Social Psychology David Myers 11e Aggression: Intending to Hurting others “…nothing so threatening to humanity as humanity itself.” (Lewis Thomas 1981) ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

Aggression Defined Theories of aggression Influences (causes) How it can be reduced Reforming a violent culture ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

What Is Aggression? Aggression Hostile Aggression (“social”) Physical or verbal behavior intended to cause harm Hostile Aggression (“social”) Aggression that springs from anger; its goal is to injure Instrumental Aggression (“silent”) Aggression that is a means to some other end E.g. terrorism, To displace occupiers or get to heaven E.g. boxing For $$$ reward E.g. war ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

What Are Some Theories of Aggression? Aggression as a Biological Phenomenon Thomas Hobbes – “by nature” (also Freud) Jean-Jacques Rousseau – “society causes it” Instinct theory and evolutionary psychology Innate, unlearned behavior pattern exhibited by all members of a species (Lorenz) “naming error” Its adaptive What happened with Charles Barkley? Neural influences Abnormal brains can contribute to abnormally aggressive behavior Genetic Influences Heredity influences the neural system’s sensitivity to aggressive cues ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

What Are Some Theories of Aggression? Aggression as a Biological Phenomenon Biochemical influences Alcohol – reduces self-awareness, accuracy of social perception Testosterone Poor diet –eat a lot of omega-3-fatty acids and calcium Biology and behavior interact ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

What Are Some Theories of Aggression? Aggression as a Response to Frustration Frustration Blocking of goal-directed behavior Frustration-aggression theory (Dollard, .39) Theory that frustration triggers a readiness to aggress Displacement ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

What Are Some Theories of Aggression? Frustration-Aggression Theory Revised (L. Berkowitz, ’78) Original theory overstated the frustration-aggression connection Frustration produces anger, an emotional readiness to aggress Frustration-> Anger> Responses (lots possible) Theory is designed to explain hostile aggression, not instrumental aggression ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

What Are Some Theories of Aggression? Aggression as a Response to Frustration Relative deprivation Perception that one is less well off than others with whom one compares oneself (notice the cognitive component here) Explains why happiness tends to be lower and crime rates higher in communities and nations with large income inequality But must consider perceptions of “justice” & “perceived equity” ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

What Are Some Theories of Aggression? Aggression as Learned Social Behavior Rewards of aggression Through experience and by observing others, we learn that aggression often pays ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

What Are Some Theories of Aggression? Observational Learning Social learning theory (Bandura) We learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded and punished Bandura’s bobo doll experiment Family Culture ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Aversive Incidents Physical pain Psychological pain Heat Attacks Includes insults Southern vs. northern reactions (Cohen et al., ‘96) What are some other “cultures of honor” other than the southern U.S.? ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Arousal A given state of bodily arousal feeds one emotion or another, depending on how the person interprets and labels the arousal Schachter & Singer, ‘62 Without a known source of arousal, we look or external sources & our mood. ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Aggression Cues Violence is more likely when aggressive cues release pent-up anger (Berkowitz, ‘68) Re: incidence of violence and gun possession rates We must look closer Cf Maryland and Montana Guns are owned and used for different purposes ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influences: Pornography and Sexual Violence Distorted perceptions of sexual reality Studies confirm that exposure to pornography increases acceptance of the rape myth ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influences: Pornography and Sexual Violence Distorted perceptions of sexual reality Aggression against women Studies suggest that the exposure to violent pornography increase punitive behavior toward women Ted Bundy was not “normal” –so he can not speak for others “…the most damaging kinds of pornography...involving sexual violence……you keep craving something [more) …which gives you a greater sense of excitement..” Impulse control (e.g. sex and violence) varies among individuals. “Exposure to violence porn increases punitive behavior toward women”….for some who are predisposed….not all ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influences: Pornography and Sexual Violence Distorted perceptions of sexual reality Medial awareness education Media awareness training as an alternative to censorship Should violent porn be banned? ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influences: Television and the Internet Television’s effects on behavior Correlating TV viewing and behavior Frequent result of correlating children’s TV viewing with aggressiveness is the more violent the content the more aggressive the child Extends to indirect aggression Should media violence be banned? ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influences: Television and the Internet Television’s effects on behavior TV viewing experiments Ross Parke (1977) and Jacques Leyens (1975) Showed institutionalized American and Belgian delinquent boys a series of either aggressive or nonaggressive commercial films • Findings: Exposure to more violence led to an increase in viewer aggression ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influences: Television and the Internet Television’s effects on behavior Why does TV viewing affect behavior? The arousal that it produces Viewing violence disinhibits Media portrayals evoke imitation ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influences: Television and the Internet Television’s effects on thinking Desensitization Social scripts Culturally provided mental instructions for how to act in various situations Altered perceptions Media portrayals shape perceptions of reality Cognitive priming Media portrayals prime thinking Time drain ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influences: Video Games The games kids play Games are becoming more violent and sometimes include Carjacking Shooting Sex Murder Games that are rated “M” for mature are often marketed to those younger ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influences: Video Games Effects of the games kids play Increases aggressive behaviors Increases aggressive thoughts Increases aggressive feelings Decreases helping others Decreases empathy for others Desensitized to violence Should violent video games be banned? ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Group Influences Can amplify aggressive reactions partly by diffusing responsibility Increases with distance and number deindividuation Social contagion ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

How Can Aggression Be Reduced? Catharsis? Contrary to the catharsis hypothesis, expressing aggression by catharsis tends to breed further aggression, not reduce it ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

How Can Aggression Be Reduced? A Social Learning Approach Controlling aggression by counteracting the factors that provoke it Reducing aversive stimulation Rewarding nonaggression Modeling nonaggression Eliciting reactions incompatible with aggression ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

How Can Aggression Be Reduced? Culture Change and World Violence Cultures can change ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies