1. Aggression and Antisocial Behavior
Chapter 10
Aggression and Antisocial Behavior
Aggressive instincts can be modified so that even cats and rats can live together peacefully.
© Wadsworth Cengage Learning

2. Chapter Topics Defining Aggression and Antisocial Behavior
Why do People Behave Aggressively?
Inner Causes of Aggression
Interpersonal Causes of Aggression
External Causes of Aggression
Self and Culture
Other Antisocial Behavior

3. Debate: Rwanda and Its Fallout
Consider the case of the Rwandan genocide in the 1990s
Who was to blame for the genocide? Why?
Are people essentially violent or peace-seeking?
Offer examples from Rwanda to support your position

4. Defining Aggression and Antisocial Behavior
How do social psychologists define aggression differently than most lay people?
Aggression – any behavior intended to harm another person who does not want to be harmed.
Antisocial behavior – behavior that damages interpersonal relationships or is culturally undesirable.
What is displaced aggression?
What’s the difference between direct and indirect forms of aggression?
What’s the difference between proactive and reactive aggression?
How do psychologists define violence?
Violence – aggression that has its goal extreme physical harm, such as injury or death.

5. Is the World More or Less Violent Now Than in the Past?
If modern weapons kill more people than ancient ones, how are we less violent now than in the past?
Overall time the planet is actually becoming more peaceful place to live.
How have human beliefs (e.g., the Age of Reason, anti- slavery, etc.) changed the incidence of violence in the world?
How has culture suppressed violence over time?

6. Is Aggression Innate or Learned?
How have different forms of government tried to “solve” aggression?
Why have they not succeeded in getting rid of aggression?

7. Instinct Theories of Aggression
How can aggression be seen as an evolutionary trait? What purpose would it serve in propagating the species?
Freud proposed that human motivational forces are based on instinct
Sex – life giving instinct – Eros
Aggression – death instinct – Thanatos

8. Learning Theories of Aggression
How can aggression be seen as a learned trait? How does modeling increase aggression?
How does Bandura’s Bobo doll study show the power of modeling aggression?
Technology Tip: The full text of the seminal Bandura, Ross, and Ross (1961) article is available from “Classics in the History of Psychology” (

9. Figure Results from a Bobo doll study conducted by Bandura and his colleagues (1961). Children exposed to aggressive models behaved more aggressively than did children exposed to nonaggressive models or no models.

10. Nature and Nurture
How can cultural socialization and learning increase or decrease innate aggressive impulses and aggressive behaviors?
How does football illustrate learned behaviors with regards to aggression?
How are both learning and instinct relevant?
Do we learn aggression? Are we innately peaceful?

11. Inner Causes of Aggression
What is frustration-aggression hypothesis?
How can this hypothesis explain aggression?
Consider a time when you acted aggressively
Was frustration a factor?
What was the precipitating event?
Technology Tip: The full texts of classic papers from the Symposium on the Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis are available from “Classics in the History of Psychology” (

12. Inner Causes of Aggression (cont’d.)
What affect do negative moods have on aggression?
Why do unpleasant moods increase aggression?
Why do angry people become aggressive?
What circumstances would discourage them from becoming aggressive?
How can excitation transfer increase aggression?

13. Figure Arousal from physical exercise can transfer to a provocation and increase aggression (Zillmann, Katcher, & Milavsky, 1972).

14. Hostile Cognitive Biases
Hostile attribution bias: perceive ambiguous actions by others as aggressive
Hostile perception bias: perceive social interactions as being aggressive
Hostile expectation bias: assume people will react to potential conflicts with aggression
Teaching Tip: Ask students to consider how aggressive acts may come about as a result of this bias. For example, how might the hostile attribution bias explain incidents of road rage?

15. Hostile Cognitive Biases (cont’d.)
Aggressive people have inner biases that make them
Expect others to react aggressively
View ambiguous acts as aggressive
Assume others act purposefully when they hurt or offend them

16. Some people have a hostile attribution bias—they interpret the ambiguous actions of others as hostile actions.

17. Age and Aggression
How are toddlers more aggressive than any other age?
Why aren’t they perpetrators of violent crimes, if they are so aggressive?
Which age group is most violent?

18. Gender and Aggression
How do men and women deal with stress differently?
Examples: fight or flight syndrome; tend and befriend syndrome
What is relational aggression? Which gender is more likely to engage in relational aggression?
How is bullying different from other forms of aggression?
Technology Tip: Additional details on the “tend and befriend” response are available in an online article from the Monitor, “A New Stress Paradigm for Women” (
Technology Tip: The film Mean Girls provides several examples of relational aggression. (

19. Selfishness and Influence
How can aggression be a means to resolve social disputes?
How can aggression be a form of social influence?
When do people resort to aggression to get what they want?

20. The Social Side of Sex: Sexual Aggression
People use aggression and force to get sex from others
Sexual coercion is often defined broadly
Consequences for victim are dependent on definition of rape
Profile of sexually coercive men differs from traditional stereotypes
Technology Tip: “Extent, Nature, and Consequences of Rape Victimization: Findings From the National Violence Against Women Survey” ( is a recent report from the National Institute of Justice. A number of other reports, including “Sexual Victimization of College Women,” ( are also available at this site.
Technology Tip: A media report on 14- to 21-year-old youths” attitudes about rape and “when it is okay” is detailed at the BBC News online network (

21. Domestic and Relationship Violence
What is domestic violence?
Surgeon General declared domestic violence the number one health risk in U.S.
Who is most at risk for domestic violence?
What factors contribute to domestic violence?
Technology Tip: Annual national reports on domestic violence are available online (

22. External Causes of Aggression
What is the weapons effect?
How does the media influence aggression?
What happens to aggression levels when men watch videos of rape?
What unpleasant environmental situations increase aggression?
What effect will global warming likely have on aggression?
Technology Tip: “Media Violence: Exposure and Content” is a report from the Surgeon General on youth and media violence (

23. Figure The hotter the temperature, the more common it is for the pitcher to hit the batter with a pitched ball (Reifman, et al., 1991).

24. External Causes of Aggression (cont’d.)
What chemicals or substances are associated with higher aggression, and how do they operate?
Examples: testosterone, serotonin, alcohol
What other drugs and chemicals are linked with aggression?
Which chemicals have causal links with aggression? Which have significant correlations?

25. Food for Thought Is there a link between diet and violence?
Nutrition is linked to aggression and violence
Junk food can increase violence
Vitamin supplements reduces antisocial behavior
How could legislators use this information to reduce violence in the United States?

26. Self and Culture
What does the Malay tradition of running amok reveal about the influence of culture on aggression?
How does poor self-control and wounded pride affect aggression?
Why is narcissism related to aggression?
What role does provocation play in aggression?

27. Table 10.1 Comparison of narcissistic responses to items on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory and statements made by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the two Columbine High School students who murdered 13 and wounded 23 others before killing themselves (Twenge & Campbell, 2003).

28. Culture of Honor What is a “culture of honor?”
How does the culture of honor in the southern United States influence levels of violence?
How is risk-taking linked to ideas of honor?
What causes the increased violence in cultures of honor?
What role do culture of honor values play in terrorism?
Teaching Tip: Nisbett and Cohen’s book Culture of Honor contains extensive details on their argument for students who may be interested. It is available through Amazon and other retailers (
Technology Tip: On the link between humiliation and terrorism, see the online article “Terrorism and Humiliation” (

29. Other Antisocial Behavior
Lying
In what situations do most people lie?
How can you detect liars?
Taboo words
Who uses taboo words?
Why do people use taboo words?

30. Other Antisocial Behavior (cont’d.)
Cheating
Who cheats?
What are some ways to reduce cheating?
Stealing
Under what circumstances are people most likely to steal?
Technology Tip: The Center for Academic Integrity ( is devoted to the promotion of integrity in the classroom and has conducted extensive research on the topic of cheating.

31. Figure Children were most likely to steal candy when they were not identifiable and when they were in a group (Diener et al., 1976).

32. Other Antisocial Behavior (cont’d.)
Types of norms
Injunctive norms: specify what most approve or disapprove of
Descriptive norms: specify what most people do
Littering
Which type of norm is most effective at reducing littering?
What is Broken Windows Theory? How does it relate to littering?

33. What Makes Us Human?
Human culture has created unique tools for aggression
What tools have humans created for aggression?
What categories of aggression are unique to humans?
Human culture attempts to restrain aggression
Which cultural restraints on aggression work best?

34. Discussion: Antisocial Behavior
What types of antisocial behaviors are most prevalent? Which ones are most harmful? Why?
Think about a time when you engaged in an antisocial behavior (lying, stealing, cheating, violence, etc.). What do you believe was the cause of that behavior?

35. Conclusion Humans engage in antisocial behaviors, including aggression
Aggression has many causes and influences
Antisocial behaviors, including aggression, are often a result of several personal and environmental factors