Lecture 7 - Aggression Flashcards
(47 cards)
What can be said about the levels of human aggression in the world?
Where you go in the world, you will encounter human aggression
At whatever time in human history, you will also find human aggression
Early discussions on this - Hobbes (1651) wrote that extreme levels of aggression are natural for human beings
What do definitions of aggression have in common?
Intent to harm (Carlson et al., 1989)
What was Bandura et al.’s (1963) way of measuring aggression?
Punching an inflatable Bobo doll
What was Eron’s (1982) way of measuring aggression?
Observations from teachers and colleagues
What was Leyens et al.’s (1975) way of measuring aggression?
Self-reports of aggressive behaviour
What was Geen’s (1978) way of measuring aggression?
Self-report of willingness to use violence in the lab
What was Lieberman et al.’s (1999) method of measuring aggression?
Selecting spiciness of hot sauce for someone else who doesn’t like spice
What is the big question with these laboratory methods of measuring aggression?
Do they translate to real-world aggression?
How did Chermack et al. (1997) measure aggression?
Subjects competed against “opponent” in a reaction time game
After each trial, the loser received a shock (loser a confederate)
2 conditions
Low provocation - shocks stayed at setting #4
High provocation - shocks gradually increased from 4 to 9
What attitudinal differences were shown between men and women towards gaming and aggression?
‘Video/computer games can be a cause of real-world violence and aggression) = more women agree than men
‘Video games can be a useful outlet for frustrations and aggressions’ = more men agree
What have video games long been associated with?
Negative real-world outcomes
What did an APA review confirm?
A link between playing violent video games and aggression
Aggression is the most notable of these – essentially, we use media as a model for our behaviour, or it acts as a ‘hypodermic needle’ and is injected into people who engage with it
What other evidence is there for a link between gaming and aggression?
Some evidence of a link between gaming and aggression (Anderson & Bushman, 2001), but the effect is small (Ferguson, 2007)
What are some problems with the evidence that suggests a link between gaming and aggression?
There’s plenty of evidence that suggests no effect (Ferguson, 2015; Przyblski & Weinstein, 2019)
One of the big problems is not standardized use of aggression measures (e.g., Ferguson, 2007; Elson et al., 2014) – selective use of measures can make effects seem bigger than they are
E.g., typically asking participants to estimate their own aggressive behaviours
What is another problem with research suggesting a link between gaming and aggression?
It also struggles to account for real-world crime rates – engagement with gaming has increased, whereas crime has fallen
What have studies shown about the effects of gaming on wider emotional behaviour?
While that link may be null (or small), other studies have shown interesting effects on wider emotional behaviour
Kennedy et al (2014) found that people who frequently played violent video games were less distracted by violent images in other contexts
A phenomenon the study author called “emotion-induced blindness”
What do innate theories of aggression believe?
Aggression is unlearned and universal. If it is not released, it builds up until it explodes
What do social theories of aggression believe?
The social context in which we exist can also explain it
What is the psychodynamic theory of aggression (Freud)?
Innate ‘death instinct’ (Thanatos)
Thanatos theorised anger is initially directed at self-destruction, but as we develop, becomes directed toward others
Aggression builds up naturally and must be released
What is Lorenz’s (1966) ethological perspective on aggression?
Aggression has a ‘survival value’ -> functional view of aggression
What is the dual-factor theory?
(1) Innate urge to aggress (inevitable)
(2) Aggressive behaviour elicited by environmental stimuli (releasers)
Lorenz (1966) mapped this to people (fighting instinct)
i.e. energy builds up and is released on another provocative behaviour of someone else
What is the evolutionary perspective on aggression?
Social behavior is adaptive and helps the individual, kin, and species to survive (e.g., Buss & Shackelford, 1997)
Aggressive behavior - evolved to allow to procreate and pass on genes to the next generation
Social and economic advantage e.g. high-flying executives may use aggressive behaviour to fight off colleagues for promotion
What are some problems with innate theories of aggression?
Limited evidence for the psychodynamic theory
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 claims to use circular reasoning
Limited practical application: research has shown that attempts to release aggressive impulses do not work (e.g., Bushman, et al., 2001)
What is the social learning theory of aggression?
Observational learning, modelling, learning by vicarious experience
