Social Psychology Cristhian C.

Altamirano 1

Chapter Ten – Aggression

Aggression – behavior intended to injure another. There are three crucial components to this definition.

1. Aggression is behavior. Aggression is not emotional, for anger does not elicit always aggression.
Similarly, people who act aggressively don’ have to be feeling anything.
2. The behavior is intended, or purposeful. If the harm was truly not intended (accidental), then it
does not qualify as aggression.
3. The behavior is aimed at hurting someone.

Assertiveness – Behavior intended to express dominance or confidence.

Real Aggression – malicious behavior intended to injure another.

Playful Aggression – aggressive behavior distinguished by laughter, smiling, etc. This includes playful
wrestling.

Different Types of Aggression:

1. Indirect Aggression – attempting to injure someone without direct contact with the person. Gossip
to hurt someone is an example. Women tend to use this exhibit this type of behavior more than
men.
2. Direct Aggression – attempting to injure someone through direct contact. This can be physically or
verbally. Men tend to exhibit this type of aggression more than women. Women tend to be more
physically aggressive towards their romantic partner.
3. Emotional Aggression – hurtful behavior that is derived from angry feelings that get out of control.
4. Instrumental Aggression – Hurting someone to accomplish a goal. For example, purposely injuring a
basketball player’s arm in order to prevent them from playing.

Goals of Aggression: Sigmund Freud proposed that human motivation was done through “life instincts”
that contributed to people’s survival. After WWI, Freud also proposed a “death instinct” where we
attempted to take our own life. Because both instincts were at conflict, we sought to redirect our self-
destructive instinct towards others.

 Displacement – the indirect expression of an aggressive impulse away from the person or
animal that elicited it. For example, a parrot might begin pecking off its own feathers.
 Catharsis – Discharge of pent-up aggression. Back then, releasing your aggression onto punching
bags, screaming, or wrestling was sought as a solution to aggression.

Coping with Feelings of Annoyance:

Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis (John Dollard & Colleagues) – theory that aggression is an automatic
response to any blocking of goal-directed behavior. There are two conditions in this theory:

1. If you see someone acting aggressively, assume the person was previously frustrated.
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2. If you see someone frustrated, some act of aggression will likely occur in the future.
 Two main issues of this theory are that aggression doesn’t have to follow frustration, like in
instrumental aggression (Murder Incorporated Mafiosi example) and that frustration doesn’t lead
to aggression. This led to the recreation of the Reformulated Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis,
where aggression is linked only to emotional aggression, and not to instrumental aggression.

Excitation-Transfer Theory – emotional reaction of anger produces the same symptoms that one feels
during any emotionally arousing state. Basically, anger is physiologically similar to other emotional
states, so any emotional arousal can enhance aggressive responses. Watching pornography can cause
you to act more aggressively.

Type A Behavior – group of personality characteristics including time urgency and competitiveness that
is associated with high risk for coronary disease.

Type B Behavior – group of personality characteristics that are more laid-back.

Weather and Aggression – there is reasonable evidence to suggest that violent behaviors are more
likely to occur during hot weather.

Poverty and Aggression – (Hovland and Sears 1940) found that poverty led to higher states of
aggression. When the price of cotton dropped, there was more lynching. Relative Deprivation is the
feeling that one has less than others when comparing ourselves.

Cognition-Neoassociation Theory – An unpleasant situation leads to a series of internal chain of events,

resulting in us to fight or flight:

1. Unpleasant situation leads to negative feelings.

2. After the negative feelings, we then tend to recall times of negative experiences as well.

The weapons effect – the tendency for weapons to enhance aggressive thoughts and feelings.

Dr. Albert Bandura’s Bobo Doll Experiment:

Social Learning Theory of Albert Bandura (1973, 1983) – Aggressive behavior is caused by rewards for
aggression, or by observing others being rewarded for aggression. The theory is only applicable to
instrumental aggression though.

 Children who saw an adult act violently on a Bobo doll and then get rewarded were likely to
imitate the behavior for a reward as well.

Psychopath – An individual characterized for impulsivity, irresponsibility, low empathy, grandiose,

superficial charm, and insensitivity to punishment. They act violently for personal gain, not for
emotional reasons.

Differential Parental Investment – animals/humans (particularly women) make higher investments in

their offspring, so they choose carefully they’re mates.
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 Sexual Selection – a form of natural selection where males try to either show more positive traits
or by being more aggressive and dominating the hierarchy.

Culture of Honor – societal norms where men have to act aggressively and violently as retaliation, to
defend their honor.

Defensive Attributional Style – emotional children tend to notice threats and interpret people’s
behaviors as to do them harm. These children then choose aggressive responses to these situations.

Effect/danger Ratio – assessment of the likely beneficial effect of aggressiveness balanced against the
likely dangers.