Frustration-aggression hypothesis (social exp)

• Who put forward the frustration-aggression hypothesis?

  Dollard et al (1939)
• What approach is the hypothesis based on?

  It's based on the psychodynamic explanation of catharsis. Freud believed the drive for aggression was innate, and the only way to reduce aggression is to engage in an activity that releases it.
• What did Dollard propose?

  He proposed that if an individual is prevented from achieving a goal, then this will lead to frustration which will always lead to aggression.

  
  

  This aggression is a cathartic release of the build-up of frustration. This aggression cannot always be directed at the source of aggression, which may be abstract or too powerful (the risk of punishment is too high) - therefore displacement occurs
• Ego defence mechanisms


  Sublimation = using aggression in acceptable activities such as sport

  Displacement = directing our aggression outwards onto something / someone else
• What did Berkowitz do?


  In 1969, Berkowitz revised Dollard's original hypothesis.

  
  

  He predicted that frustration doesn't always lead to aggression. Rather, aggression would only occur in the presence of certain cues - for example, the presence of weapons.
• What did Pastore do?

  Pastore distinguished between justified and unjustified frustration, arguing that it is unjustified frustration that produces anger and aggression.

  
  

  He found participants expressed much lower levels of anger when a bus with 'out of order' (justified) failed to stop at a bus-stop, than when a bus without this message failed to stop (unjustified)
• Research support - E

  Marcus-Newhall's meta-analysis of 49 studied into displaced aggression supports the frustration-aggression hypothesis, specifically the concept of aggression not be directed at the original source of frustration.
• Research support - E

  Studies reliably showed that participants who were provoked but unable to retaliate directly against the cause of aggression were significantly more likely to act aggressively towards an innocent party than people who were unprovoked.
• Research support - L

  This is exactly the outcome predicted by the frustration-aggression hypothesis.
• Is aggression cathartic? - P

  The frustration-aggression hypothesis predicts that engaging in verbal or physical outbursts is cathartic bc the aggression created by the frustration is satisfied.

  
  

  However, research has cast doubt on this claim.
• Is aggression cathartic? - E

  Bushman found participants who vented their anger by repeatedly hitting a punchbag became more angry and aggressive rather than less.

  
  

  In fact, doing nothing was more effective in reducing aggression than venting anger.
• Is aggression cathartic? - L

  The outcome of this study is different from that predicted by the hypothesis which casts doubt on the validity of catharsis.
• Negative affect theory - P

  Berkowitz further reformulated the frustration-aggression hypothesis in 1989 to develop his negative affect theory.
• Negative affect theory - E

  He did so in response to the original hypothesis' inadequacy as it could only explain how aggression arises in some situation but not others.

  
  

  He argued that frustration is just one of many aversive stimuli that create negative feelings - others include jealousy, loneliness, guilt etc...
• Negative affect theory - E

  Therefore, aggressive behaviour is triggered by negative feelings generally rathe than by frustration specifically.

  
  

  Moreover, the outcome of frustration itself can be a range of response, only one of which is aggression - for example, despair, anxiety, or determination.
• Negative affect theory - L

  Therefore, the original frustration-aggression hypothesis is arguably inadequate, as frustration doesn't always translate to aggression - and equally aggression isn't always a response to frustration.