Frustration Aggression hypothesis

• Frustration is caused by the prevention of achieving goals. Dollard et al suggests that frustration will lead to aggression and that aggression is always the consequene of frustration. Aggression builds up inside us and always will be released according to Dollard et al. So behaving aggressively makes us feel better having gotten it off our chest. This process is known as a catharsis.
• The redirection of unconscious energy is known as displacement and this can be used to explain why aggression is not always expressed directly against the source of frustration. Reasons for this include:

  • the source is abstract
  • the source is too powerful and we risk punishment
  • the source is not available at the time.

  This all causes the aggression to be displaced onto a weaker and non-abstract object that is available
• Berkowitz was critical of Dollard's research and he added a further element to the frustration-aggression hypothesis. A problem with this is that even if we become angry, it does not necessarily mean that we will behave aggressively. Frustration creates a readiness for aggression but it is the presence of environmental cues that makes this behaviour more likely.

  • Berkowitz and LePage
• Berkowitz and LePage (1967)

  • involved student participants
  • given electric shocks in a lab situation to create anger and frustration
  • when given the opportunity to shock the person who had shocked them , Ps were more likely to give shocks even if there were weapons present
  • this is known as the weapons effect and supports Berkowitz's view that the presence of aggressive environmental cues increases aggression
• Supporting evidence

  • Green (1968)
  • used a sample of male university students
  • the task was to complete a jigsaw puzzle
  • Ps were frustrated in three different conditions, 1. puzzle was impossible to solve, 2. ran out of time due to interruptions from a confederate, 3. confederate frequently insulted them
  • when given the opportunity to shock the confederates, those who had insulted Ps received the strongest shocks than those who had adminstered the impossible task
  • all frustrated Ps gave more intense shocks than a control group
• The original frustration aggression hypothesis is inadequate because it only explains how aggression arises in some situations but not in others. The outcome of frustration can be a range of responses, for example, someone experiencing frustration at getting a low grade, but this may not lead to aggression, rather despair or anxiety.
• There are alternative explanations for aggression such as learning by observation or genetic factors.

  • elaborate on SLT, e.g. There are other explanations of aggression such as social learning theory which is learning through imitation of a role model .