aggression

• What is aggression?

  behaviour with ‘intent to harm’ (Carlson et al., 1989)
• How do we measure aggression in the lab?

  • Punching an inflatable (‘Bobo’) doll (Bandura et al., 1963)
  • Observations from teachers and colleagues (Eron, 1982)
  • Self reports of aggressive behavior (Leyens et al., 1975).
• example of how do we measure aggression?

  • Participants competed against an opponent in a reaction time game.
  • After each trial, the loser received an electric shock.

  Conditions:

  1. Low provocation condition: Shocks remained at setting #2 throughout - stayed the same, like a control
  2. High provocation condition: Shocks gradually increased from setting #2 to #9

  • Increasing the level of provocation led to escalated aggression levels.
• how does gaming lead to negative real-world outcomes such as aggression?

  
  

  some theories suggest that media serves as a:

  • model for behavior
  • or acts as a "hypodermic needle," injecting aggressive tendencies into individuals who engage with it
• is there a correlation between gaming and aggression?

  • some evidence of a link between gaming and aggression (Anderson & Bushman, 2001), but the effect is small (Ferguson, 2007)
  • plenty of evidence that suggests no effect (Ferguson, 2015; Przyblski & Weinstein, 2019).
• issues with measuring aggression

  • Lack of standardized use of aggression measures can inflate effects
  • via selective use of measures, make effects seem bigger than they are
  • e.g Participants estimating their own aggressive behaviors.
  • Difficulty in correlating gaming engagement increase with falling crime rates.
• While that link may be null/small, what did Kennedy et al (2014) find regarding the effects of frequently playing violent video games on emotional behavior?

  • less distracted by violent images in other contexts
  • “emotion-induced blindness”
• Theories of aggression

  • innate theories of aggression
  • Aggression is unlearned and universal.
  • If it is not released, it builds up until it explodes.
  • Hobbes (1651), Freud, Lorenz, evolutionary
  • Social theories of aggression
  • social context in which we exist
• Innate theory of aggression: psychodynamic theory (Freud): “death instinct” (called Thanatos)

  • Anger initially directed at self-destruction but as we develop becomes directed towards others
  • Aggression builds up naturally and must be released
• Innate: what is Lorenz (1966) ethological perspective of aggression?

  • Aggression has a ‘survival value’ -> functional view
  • Dual-factor theory:
  • Innate urge to aggress (inevitable) (anger always exists)
  • Aggressive behaviour elicited by environmental stimuli (releasers)
  • mapped this to people (fighting instinct)
  • i.e. energy builds up and released on another provocative behaviour of someone else.
• What is the evolutionary social psychology perspective of aggression?

  • Social behaviour is adaptive & helps the individual, kin, and species to survive
  • Aggressive behaviour - evolved to procreate and pass on genes to next generation
  • Social and economic advantage
• Problems with Freud, Lorenz and the social psychology perspective on aggression?

  • Limited evidence for the psychodynamic theory.
  • Developed after WWI
  • Ethological account struggles to explain the functional value of aggression in humans.
  • Aggressors often find themselves punished and excluded from the group.
  • Instead, society seems to manage aggression, e.g., by viewing aggressive sports.
  • Evolutionary account takes limited empirical evidence and use circular reasoning.
  • Limited practical application (e.g., Bushman, et al., 2001) releasing does not work
• What is the social learning theory for aggression? Bandura, Ross and Ross (1961)


  • Observational learning; modelling; learning by vicarious experience.
  • Children watched an adult playing with ‘Bobo doll’. 3 conditions:
  • Observed real-life aggressive model (kicking and hitting)
  • Observed non-aggressive model (played nicely)
  • Control group - no model
  • Children exposed to the aggressive model displayed significantly more aggression
  • but is this just modelling, doesn't necessary mean that it causes aggression
• Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis(Dollard et al., 1939)

  • “The occurrence of aggressive behaviour always presupposes the existence of frustration”; and
  • “the existence of frustration always leads to some form of aggression”

  (Dollard et al., 1939, p.1)

  • Frustration:
  • "an interference with the occurrence of an instigated goal-response at its proper time in the behavior sequence" (Dollard et al., 1939, cited in Berkowitz, 1989, p.60)
• Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis(Dollard et al., 1939) scapegoats

  • aggression result in having one's goals thwarted
  • if target too powerful, unavailable or not a person
  • displace aggression onto alternative target
• Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis(Dollard et al., 1939) example experiment Barker et al. (1941)


  •Children are shown a room full of toys:

  •Initially not allowed to play with them, or

  •Allowed to play without waiting.

  Assessed how children played with toys.

  •Frustrated group acted more aggressively:

  •General destructive behaviour e.g smashed toys
• What did Berkowitz suggest about the frustration- aggression hypothesis?

  •Frustration does not always lead to aggression.

  •Aversive events.

  •Situational cues.

  •Frustration ill-defined.
• What is excitation transfer? (Zillman)


  Expression of aggression is a function of 3 factors:

  • Learnt behaviour
  • Arousal or excitation from another source
  • Person interpretation of the arousal state, such that aggressive response seems appropriate
• Excitation Transfer Model: Example

  • Exercising at the gym
  • High level of excitation: Heart rate, Blood pressure, Muscle tremor
  • Motorist takes last parking space
• Factors Influencing Aggression

  • Type A personality (conflicts with peers but not superiors, competitive)
  • Crowding
  • Heat
  • inverted-U relationship (Cohn & Rotton, 1997)
  • Frustation & provocation sensitivity
  • Other theories of personality (low agreeableness, narcissism)
  • Presence of a weapon (Klinesmith et al. 2006)
  • Alcohol (Miller & Parrott, 2010)
• •Presence of a weapon (Klinesmith et al. 2006)


  • held a gun or held child’s toy
  • measured aggressive behaviour (how much hot sauce to the next person)
  • similarly finding by Berkowitz and LePage (1967): gave more electric shocks in the presence of a weapon (gun).
• Alcohol (Miller & Parrott, 2010)

  Low aggressors became more aggressive when intoxicated, whereas high aggressors did not

  • positive
  • and respond to provocations more strongly
• Narcissism (Bushman & Baumeister, 1998)

  • aggression at those who threaten their self-image (those who they had thought criticised their essay louder outbursts)
  • Participants wrote a pro-life or pro-choice essay on abortion.
  • adjust the level of blasts of noises to another participant
• General Aggression Model (GAM) Allen et al., (2018)

  • integrative framework for understanding human aggression
  • considers the role of social, cognitive, developmental, and biological factors