defined as any behaviour intended to harm another person who does not wish to be harmed. This definition captures three essential components:

  1. Behaviour - visible actions; aggression is not merely an emotion or thought.
  2. Intentionality - the action is deliberate, with the aim to harm.
  3. Victim's Desire - the victim is motivated to avoid the harm.

Violence is characterized as aggression with the extreme goal of causing severe physical harm or death.

Antisocial behaviour encompasses actions that damage interpersonal relationships or conflict with societal norms. This may include aggression but extends to actions such as lying and stealing.

Is the World More or Less Violent Now Than in the Past?

Contrary to popular belief that violence is worsening, evidence from historical studies indicates that global violence has actually decreased over time. For example, metrics from prior centuries reflect far higher murder rates and societal violence, which highlights a significant reduction in violence today compared to ancient times.

Key Findings:

  • The death toll from 20th-century wars would be exponentially higher had they reflected the casualty rates of ancient tribal wars.
  • European murder rates have steadily declined since the Middle Ages.
  • The overall number of global armed conflicts has decreased since the mid-20th century.

Is Aggression Innate or Learned?

Instinct Theories

  • Early theories, including those of Sigmund Freud, propose that aggressive behaviour stems from innate instincts. Freud observed drives for both life (eros) and death (thanatos) which motivate behaviours, including aggression.

  • Konrad Lorenz posits that aggression is a build-up of urges that must be released via behaviour, comparing it to hydraulic pressure, though empirical support for this model is limited.

Learning Theories

The Social Learning Theory, particularly emphasized by Albert Bandura, asserts that aggression is learned through observation and imitation. Individuals model the aggressive behaviours they see rewarded in others. Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment demonstrated that children exposed to video of aggressive actions were more likely to replicate those behaviours, signifying that aggression can be acquired, rather than innate.

Nature and Nurture

Current perspectives integrate both innate and learned components. Aggression patterns often seen universally (like male violence) may be biologically influenced but are substantially modulated through social and cultural upbringing.

Inner Causes of Aggression

Frustration

The Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis originally posits two statements:

  • Aggressive behaviour requires frustration to exist.
  • Frustration inherently leads to aggressive actions.

Although contemporary research suggests this is overly deterministic (allowing for aggression without frustration or frustration without aggression), the correlation between frustration and aggression is well-supported.

Being in a Bad Mood

Negative emotional states, such as anger or sadness, can enhance aggression, though not all negative emotions lead to aggressive actions. The transformation of arousal from non-aggressive sources into aggression through excitation transfer has been illustrated in studies.

Hostile Cognitive Biases

Individuals may attribute hostile intentions to ambiguous behaviours of others (hostile attribution bias), which in turn can provoke aggressive responses. This bias points to the psychological tendency that can escalate conflict unnecessarily.

Age and Aggression

Aggression peaks in toddlerhood, significantly impacting interactions, but decreases as individuals mature when they learn to manage social behaviours. Young adult men notably represent the majority of violent crime offenders, reflecting a developmental trend in expression.

Gender Differences in Aggression and Violence

Research shows stark gender differences in aggression, where males typically resort to direct aggression, whereas females often utilize indirect aggression techniques. Factors such as socialisation practices further contribute to these differences, impacting relational dynamics in aggression.

Interpersonal Causes of Aggression

Selfishness and Influence

Aggression can also be viewed as a socially influenced strategy to achieve personal goals, drawing on innate selfish inclinations. Within relationships, dynamics of control, provocation, and retaliatory aggression emerge as key elements.

Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is noted as an extreme manifestation of aggressive tendencies towards intimate partners. Factors facilitating such violence include power dynamics, societal influences, and self-control deficits.

External Causes of Aggression

Weapons Effect

The mere presence of weapons can increase aggressive behaviour (weapons effect). Studies demonstrate how individuals behaved more destructively when firearms or representations of firearms were present, underscoring the influence objects have on violence.

Mass Media

Violent media exposure is linked to increased aggression, particularly among children and adolescents. Longitudinal studies indicate that habitual exposure to violent media often results in heightened aggression and antisocial behaviours.

Unpleasant Environments

Factors like heat, noise, and crowding can also contribute to aggressive behaviours. For example, research correlates higher temperatures with increased crime rates.

Chemical Influences

Hormones, particularly testosterone, are implicated in aggression, largely affecting males more deeply. Disorders associated with low serotonin levels exhibit heightened impulsivity and aggression, reflecting the biochemical undercurrents of aggressive behaviour.

Self and Culture

Norms and Values

Cultural influences significantly shape aggressive behaviour. Norms dictate the acceptability of violent behaviours and can also stigmatize them, guiding responses in different societal contexts.

Self-control

Poor self-control is an important predictor of violent behaviour. Factors influencing self-control include alcohol use, emotional states, and environmental cues. Research suggests that self-control effectively mitigates aggression despite the presence of provocations and frustrations.

Other Antisocial Behaviour

Lying

Lying is a common antisocial behaviour that most people engage in daily. Studies reveal a foundational social dynamic where motivations for lying often revolve around self-interest and relational enhancement.

Cheating

Cheating extends across schools and workplaces, generally motivated by the desire to achieve success at others' expense. The rise of the digital age has compounded these behaviours.

Stealing

Stealing behaviours are often linked to perceived needs and social norms within varying contexts, such as shoplifting during social gatherings.

Littering

Littering behaviours can emerge in social environments where it is perceived as a normative action, often curbed by the establishment of prosocial norms and facility availability.

Food for Thought

The investigation of diet and violence suggests complex interrelations; evidence indicates that poor dietary habits can contribute to increased aggression and antisocial behaviour.

Key Takeaways

  • Aggression genuinely embodies a multifaceted phenomenon driven by instinct, learning, situational factors, and cultural norms.
  • Understanding these layers contributes to a broader comprehension of human behaviour and societal issues regarding violence and antisocial tendencies.

Key Terms

  • Aggression
  • Antisocial behaviour
  • Bullying
  • Crowding
  • Culture of honour
  • Cyberbullying
  • Deindividuation
  • Density
  • Descriptive norms
  • Direct aggression
  • Domestic violence
  • Hostile attribution bias
  • Narcissism
  • Self-control
  • Relational aggression
  • Violence
  • Weapons effect

Chapter Summary

In summary, aggression is a hypercomplex interplay of genetic predisposition and sociocultural influences, which results in varied expressions of aggressive behaviour globally and within interpersonal relationships. The function of aggression can be both protective and punitive, ingrained in the fabric of humankind's social existence.