Aggression:Hurting Others
Miss Palwasha khan
Social psychology by David g Myers
10th ed.
Pg# 352-385
What Is Aggression?
Physical or verbal behavior intended
to hurt someone.
● It includes slap , insult , kicks and
even gossips.
● It excludes unintentional harm
such as auto accidents.
The key here is determining
the intention or motive for the
aggressive behavior. Aggression
should also be distinguished
from being angry, which is an
emotional reaction to an event
but can just stay that – an
emotion. Just because someone
is angry does not mean they
will necessarily act on it and
engage in aggressive behavior.
Class Activity
Aggression Questionnaire
Read each statement and decide
whether or not you believe the
situation described is one of
aggression.
Different Definitions:
1. “Behavior intended to hurt another person” (Freedman, 1982, p. 259).
2. “Any behavior whose intent is to inflict harm or injury on another
living being” (McGee & Wilson, 1984, p. 503).
3. “Hostile or forceful action intended to dominate or violate”
(Lefrançois, 1982, p. 596).
4. “Behavior that is intended to injure another person (physically or
verbally) or to destroy property” (Atkinson, Atkinson, & Hilgard, 1983, p.
321).
TYPES OF AGGRESSION
● Hostile aggression
● Instrumental aggression
Hostile aggression
Aggression driven by anger and performed as an end in itself.
(Also called affective aggression. ) Hostile aggression springs
from anger; its goal is to injure.
Hostile aggression refers to a form of aggression in which the
individual reacts violently to a situation. This can be to a
threat made by another or even an insult. Social
psychologists believe that hostile aggression is usually an
impulsive reaction rather than a planned activity. It is driven
by emotion.
Examples:
● In sports, particularly in contact sports, a player might engage in hostile
aggression by deliberately hurting an opponent outside the rules of the
game.
● Within a family, hostile aggression might occur during a heated
argument, where individuals express their anger through yelling, verbal
abuse, or, unfortunately, physical violence.
● Bullying is a common example of hostile aggression among children
and teenagers. The aggressor may use physical or verbal means to
intentionally harm and intimidate their target.
Instrumental aggression
● Instrumental aggression is another form of
aggression in which the individual
intentionally acts in an aggressive manner
in order to achieve a particular goal. Unlike
in the case of hostile aggression the
individual is not driven by emotion but by
the need to achieve a particular goal.
● Instrumental aggression is a means to
some other end.
Examples:
● Most terrorism is instrumental aggression.
● Wars and military conflicts often involve instrumental aggression. The
objective is not to harm individuals for the sake of harm but to achieve
strategic goals, such as gaining territory or resources.
● A person using physical force to defend themselves or others from an
immediate threat is a real-life example of instrumental aggression. The goal is
protection rather than causing harm for its own sake.
Theories of Aggression:
Theories of Aggression Is aggression biological?
Instinct theory
Neural influences
Genetic influences
Biochemical influences
( Read further from david g myers social psychology book pg: 356-359)
Are humans naturally good or peaceful if they are naturally more aggressive?
Philosophers have argued about whether humans are naturally good and
peaceful, like a "noble savage," or if they are naturally more aggressive. One
perspective, supported by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, suggests that society is
responsible for social problems, not human nature itself. On the other hand,
Thomas Hobbes believed that society plays a crucial role in keeping human
behavior in check and preventing it from becoming brutish.
Is aggression a response to frustration?
Frustration:The blocking of goal-directed behavior.
Frustration-aggression theory
One of the first psychological theories of aggression, the popular frustration-aggression theory ,
answered yes. “Frustration always leads to some form of aggression,” said John Dollard and his
colleagues (1939, p. 1). Frustration is anything (such as the malfunctioning vending machine) that
blocks our attaining a goal. Frustration grows when our motivation to achieve a goal is very strong,
when we expected gratification, and when the blocking is complete.
FRUSTRATION-AGGRESSION THEORY REVISED
Sometimes frustration increased aggressiveness, sometimes not. For example, if the
frustration was understandable—if, as in one experiment, a confederate disrupted a
group’s problem solving because his hearing aid malfunctioned (rather than just
because he wasn’t paying attention)—then frustration led to irritation, not aggression
(Burnstein & Worchel, 1962)
Berkowitz theorized that frustration produces anger, an emotional readiness to
aggress. Anger arises when someone who frustrates us could have chosen to act
otherwise (Averill, 1983; Weiner, 1981). A frustrated person is especially likely to lash
out inn the presence of aggressive cues, releasing bottled-up anger ( Figure 10.3
Aggression as Learned Social Behavior
THE REWARDS OF AGGRESSION
By experience and by observing others, we learn that aggression often pays.
A child whose aggressive acts successfully intimidate other children will likely become increasingly
aggressive (Patterson & others, 1967).
We often discount rude people’s behavior saying that they are like that which makes them behave
more rudely.
Another example is Terrorist acts, they are like a tool for people without much power to get a lot of
attention. The main goal of suicide bombings isn't just hurting the people directly affected; it's
about making many more people scared by showing it on the news.
According to Paul Marsden and Sharon Attia in 2005, terrorists want to create fear, and media
helps them do that. There's an old Chinese saying that captures this idea: "Kill one, frighten ten
thousand."
Social learning theory (OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING )
He believes that we learn aggression not only by experiencing its payoffs but also by
observing others. As with most social behaviors, we acquire aggression by watching others
act and noting the consequences.
THE FAMILY:
Physically aggressive children tend to have had physically
punitive parents, who disciplined them by modeling aggression
with screaming, slapping, and beating (Patterson & others, 1982). These parents often had
parents who were themselves physically punitive (Bandura & Walters, 1959; Straus & Gelles,
1980). Such punitive behavior may escalate into abuse, and although most abused children do not
become criminals or abusive parents, 30 percent do later abuse their own children—four times the
general population rate (Kaufman & Zigler, 1987; Widom, 1989). Violence often begets violence.
THE CULTURE:
The social environment outside the home also provides models. In communities
where “macho” images are admired, aggression is readily transmitted to new
generation.
What Are Some Influences on Aggression?
●
●
●
●
●
Aversive incidents
Pain
heat
attacks
Arousal Aggression cues
( Read further from david g myers social psychology book pg: 365-370)
Media influences
Pornography & Sexual violence
Aggression against women
( Read book pg: 370 - 373)
TELEVISION’S EFFECT ON THINKING
DESENSITIZATION
If you keep hearing or seeing something that makes you feel a strong emotion, like a bad word, many
times, eventually, that emotion will lessen or go away. If people see a lot of cruelty, they might become
less sensitive to it and say, "It doesn't bother me at all." This is what Victor Cline and his colleagues
noticed in 1973 when they studied 121 boys in Utah who watched a lot of a violent boxing match on TV.
Those boys didn't seem as concerned as the ones who didn't watch much TV. They kind of just shrugged
it off.
SOCIAL SCRIPTS
When we find ourselves in new situations, uncertain how to act, we rely on social scripts —culturally
provided mental instructions for how to act. After so many action films, youngsters may acquire a script
that is played when they face real-life conflicts.
ALTERED PERCEPTIONS
Altered perceptions refer to the idea that watching a lot of television, especially violent or
negative content, can change the way people see the real world. George Gerbner and his
team believed that this is one of the most powerful effects of television.
Surveys conducted by Gerbner and his associates found that heavy TV viewers tend to think
that violence happens more often in real life than it actually does. They also found that heavy
viewers are more likely to be afraid of personal assault. For example, after watching violence
against women, South African women expressed feelings of vulnerability.
COGNITIVE PRIMING
Cognitive priming refers to the idea that watching violent videos can activate networks
of aggressive-related thoughts in our minds. For example, after seeing violence,
people might explain others' actions in a more hostile way, question if a shove was
intentional, interpret words with aggressive meanings, and recognize aggressive words
more quickly.
How Can Aggression Be Reduced?
How can we minimize aggression?
Catharsis
Contrary to the catharsis hypothesis, expressing aggression by catharsis tends to
breed further aggression, not reduce it.
Social Learning Approach
The social learning approach suggests controlling aggression by counteracting the
factors that provoke it: by reducing aversive stimulation, by rewarding and
modeling nonaggression, and by eliciting reactions incompatible with aggression.
THANK YOU