Aggression

• Aggression - the intent to harm and outside of the rules

  can be desirable or unacceptable

  any form of behaviour directed towards the goal of harming or injuring another living who is motivated to avoid such treatment
• Assertion

  • controlled
  • no intent to harm
  • within the rules
  • motivated to win
• Aggression

  • uncontrolled
  • intent to harm
  • outside of the rules
  • reactive
• Theories of aggression:

  • instinct theory
  • frustration-aggression
  • social learning theory
  • aggressive cue hypothesis
• Instinct Theory:

  • believes that aggression is innate in individuals
  • aggression is an emotion/energy that builds up within individuals and therefore must be released
  • suggests sporting activity will allow individuals to release their natural aggression in a safe and controlling way, otherwise will be released via an anti-social act
• Social learning

  • Bandura's study
  • aggression is not an instinct
  • we learn and copy aggressive acts from others - vicarious processes
  • especially if we see significant others being aggressive or if our aggressive acts are reinforced by significant others
• Frustration-aggression hypothesis:

  • the release of aggression which leads to a feeling of well-being (catharsis)
  • states that frustration always leads to aggression
  • the blocking of goals that an individual is trying to reach increases that individual's frustration, which in turn increases aggression
  • aggression once initiated will reduce frustration leading to catharsis
• Aggressive cue hypothesis:

  • states that when an individual is frustrated there is an increase in arousal levels
  • this creates a readiness for aggression
  • if aggression is going to occur, then an aggressive cue must be present
• Aggressive cues:

  • people associated with aggressive acts e.g a coach, player or fans
  • sports associated with aggression e.g contact sports
  • places associated with violence e.g venue
  • objects associated with aggression e.g bats, boxing gloves
• Instinct theory advantages:

  1. many ethologists believed that aggressive instinct has evolved and it was identified in animals to enable them to survive
  2. aggression can be hard to control - natural instinct
  3. some people are born aggressive
• Instinct theory disadvantages:

  • primitive man (cave man) were hunter gatherers not warriors, showing aggression wasn't innate. It was later civialisations that humans begin to battle/fight
  • aggression is often learned/copied/influenced by upbringing
  • too simplistic/generalised
  • aggression is often not spontaneous or a aggression is usually provoked
• Social learning advantages:

  • Banduras Bodo doll experiment demonstrated that children are likely to copy the aggressive role models
  • peoples behaviour is often similar to their significant others e.g we do see some people being aggressive if they have an aggressive role model
• Social learning disadvantages:

  • sometimes peoples behaviour does not reflect that of their significant others, it can be completely different
  • people can be aggressive even without seeing aggressive role models
• Fustration-aggression advantages:

  • lots of anecdotal evidence is sport I.e we often see athletes act aggressively after their goal has been blocked and they have become frustrated
  • Suarez bite
  • fustration often leads to aggression
  • people often report a sense of catharsis once fustration is released as aggression
• Fustration-aggression disadvantages:

  • fustration doesn't always lead to aggression
  • better performers can control fustration and arousal
  • doesn't take into account those born with aggressive traits
• Aggressive cue hypothesis advantages:

  • explains why we see more aggressive acts in sports like rugby, where aggressive cues are present, when compared with sports like netball where there are less aggressive cues present
• Aggressive cue hypothesis disadvantages:

  • even with increased arousal and the presence of aggressive cues some athletes can control aggression
  • some people are aggressive even without aggressive cues being present, which may be due to social learning or could be instinctive/innate trait
• Eliminating aggression:

  1. control arousal level via stress management
  2. avoid situations that initiate aggressive responses
  3. remove the aggressive player completely from situation
  4. reinforce non-aggressive acts
  5. show non-aggressive role models
  6. punish aggressive participant