Psychology
Social Psychological Explanation of Aggression
The social psychological explanation of aggression focuses on how social factors, such as influence from peers, media, and cultural norms, can contribute to aggressive behavior. It emphasizes the role of social learning, socialization, and situational factors in shaping aggressive tendencies. This perspective highlights the impact of social interactions and environmental influences on the development and expression of aggression.
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11 Key excerpts on "Social Psychological Explanation of Aggression"
eBook - PDF- Robert J. Blanchard, D. Caroline Blanchard, Robert J. Blanchard, D. Caroline Blanchard(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
The Regulation of Aggressive Behavior STUART P. TAYLOR Department of Psychology, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44240 Aggression has traditionally been conceptualized as being an emo-tional, impulsive act, triggered by a delimited number of cues (e.g., frustration) and mediated by inherent physiological or motivational pro-cesses (e.g., arousal). The implications of this model for the control of aggression are obvious: either alter the aggressor's environment or regu-late the aggressor's level of arousal. Given the model's narrow emphasis on specific aversive antecedents and internal, physiologically based de-terminants of aggression, the role of social and cognitive factors in the regulation of aggression have been either deemphasized or neglected. Advocates of the more traditional approaches, due to their inherent biases, have failed to provide us with crucial information concerning a number of important issues. For example, how does an aggressor's cog-nitive evaluation of a provocative situation influence the outcome of an aggressive altercation? Are there factors in the social environment which could modulate the intensity of aggressive behavior? Is it possible to identify the personality characteristics which predispose individuals to initiate or maintain attacks? How does verbal communication influence aggressive encounters? It is the author's contention that a wide variety of physiological, emo-tional, social, situational, and cognitive antecedents regulate the expres-sion of aggressive behavior. Any one factor or a combination of these factors could instigate or inhibit aggressive responding. There is little doubt that such physiological and emotional antecedents as pain, feel-ings of anger, hormone balance, and anxiety can influence harming behavior. However, human aggression also appears to be regulated by 91 Advances in the Copyright © 1986 by Academic Press, Inc. Study of Aggression, Vol. 2 All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
eBook - ePub- Miles Hewstone, Wolfgang Stroebe, Miles Hewstone, Wolfgang Stroebe(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- BPS Blackwell(Publisher)
Compared to the wealth of research on the causes and precipitating factors of aggressive behaviour, evidence on how to reduce it is limited. Contrary to popular wisdom, catharsis, i.e., acting out aggressive impulses in a symbolic way, is counterproductive in reducing aggression. It leads to an increase rather than a decrease in aggressive responses. Punishment may be a potentially effective strategy for reducing aggression, but only if it is imposed swiftly. However, a disadvantage is that punishment also involves inflicting harm on the target person, making aggression appear as an acceptable way of resolving conflicts. Eliciting prosocial behaviour or eliciting affective states that are incompatible with anger may be promising methods of situational aggression control by influencing affective and cognitive antecedents of aggressive behaviour.CHAPTER SUMMARY
This chapter has provided an overview of the main theories, methods and findings of social psychological research on aggression and looked at forms of aggression that are part and parcel of everyday life. The main conclusions of the chapter can be summarized as follows:- What is aggression and why does it occur? Aggressive behaviour is defined as behaviour carried out with the intention of harming another person. It can be a means to an end (instrumental aggression) or an expression of angry affect (affective or hostile aggression).
- What methods do social psychologists use to study aggression? Methods for studying aggressive behaviour include laboratory experiments, reports of aggressive behaviour from actors and observers, and the analysis of archival records.
- What are the main theoretical approaches used in social psychological research on aggression?
eBook - PDF- Jeffrey H Goldstein(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
8 THE SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF AGGRESSION THE NATURE OF HUMAN AGGRESSION A DEFINITION OF AGGRESSION/ MEASUREMENT OF AGGRESSION/IS AGGRESSION AN INSTINCT?/ AGGRESSION AS SOCIAL BEHAVIOR THEORIES OF AGGRESSION FRUSTRATION-AGGRESSION THEORY, THEN AND NOW/SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY/DEINDIVIDUATION ODEINDIVIDUATION, ESCALATION, AND CHILD ABUSE OBEDIENCE TO AUTHORITY SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON WAR FRUSTRATION AS A CAUSE OF WAR/ PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY/CONFLICT RESOLUTION SUMMARY SUGGESTED READINGS THE NATURE OF HUMAN AGGRESSION Most of us are familiar with acts of aggression, either through personal experience or through the mass media. A report in The New York Times in 1973 indicated that 34 percent of adult women in one congressional district of New York City were victims of serious crimes in 1972. Even if we have not been so victimized, we may have engaged in hitting our siblings, spouses, or children, or have seen combat on the battlefield. We may have been involved in less direct, though no less damaging, acts of aggression, such as refusing food to someone hungry or failing to stop a fight in progress. A DEFINITION OF AGGRESSION Ever since psychologists became interested in studying human vio-lence, they have had difficulty in defining aggression. We will define human aggression as behavior whose intent is the physical or psycho-logical injury of another person. While this is less than an ideal definition, it is closest to the definitions commonly used in research. Among its difficulties are the exclusion of nonhuman targets of aggression and the fact that it is not at all easy to determine an aggressor's intentions. Nevertheless, we would probably want to exclude injury to organisms such as viruses and insects from our consideration, as well as accidental injuries. Note that the definition includes not only physical injury to others but psychological injury as well.
eBook - PDF- Various(Author)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
In addition a number of other factors may affect the basic processes. The social environment in particular provides a source of various reinforcers, 80 The Psychological Perspective discriminative stimuli etc. the immediacy of many of these implying the possibility of a powerful influence on behaviour. 81 Chapter Six TOWARDS AN INTEGRATION OF DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES In the preceding chapters we have seen how workers with different perspectives and backgrounds have offered a number of diverse accounts 'of violent behaviour. Thus the biologists have referred to such things as genetics, hormonal factors and so on to account for aggression. Sociologists and anthropologists have indicated the extent to which human beings vary in aggressiveness according to social and cultural factors. Similarly psychologists have pointed to such things as situational determinants, personality factors and the like in explaining violence. It is important to remember that, whether or not the theoretical models of each of these workers is in agreement, each has provided factual information which needs to be incorporated in any over a ll theory of aggression. It should be possible, therefore, to provide an analysis of aggression which takes account of information from each of these sources, incorporating them into a single coherent model of aggressive behaviour. In the present state of our knowledge, of course, any such overall model must nece s sarily be somewhat tentative. Controversy still reigns over the exact significance of much of the data and the role o f some factors is still far from clear. Nevertheless there are certain advantages to producing at least a preliminary integration of different approaches into a single model. These include: i. The more complete the model the better our abil i ty to understand behaviour. Thus in a purely psy c hological model we can explain aggressive behaviour occurring in r e sponse to certain aversive stimuli (see Chapter Five).
eBook - PDF- Saba Safdar, Catherine A. Sanderson(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
cognitive-neoassociation theory – a theory that describes aggression as caused by experiencing negative affect of any kind, which in turn evokes aggression-related thoughts, memories, feelings, and ideas 345 How Do Social Psychological Factors Influence Aggression? Various environmental factors, including ozone levels, cigarette smoke, wind speed, and humid- ity, are associated with rates of aggression, as evidenced by calls to police for assistance during assaults (Rotton & Frey, 1985; Zillman, Baron, & Tamborini, 1981). Feeling personally rejected or ostracized can also lead to more aggressive behaviour (Li, Zhao, & Yu, 2019; Twenge, Baumeister, Tice, & Stucke, 2001). CUES TO AGGRESSION. According to the cognitive-neoassociation theory, another factor that can trigger aggressive behaviour is the mere presence of an object associated with aggres- sion (Bushman, 2018). In a classic demonstration of the power of a weapon to elicit aggression, Berkowitz and LePage (1967) conducted a study in which male participants were first provoked and then invited to deliver shocks to a confederate. In one condition, sports items (a racquet and balls) were in the room. In the other condition, a revolver and rifle were in the room. In which context did the participant behave more aggressively? When the gun was present. This is called the “weapons effect.” Similarly, and as described at the start of this section, participants who han- dled a rifle and pistol gave higher sentencing recommendations than those who held a basketball and football. Advocating this same perspective, Lian, Abiero, and Kamara (2017) investigated the relationship between aggression and the presence of a gun in the home among adolescents from low-income neighbourhoods. They found that adolescence living in homes with guns express sig- nificantly higher levels of aggressive attitudes and behaviours than those who do not (Lian et al., 2017).
eBook - PDFSocial Psychology
Handbook of Basic Principles
- Paul A. M. Van Lange, E. Tory Higgins, Arie W. Kruglanski(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- The Guilford Press(Publisher)
Subsequent work showed that given positive environmental situ- ations, excitation transfer theory can also be used to help explain prosocial behavior (Muel- ler, Donnerstein, & Hallam, 1983; Van Assche et al., 2017). Social, Cognitive, and Information- Processing Theory Psychology’s cognitive revolution seeped into aggression theorizing by encouraging research- ers to understand how memory, perceptions, and attributions influence people’s predisposition to act aggressively. Two theoretical perspectives have dominated cognitive information-process- ing models of aggression. The first perspective emphasizes the importance of normative beliefs about aggression that develop through obser- vation and the formation of behavioral scripts (Huesmann, 1982, 1988, 1998; Huesmann & Eron, 1984). Scripts develop from previously acted or observed behaviors that people retrieve from memory to help them navigate situations with the appropriate role in the script. Scripts help explain why children who observe others behave aggressively become predisposed to act aggressively (Huesmann et al., 2017). By re- trieving their observed behavioral history from memory, people assume a role in a script, in which aggression is a normative response (i.e., walk down the street, someone frustrates you, express your anger verbally, act aggressively if the other person escalates the conflict). The second theoretical perspective empha- sizes the importance of attributions that in- crease the likelihood of aggression (Dodge, 1980, 1986, 1993; Dodge & Frame, 1982; Fite, Goodnight, Bates, Dodge, & Pettit, 2008). Attri- butions refer to how people explain the causes others’ actions. According to this perspective, people who have a hostile attribution bias show a heightened propensity toward aggression be- cause they tend to explain the causes for others’ neutral actions as hostile.
eBook - PDFHuman Aggression
Theories, Research, and Implications for Social Policy
- Russell G. Geen, Edward D. Donnerstein(Authors)
- 1998(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
CONCLUSIONS Over the past several decades it has become clear that an understanding of how human cognitive processes operate is necessary for an understanding of human social behavior in general and aggressive behavior in particular. Extensive empir- ical research on social information processing coupled with theoretical elabora- tions of cognitive science constructs has led to the emergence of a unified model of social information processing in aggressive behavior. The model identifies four processes in social problem solving where emotional arousal, activated schemas, and situational cues interact to affect aggression: (1) cue attention and interpreta- tion, (2) script retrieval, (3) script evaluation and selection, and (4) evaluation of society's response to one's behavior. Although these processes may first require cognitive control in the developing child, they eventually seem to operate as rela- tively automatic cognitive processes. Evidence suggests that humans attend to environmental cues differentially and interpret the cues differently as a function of predisposing neurophysiological fac- tors, their emotional arousal, the kinds of cognitive schemas they have acquired, and which schemas are activated. More aggressive individuals tend to focus on fewer cues and cues that are more frequently symptomatic of hostility, tend to in- terpret ambiguous cues more readily as symptomatic of hostility, and tend to be- lieve that the world is more hostile. This is particularly true when the individual is angry, either because of situational factors or a predisposition toward more gen- eral hostility. More aggressive individuals also have a greater proportion of ag- gressive scripts encoded in memory with more accessible links to everyday cues. They have been found to rehearse their aggressive scripts more through aggres- sive fantasizing and to recall more aggressive scripts from ambiguous cues.
eBook - ePub- Miles Hewstone, Wolfgang Stroebe, Klaus Jonas, Miles Hewstone, Wolfgang Stroebe, Klaus Jonas(Authors)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- BPS Blackwell(Publisher)
The research reviewed in this section shows that aggressive behaviour varies both as a function of person variables and as a function of situational context. Stable individual differences in the propensity to act aggressively (trait aggressiveness) and to interpret others’ actions as an expression of hostile intent (hostile attribution bias) predict differences in the ease with which aggressive responses are triggered in a particular situation. Research has also identified gender differences, with men showing more physical aggression than do women. So far, the evidence is less clear-cut for indirect aggression, such as spreading rumours. Among the situational variables affecting the likelihood of aggressive behaviour, research has consistently shown that alcohol consumption, high temperature and exposure to media violence lower the threshold for aggressive behaviour. In the case of media violence, longitudinal studies have demonstrated that negative effects can be found over extended periods of time.AGGRESSION AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM
What do we know about the prevalence and the risk factors of intimate partner violence, sexual aggression, bullying and violence between groups?
The theoretical and empirical contributions discussed so far identified critical input variables as well as cognitive, affective and arousal processes that explain the occurrence of aggressive behaviour. In this section we will look at specific forms of aggressive behaviour between individuals and between groups and discuss how the theories and findings examined earlier can contribute to a better understanding of these social problems.Intimate partner violence
‘Intimate partner violence’ is defined as the perpetration or threat of an act of physical violence, by one partner on the other, in the context of a dating/marital relationship. It is a serious problem across the world, even though the prevalence rates vary enormously, not only between, but also within countries (see reviews of the international evidence by Krahé, Bieneck, & Möller, 2005; Krug, Dahlberg, Mercy, Zwi, & Lozano, 2002). One of the most contentious issues in this field of research refers to the question of whether men and women are involved in intimate partner violence to the same or a different degree. Two main data sources are available to address the scale of intimate partner violence and the question of men’s and women’s involvement as perpetrators: (a) official crime statistics and crime victimization surveys using representative samples; and (b) research collecting self-reports of perpetration of, or victimization by, relationship aggression, using the Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS)
eBook - PDF- Ximena B. Arriaga, Stuart Oskamp, Ximena B. Arriaga, Stuart Oskamp(Authors)
- 1999(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications, Inc(Publisher)
4 Limitations of Social Learning Models in Explaining Intimate Aggression Donald G. Dutton This chapter examines violence in intimate relationships and analyzes how well social learning theory can account for its key aspects. It discusses the personality features and phasic behavior patterns of spousal batterers, and proposes a triad of traumatic childhood experiences that can lead to an abusive personality. This analysis leads to the conclusion that a trauma model is superior to a social learning theory approach in its ability to account for the features of spousal abusiveness. In recent decades, social learning models of aggression have enjoyed great prominence in social psychology. All contemporary social psychology texts emphasize the acquisition of aggressive habits or their elicitation through violent cues or media influences (for example, see Baron & Byrne, 1994). The extensive research of Bandura and his colleagues in developing this model has provided a counterpoint to earlier theories of aggression that stressed drives or instincts. In contrast to classical learning theory, social learning models focus on observation as a major factor in the acquisition of aggressive habits (Bandura, 1979). They also stress the cues or instigators that trigger violence and the regulators of violence, including self-reward and self-punishment (such as conscience and the ability to empathize with the victim). 73 74 NATURE OF VIOLENCE In a social learning theory analysis, aggression is conceptualized as an active response to an aversive stimulus, in a similar category as assertive-ness or achievement. Aggression may follow from a cognitive appraisal that assesses the aversive stimulus as controllable (Bandura, 1979). The differen-tial categorization of aggressive responses versus more passive responses to aversive life events is demonstrated in the social-learning tree-diagram adapted from Turner, Fenn, and Cole (1981).
eBook - PDF- Catherine A. Sanderson, Saba Safdar(Authors)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
In turn, the presence of such thoughts, mood, and arousal can lead people to appraise situations in ways that lead to aggressive behaviour. FIGURE 12.5 THE GENERAL AGGRESSION MODEL Situational Variables - cognitive cues (e.g., guns) - discomfort or pain - frustration - attack (e.g., personal injury) - drugs, exercise - interpretation of situation (e.g., harm, intent, malice) - interpretation/experience of affect (e.g., anger toward target) Accessible Affects - hostile feeling - expressive motor responses - aggressive thoughts - aggression scripts - aggressive - other Individual Differences - traits (trait hostility) - attitudes about violence - beliefs about violence - values concerning violence - skills (e.g., fighting) - physiological - perceived Arousal Accessible Cognitions Appraisal Processes Behaviour Choice Source: Anderson, C. A. (1997). Effects of violent movies and trait hostility on hostile feelings and aggressive thoughts. Aggressive Behavior, 23, 161–178. 417 How Do Social Psychological Factors Influence Aggression? and situational variables (e.g., the presence of guns, frustration, negative affect, exposure to vio- lence in the media) can lead to aggression-related thoughts, aggression-related feelings, and/or physiological arousal. In turn, these thoughts, feelings, and arousal can lead to aggressive behav- iour, depending on how people appraise or interpret the situation. What is the evidence for this model? First, people do vary in their general tendency toward aggression. In one study (an earlier version of which is described in detail in the next section), pairs of participants competed in a reaction time task that led to giving and receiving punishment—a loud blast of unpleasant noise—to and from each other (Anderson, Buckley, & Carnagey, 2008). Participants who were higher on trait aggressiveness gave louder noise blasts than did those who were lower in aggressiveness.
eBook - PDFHuman Behavior and Public Policy
A Political Psychology
- Marshall H. Segall, Arnold P. Goldstein, Leonerd Krenser(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Pergamon(Publisher)
From this line of research on the cognitive consequences of aggressive behavior, we have learned two important facts. Most of us cannot commit aggression without feeling a need to justify it. And it is apparently not difficult to perceive justification. Sometimes, we sire provided with an excuse for our aggressive acts. Otherwise, we invent one. THE REDUCTION AND CONTROL OF AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR We have now seen enough about how aggression becomes pervasive in human social behavior to begin our consideration of how to make it less common. Questions pertaining to the prevention and control of aggression are difficult ones. However, there is reason to believe that ways to prevent overt aggression can be found. The instinctivist 230 Human Behavior and Public Policy: A Political Psychology position, which we have rejected, would obviously provide no basis for optimism. The social learning approach which was delineated in this chapter, on the other hand, does offer some hope. Even the studies reviewed in the last two sections, which revealed a pervasive tendency to follow orders and which showed a willingness to perceive obligation to aggress where none exists, paradoxically constitute reasons to be optimistic. For such studies really show us how our tendencies to aggress are dependent on external control. Human nature, in the classical sense of the term, may be relatively immutable, but the social environment may be changed; as it changes, so will the nature of men who inhabit it.
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