Aggression
physical or verbal behaviour that is intended to harm another person, persons or living thing→ It can be physical or psychological→ It relies heavily on the intention to cause harm→ Can be a deliberate action or a deliberate failure to act
Violence
An act of aggression but with more severe consequences
Harm caused by aggression
1. physical = immediate or lasting feelings of pain, suffering, injury or death2. nonlethal physical = psychological trauma→ can be due to rape or sexual assault→ causes sleeplessness, irritability, generalized anxiety, PTSD, self-blame, and serious harm or death 3. collateral damage = wide-ranging effects on witnesses and those close to the victim
Social psychologists distinguish between two types of aggression
1. Affective aggression = harm-seeking done to another individual is elicited by a strong negative emotion→ Often impulsive and motivated by a strong emotional state→ Essentially, harming another individual simply for the sake of doing so2. Instrumental aggression = harm-seeking done to another person that serves some other goal or purposes→ Not triggered by strong emotions
Freud's theory of human inborn instincts
1. Eros = Freud's proposal that human inborn instinct is based upon creation and seeking pleasure→ Before WWI2. Thanatos = Freud's proposal that human inborn instinct is based upon destruction and aggression→ After WWI
Frustration-aggression hypothesis
1. Original hypothesis = aggression is always preceded by frustration, and frustration inevitably leads to aggression2. Updated hypothesis = frustration produces an emotional readiness to agress
displaced aggression
directed towards a target other than the source of one's frustration→ generally takes place when prevented from aggression against original source→ ex. high-status individual
Triggered displaced aggression
occurs when someone does not respond to an initial frustration but then later responds more aggressively than normal to a second event
Cognitive neoassociationism model
A model of aggression that emphasizes 3 causal features:1. physical pain + discomfort = increase the likelihood of aggression 2. arousal = sources of arousal may intensify anger and subsequent aggression 3. prime aggression cognitions = hostile feelings will be likely to lead to aggression when hostile cognitions are primed by cues in the person's situation
Weapons effect
presence of firearms increases the likelihood of aggression especially when people are frustrated
Reducing aggression: societal interventions
1. improve quality of life2. better control of access to weapons3. punishing aggression more effectively4. reducing or reframing (better addressing) media violence
Reducing aggression: interpersonal interventions
1. improving parental care2. Strengthening social connections3. enhancing empathy
Reducing aggression: individual interventions
1. improve self awareness + self-regulatory control2. reduce hostile attribution bias3. promote stable bases of self worth