1. David Myers 11e ©2013 McGraw-Hill Companies

2. Chapter Ten Aggression: Hurting Others

3. What Is Aggression? Aggression Physical or verbal behavior intended to cause harm Hostile Aggression Aggression that springs from anger; its goal is to injure Instrumental Aggression Aggression that is a means to some other end

4. 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 Genetic Influences Heredity influences the neural system’s sensitivity to aggressive cues

5. What Are Some Theories of Aggression? Aggression as a Biological Phenomenon Biochemical influences Alcohol Testosterone Poor diet Biology and behavior interact

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

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

12. 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

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

14. What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influences: Pornography and Sexual Violence Distorted perceptions of sexual reality Studies confirm that exposure to pornography increases acceptance of the rape myth

15. What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influences: Pornography and Sexual Violence Distorted perceptions of sexual reality Aggression against women Studies suggest that the exposure to violent pornography increase punitive behavior toward women

16. What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influences: Pornography and Sexual Violence Distorted perceptions of sexual reality Medial awareness education Media awareness training as an alternative to censorship

17. What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influences: Television and the Internet 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

18. What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influences: Television and the Internet 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 Findings: Exposure to more violence led to an increase in viewer aggression

19. What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influences: Television and the Internet Television’s effects on behavior Why does TV viewing affect behavior? The arousal that it produces Viewing violence disinhibits Media portrayals evoke imitation

20. What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influences: Television and the Internet 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 Time drain

21. 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

22. What Are Some Influences on Aggression? Media Influences: Video Games Effects of the games kids play Increases aggressive behaviors Increases aggressive thoughts Increases aggressive feelings Decreases helping others Decreases empathy for others Desensitized to violence

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

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

25. 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

26. How Can Aggression Be Reduced? Culture Change and World Violence Cultures can change