Chapter Eleven: Aggression

What Is Aggression?

Aggression: Behavior that is intended to harm another individual * Proactive Aggression: Aggression in which harm is inflicted as a means to a desired end * Harming someone for personal gain * Harming someone for attention * Harming someone for self-defense * Also called instrumental aggression * Reactive Aggression: Harm that is inflicted for its own sake * Also called emotional aggression * Often impulsive and carried out in the heat of the moment * Can also be calm and calculating
ex: words, deeds, rumors, failure to act
Violence: Extreme acts of aggression
$<strong>Anger:</strong> Strong feelings of displeasure in response to a perceived injury$
Hostility: A negative, antagonistic attitude toward another person or group

Culture, Gender, and Individual Differences

Culture and Aggression

Comparisons Across Societies

The US has one of the highest murder rates among politically stable, industrialized nations
Murder rates tend to be much higher in Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Southern and Middle Africa
Countries with wide disparities in income have murder rates almost 4x greater than societies with more equal income distribution
Individualistic cultures are most likely to have a relatively high rate of aggression
School shootings are high in the US
The US has a tremendous amount of gun-related violence
Compared to the UK and Canada * The rate of violent crime is lower in the US * The murder rate is higher in the US
Cultural differences in what is considered a crime * Domestic violence seen as acceptable in India and Nepal * Groping underage girls acceptable in Japan * GenItal mutilation acceptable in parts of Africa and Asia

Bullying Around the World

Intentional harm, physically or psychologically
Repetition: The victim is targeted a number of times
Power Imbalance: The bully abuses their power over the victim
Cyberbullying: Bullying through electronic devices and social media
Victim’s suffering * Feelings of panic, nervousness, and distraction in school * Recurring memories of abuse * Depression and anxiety * Suicide

Nonviolent Cultures

The Chewong don’t have a words in their language for acts of aggression
Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites
These cultures cherish peacefulness, and some even have religious or mythological reasons for remaining peaceful

Subcultures Within a Country

Teens and young adults have a much greater rate of involvement in violent crime
The large majority of murders happen within the murderer’s race
Having an ethnic minority background can be tied to higher instances of aggression in other parts of the world
Murder rate is consistently highest in the South of the US * Culture of honor is prevalent among white males in this region * Could also be due to the hot weather

Gender and Aggression

Men are more violent than women
Men commit the large majority of homicides
Men constitute the large majority of murder victims
school shooters are male
The vast majority of people killed by an intimate partner are women
Males are consistently more aggressive than females
Females are as likely to feel anger as males, but they’re less likely to act on their anger in aggressive ways
Boys tend to be more overtly aggressive than girls
Girls tend to be equally as / more aggressive than boys when it comes to indirect and relational aggression * Indirect Aggression: Acts like telling lies to get someone in trouble or shutting a person out of desired activities * Relational Aggression: A kind of indirect aggression that targets a person’s relationships and social status * Threatening to end a friendship * Gossipping * Trying to get others to dislike the target * Why? * Females typically care more about relationships and intimacy * May see injuring someone socially as particularly effective * Strong norms encourage boys to aggress physically and discourage girls from doing so
Gay men reported significantly lower levels of physical aggression than straight men
No difference with indirect aggression
There is no reliable gender difference in the percentage of women and men who physically assault their intimate partners * Women are at least as likely to aggress against their intimate partners as men are * Men are far less likely to report that their partners physically assaulted them * Consequences of aggression and violence are far from equal * Women are often killed, seriously injured, or sexually assaulted during domestic disputes
Sexual Assault * Men are more likely to be perpetrators * Females are more likely to be targets

Individual Differences

Aggression in childhood predicts aggression in adolescence and adulthood
Big Five factors: Five dimensions that account for a great deal of variability in people’s personalities across gender and culture * Being low in agreeableness is a particularly strong predictor of aggression * Being low in openness and high in neuroticism are also associated with aggression
Some traits associated with aggression only predict aggression reliably under conditions of provocation * Conditions of Provocation: Situations in which the individual feels threatened, insulted, or stressed * Emotional Susceptibility: The tendency to feel distressed, inadequate, and vulnerable to perceived threats * Type A Personality: The tendency to be driven by feelings of inadequacy to try to prove oneself through personal accomplishments * Impulsivity: Being relatively unable to control one’s thoughts and behaviors
Relationship between self-esteem and aggression * Evidence is mixed * Can be different across cultures
Narcissism: Having an inflated sense of self-worth and self-love, having low empathy for others, tending to focus on the self rather than others, and being especially sensitive to perceived insults * Consistently and positively correlated with aggression in response to provocation, especially public provocation
Dark Triad: A set of three traits that are associated with higher levels of aggressiveness: Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism * Machiavellianism: Characterized by manipulativeness * Psychopathy: Characterized by impulsivity, poor self-control, and a lack of empathy
Self-control * Children low in self-control tend to be more aggressive as young adults * Poor self-control is one of the strongest predictors of crime, cyberbullying, and aggression toward strangers and romantic partners

Origins of Aggression

Both nature and nurture play their respective roles

Evolutionary Psychology

Our ancestors increased their chances of attracting mates and achieving status in a group when they engaged in fighting and warfare
Evolution favored the inhibition in aggression against those who’re genetically related to us
Males are competitive with each other because females select high-status males for mating and aggression is a way males were able to achieve and maintain status
Male-to-male violence is most likely to occur when one male is perceived as challenging the other’s status or social power
Male-to-female violence is predominantly triggered by sexual jealousy
Evolution favored women who could protect their children
Relational aggression can harm the reputations of rival females, which can make men less interested in them

Genes, Hormones, and the Brain

Genes

Heritability explains between a third and a half of the variation in aggression in children
MAOA gene has been linked to aggressive behavior

The Role of Testosterone

Strong link between testosterone levels and aggression
Association between testosterone and human aggression is weaker and less reliable than expected
Combination of high testosterone and low cortisol is what predicts aggression
When cortisol levels are high, the effects of testosterone on aggression are more likely to be blocked or inhibited

The Role of Serotonin

Low levels of serotonin in the nervous systems of humans and many animals are associated with high levels of aggression
Drugs that boost serotonin’s activity can dampen aggressiveness

Brain and Executive Functioning

Evidence linking abnormalities in frontal lobe structures with tendencies toward aggressive and violent behavior
Impaired prefrontal processing can disrupt executive functioning * Executive Functioning: The cognitive abilities and processes that allow humans to plan or inhibit their actions
Link between poor executive functioning and high aggression
Aggression and brain activity * Very aggressive teens don’t show empathy in response to witnessing pain * Exhibit a pattern of brain activity associated with experiencing rewards * Less activation in areas associated with self-regulation and moral reasoning
Concussions * Damage to the uncinate fasciculus was associated with more aggression and impulsivity and compromised executive functioning * Uncinate Fasciculus: The part of the brain that connects the orbitofrontal cortex with the anterior temporal lobe

How Is Aggression Learned?

Positive Reinforcement: When aggression produces desired outcomes
Negative Reinforcement: When aggression prevents or stops undesirable outcomes
Children who see aggression producing more good outcomes and fewer bad outcomes are more aggressive than other children
Punishment is most likely to decrease aggression when it * Immediately follows the aggressive behavior * Is strong enough to deter the aggressor * Is consistently applies and perceived as fair and legitimate by the aggressor * (When these conditions aren’t met, punishment can backfire)
The certainty of punishment is more important than its severity

Corporal Punishment

Physical force intended to cause a child pain, but not injury, for the purpose of controlling or correcting the child’s behavior
Less prevalent than it used to be
Majority of children in the US today experience spanking and other forms of corporal punishment
Remains common around the world
Spanking may result in immediate obedience but doesn’t work in the long run
More corporal punishment now is associated with more aggression later
Teaches the child that physical force is an effective and appropriate way to deal with problems
Less likely to increase aggressiveness when it’s administered in the context of an overall warm and supportive parent-child relationship
Association between corporal punishment and later aggressiveness was weaker in African American families

Social Learning Theory

The theory that behavior is learned through the observation of others as well as through the direct experience of rewards and punishments
Models affect antisocial, aggressive behavior
Bandura’s Bobo Dolls
A wide range of aggressive models can elicit a wide range of aggressive imitations
Models don’t have to be present (ex: TV)
Children can learn aggression by seeing it modeled by cartoon characters
People can also learn aggressive scripts that serve as guides for how to behave and solve social problems * Can be activated automatically in various situations * Can learn from their parents * Watching their parents fight * Parents using physical force to discipline their children
Cycle of Violence: Children who witness parental violence or who are themselves abused are more likely as adults to inflict abuse on intimate partners or their children or be victims of intimate violence
Nonaggressive models can decrease aggressive behavior
Males and females are taught different lessons about aggression * Boys are more likely than girls to be taught that physical aggression is an appropriate and rewarding way to handle conflict or manipulate other people * Relational aggression may be rewarded for girls * Overt aggression was associated with more popularity for boys and less popularity for girls * Relational aggression was more strongly associated with popularity for girls than boys

Culture and Honor

Socialization of aggression varies from culture to culture
Adolescent boys in traditional villages in Italy are encouraged to aggress as an indication of their sexual prowess and in preparation for their dominant role in the household
Machismo: Challenges, abuse, and even differences of opinion must be met with fists or other weapons
Culture of Honor: A culture that emphasizes honor and social status, particularly for males, and the role of aggression in protecting that honor
Cultures of honor are associated with school violence
Suicide rates are higher in culture-of-honor states

Situational Influences on Aggression

The Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis

Frustration, which is produced by interrupting a person’s progress toward an expected goal, will always elicit the motive to aggress
All aggression is caused by frustration
Displacement: Aggressing against a substitute target because aggressive acts against the source of the frustration are inhibited by fear or lack of access
Catharsis: Displacing aggression in these ways can be effective at reducing the drive to aggress further

The Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis: Does the Evidence Support It?

Frustration doesn’t always produce aggressive inclinations
Not all aggression is caused by frustration
Catharsis is a two-step sequence * Aggression reduces the level of physiological arousal * Because arousal is reduced, people are less angry and less likely to aggress further
The catharsis idea is a myth
Frustration can simply dissipate over time
In the long run, successful aggression sets the stage for more aggression later

Negative Affect

Negative feelings can trigger aggression

Heat and Aggression: Losing Your Cool

People lose their cool in hot temperatures and behave more aggressively
More violent crimes occur in the summer, in hot years, and in hot cities
Reports of violence peak in the summer months
Global warming will make this a huge issue
Culture of honor also an important factor * May interact with the heat * The relatively high temps of the region may support aggressive norms

Provocation and Social Rejection

Provocation causes negative affect, which plays an important role in triggering aggression
Insults and rejections increases the likelihood of aggressive responses
Social rejection is the most significant risk factor for adolescent violence

Culture and Negative Affect

American participants are relatively more likely to experience anger than japanese participants
Japanese participants are relatively more likely to experience shame than american participants
For people in collectivist cultures, anger in reaction to frustration might violate cultural values of social harmony
Japanese individuals of relatively low status expressed anger less often than those of higher status

Arousal

Noise, violent movies, and arousing music have been shown to increase aggression
Heat increases arousal
Excitation Transfer: The arousal created by one stimulus can intensify an individual’s emotional response to another stimulus * People are likely to misattribute arousal caused by heat to something else * Leads to aggression

Thought: Automatic and Deliberate

Aggressive Cues

The presence of a weapon can act as a situational cue that automatically triggers aggressive thoughts and feelings * Increases the likelihood of aggression * Berkowitz and LePage * Weapons Effect: The tendency for the presence of guns to increase aggression
Individuals may differ in what associations they have with various weapons * Hunters were less likely to associate hunting guns with aggression bc they linked them with sport and fun * Hunters had more negative, aggressive associations with assault guns than nonhunters
Weapons increase men’s testosterone levels
Any object or external characteristic that’s associated with successful aggression, pain, or unpleasantness, can serve as an aggression-enhancing situational cue

Higher-Order Cognition

An angry person might refrain from acting aggressively if they realize that the potential costs of fighting seems too high
Hostile Attribution Bias: People tend to perceive hostile intent in others * Associated with both physical and relational aggression
Violent prisoners were much more likely to interpret the ambiguous faces as angry
Violent men perceive more hostility in others, which is likely to trigger more aggressive responses in turn

The Struggle for Self-Control: Rumination, Alcohol, and Other Factors

Ability to practice self-control is vital to the inhibition of aggression
Behind a majority of aggressive and violent acts lies the failure of self-control
Rumination: Repeatedly thinking about and reliving an anger-inducing event, focusing on angry thoughts and feelings, and even planning or imagining revenge
Rumination contributes to direct and displaced aggression
Rumination impairs people’s ability to inhibit aggression
High arousal impairs the cognitive control of aggression * When you’re very emotional and angry, it’s hard to focus on anything else
Alcohol as an obstacle to self-control * Alcohol consumption often increases aggressive behavior * Reduces inhibitions ➝ facilitates aggressive behaviors * Impairs people’s executive functioning * Alcohol Myopia: Alcohol narrows people’s focus of intention * May focus on a perceived provocation * Fail to think about info that’d explain away this provocation * Makes aggression much more likely to occur unless the drunk person’s focus can be distracted
Non-alcoholic sugar-rich drinks can boost people’s executive functioning and self-control
Being hangry leads to heightened arousal bc the low glucose leaves our brain with less of the energy required for self-control
Caffeine significantly increases arousal, which can increases aggression

Situational Influences: Putting It All Together

General Aggression Model

Various aversive experiences, situational cues, and individual differences can create negative affect, high arousal, and aggressive thoughts, which can lead to aggressive behavior
Depends on the outcome of higher-order thinking * Can inhibit aggression * Can facilitate aggression

L-cubed theory

Emphasizes the role of self-control in aggression
Instigation: Social factors that often trigger aggressive impulses, such as provocation or social rejection
Impellance: Personality and situational factors that promote the urge to aggress when encountering instigating factors * Angry rumination * Trait aggressiveness
Inhibition: The various factors of self-control

Media Effects

Violence in Popular Media: Does Life Imitate Art?

The Research Findings

Media violence increases the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior in both immediate and long-term contexts
Significant link between violent media and actual aggressive thoughts and behaviors
Playing violent video games was associated with * Increased aggressive behavior, cognition, and affect * Decreased prosocial behavior and affect * Playing prosocial games has the opposite effect
Indirect or relational aggression in children’s TV * Indirect aggressors tended to be rewarded for their aggression * More likely to be female and attractive * Exposure had immediate effects on adolescents’ behavior
Not everyone exposed to media violence will become more aggressive
Not all acts of aggression are fueled by media violence
Frequent exposure to media violence should be seen as an important risk factor for real-world aggression

How Does Media Violence Cause These Effects?

Desensitization: Reduction in emotion-related physiological reactivity to real violence * Form of habituation * Reduces physiological arousal and corresponding brain activity to new incidents of violence * Makes us become more accepting of violence
Influences people’s values and attitudes toward aggression, making it seem more legitimate * Fuels the aggressive scripts that we develop, which we then use to guide our behavior
Cultivation: The process by which the mass media constructs a version of social reality for the public * People perceive it as true even when it isn’t * The media tends to depict the world as much more violent than it actually is * Makes people more fearful, distrustful, and likely to arm themselves * More likely to behave aggressively in what they perceive as a threatening situation

Pornography: explicit sexual material

Nonviolent and Violent Pornography

Little support for a direct causal link between the use of nonviolent porn and sexual aggression
Evidence for an association between porn use and attitudes supporting violence against women
Violent porn brings together high arousal, negative emotional reactions, and aggressive thoughts
Porn sites focus specifically on images of sexual violence against women and use depictions of women’s pain as a selling point
Effects of violent porn are gender-specific * Male-to-male aggression is no greater after exposure to violent porn * Male-to-female aggression is markedly increased after exposure to violent porn

Individual Differences

Not everyone is affected by pornography in the same way
Risk Factors: * Men who have relatively high levels of sexual arousal in response to violent porn * Men who express attitudes and opinions indicating acceptance of violence toward women * Men who regularly use pornography and whose parents frequently used harsh corporal punishment
Confluence Model of Sexual Aggression: For the subset of individuals who already score high on multiple known risk factors of sexual aggression, consuming pornography increases the risk of sexually aggressive attitudes and behaviors * The presence of multiple risk factors at once is especially dangerous * Porn becomes a greater risk factor for aggression

Objectification and Dehumanization

Men who automatically associated women with animals or objects showed stronger inclination to sexually harass or rape women
Prejudice and aggression toward outgroups are more likely to result when people perceive outgroup members like objects
Dehumanization is a common by-product of conflict and war between groups * Fighting between groups fosters a biased perspective of the other group * Makes engaging in violence more tolerable and seemingly necessary * Makes finding peace more difficult * Lowers the restraints against stepping over the ethical line into abuse and torture
Cure for dehumanization is to restore the human connection

Reducing Aggression and Violence

Norms have changed dramatically to discourage aggression

Thoughts, Feelings, and Self-Control

Enhanced education, intelligence, reasoning, and empathy
Aggression Replacement Training: * Social competence training * Improved moral reasoning * Aggression control
Most promising interventions for reducing reactive aggression * Improve self-control * Two-week self-control training task * Emphasize cognitive reappraisal * Train individuals to interpret provocations in more neutral, less emotional terms * Think about the events from an objective, non-personal perspective * Cognitive control * Training the regulation of emotion in response to emotionally relevant stimuli * Related to self-control * Mindfulness * Getting people to be in a nonjudgmental, nonreactive state in which they more easily just accept their physical and mental experiences
Behavioral Modification: Treatments that try to alter an individual’s behavior through learning principles that reinforce nonaggressive actions

Sociocultural Approaches

Improved economy, healthier living conditions, and social support would reduce the factors that fuel aggression
Reducing the prevalence of guns in society would have a number of calming effects
Teach and model nonviolent responses to frustrations and social problems
Fostering cooperation and shared goals across groups
Select shows and games for children that provide compelling, vivid prosocial models

Multiple-Level Approaches: Programs to Prevent Violence and Bullying

Multisystemic Therapy

Addresses individuals’ problems at several different levels
Individualized treatment
Works with patient’s family and environment
Takes a lot of time and resources
Significantly reduces the rates of violent crimes

Bullying Prevention

Comprehensive programs that operate on multiple levels
Most successful bullying prevention programs are the more intensive and long-lasting ones
Empathy-training programs
Specifically target bystanders