Copyright 2010 McGraw-Hill Companies Social Psychology David Myers 10e Copyright 2010 McGraw-Hill Companies

Chapter Ten Aggression: Hurting Others

What Is Aggression? Aggression Hostile Aggression Physical or verbal behavior intended to cause harm Hostile Aggression Driven by anger and performed as an end in itself Instrumental Aggression Aggression that is a means to some other end

What Are Some Theories of Aggression? Aggression as a Biological Phenomenon Instinct theory and evolutionary psychology Innate, unlearned behavior pattern exhibited by all members of a species Neural influences Abnormal brains can contribute to abnormally aggressive behavior

What Are Some Theories of Aggression? Aggression as a Biological Phenomenon Biochemical influences Alcohol Testosterone Low serotonin Biology and behavior interact

What Are Some Theories of Aggression? Aggression as a Response to Frustration Frustration Blocking of goal-directed behavior Frustration-aggression theory Theory that frustration triggers a readiness to aggress Displacement

What Are Some Theories of Aggression? Frustration-Aggression Theory Revised Original theory overstated the frustration-aggression connection Frustration produces anger, an emotional readiness to aggress Theory is designed to explain hostile aggression, not instrumental aggression

What Are Some Theories of Aggression? Aggression as a Response to Frustration Relative deprivation Perception that one is less well off than others with whom one compares oneself Explains why happiness tends to be lower and crime rates higher in communities and nations with large income inequality

What Are Some Theories of Aggression? Aggression as Learned Social Behavior Rewards of aggression Through experience and by observing others, we learn that aggression often pays

What Are Some Theories of Aggression? Observational Learning Social learning theory We learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded and punished Family Culture

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Aversive Incidents Physical pain Psychological pain Heat Attacks Includes insults

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Arousal A given state of bodily arousal feeds one emotion or another, depending on how the person interprets and labels the arousal

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Aggression Cues Violence is more likely when aggressive cues release pent-up anger Figure 10.5

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influence: Pornography and Sexual Violence Distorted Perceptions of Sexual Reality Studies confirm that exposure to pornography increases acceptance of the rape myth

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influence: Pornography and Sexual Violence Distorted Perceptions of Sexual Reality Aggression against women Studies suggest that the sales of sexually explicit magazines are correlated to the rate of reported rapes

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influence: Pornography and Sexual Violence Distorted Perceptions of Sexual Reality Experimental studies Repeated exposure to erotic films featuring quick, uncommitted sex also tends to Decrease attraction for one’s partner Increase acceptance of extramarital sex and of women’s sexual submission to men Increase men’s perceiving women in sexual terms

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influence: Pornography and Sexual Violence Distorted Perceptions of Sexual Reality Medial awareness education Media awareness training as an alternative to censorship

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influences: Television Television’s Effects on Behavior Correlating TV viewing and behavior Frequent result of correlating children’s TV viewing with aggressiveness is the more violent the content the more aggressive the child Extends to indirect aggression

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influences: Television Television’s Effects on Behavior TV viewing experiments Ross Parke (1977) and Jacques Leyens (1975) Showed institutionalized American and Belgian delinquent boys a series of either aggressive or nonaggressive commercial films Finding: Exposure to more violence led to an increase in viewer aggression

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influences: Television Television’s Effects on Behavior Why does TV viewing affect behavior? The arousal that it produces Viewing violence disinhibits Media portrayals evoke imitation

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influences: Television Television’s Effects on Thinking Desensitization Social scripts Culturally provided mental instructions for how to act in various situations Altered perceptions Media portrayals shape perceptions of reality Cognitive priming Media portrayals prime thinking

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influences: Video Games The Games Kids Play Games are becoming more violent and sometimes include Carjacking Shooting Sex Murder Games that are rated “M” for mature are often marketed to those younger

Violent Video Game Influences on Aggressive Tendencies Figure 10.10

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influences: Video Games Effects of the Games Kids Play Increases arousal Increases aggressive thinking Increases aggressive feelings Increases aggressive behaviors Decreases prosocial behaviors

What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Group Influences Can amplify aggressive reactions partly by diffusing responsibility Increases with distance and number Social contagion

How Can Aggression Be Reduced? Catharsis? Contrary to the catharsis hypothesis, expressing aggression by catharsis tends to breed further aggression, not reduce it

How Can Aggression Be Reduced? A Social Learning Approach Controlling aggression by counteracting the factors that provoke it Reducing aversive stimulation Rewarding nonaggression Modeling nonaggression Eliciting reactions incompatible with aggression