frustration-aggression hypothesis

• Dollard proposed the frustration-aggression hypothesis, a social-psychological theory that argues that aggression is always the outcome when we are prevented from achieving our goals
• The frustration-aggression hypothesis is based on the psychodynamic concept of catharsis
• If our attempt to achieve a goal is blocked by an external factor, this leads to frustration, which creates an aggressive drive, leading to aggressive behaviour such as verbal outburst or physical violence. This is cathartic as the aggression created by the frustration is satisfied, reducing the drive and making it less likely to occur
• If the source of frustration is abstract, too powerful or unavailable at the time, the aggression is displaced onto a physical, weaker or available alternative
• Green’s study (1986): male university students were given a jigsaw puzzle. In 1 condition, the puzzle was difficult, in another they ran out of time due to a confederate interfering, and in the 3rd condition, the confederate was insulting them. In their 2nd task the pps gave electric shocks to the confederate when they got something wrong on a task. They found the insulted pps gave the strongest shocks but all three groups gave more intense shocks than the non-frustrated control group.
• Berkowitz (1989) criticises the frustration-aggression hypothesis and instead suggests frustration creates only a readiness for aggression
• Berkowitz conducted a lab study in which students were given electric shocks by a confederate to create frustration. They were then able to shock the confederate. There were two conditions, one with the presence of a weapon (guns) and one without. They found significantly fewer shocks were given in the weapons' absence condition. This supports his theory that aggressive environmental cues stimulate aggression and demonstrates that frustration alone doesn’t cause aggression
• it has real-life application. Berkowitz’s argument that the ‘trigger can pull the finger’ has featured in the gun control debate in America. Some states allow ‘open carry’ of a gun but there is concern that the open presence of a weapon can act as a cue to aggression, making its use more likely.
• Dill and Anderson (1995) showed that different kinds of frustration have different effects. An experimenter showed pps how to perform origami but made the demonstration difficult to follow by going too quickly. In the unjustified condition, he said he had to hurry because his girlfriend was waiting. In the justified condition, he said his boss asked him to hurry. The unjustified frustration produced the most aggression (negative judgements of the experimenter)