Social Psychology (Pp 373-384) Elliot Aronson University of California, Santa Cruz Timothy D. Wilson University of Virginia Robin M. Akert Wellesley College.

Social Psychology(Pp 373-384)

Elliot AronsonUniversity of California, Santa

Cruz

Timothy D. WilsonUniversity of Virginia

Robin M. AkertWellesley College

6th edition

Chapter 12Aggression:Why Do We Hurt

Other People? Can We Prevent

It? “Nothing is more costly,

nothing is more sterile, than revenge.”

-- Winston Churchill

What Is Aggression?AggressionIntentional behavior aimed at doing

harm or causing pain to another person.

Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

What Is Aggression?

Instrumental AggressionAggression as a means to some

goal other than causing pain. Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

What Is Aggression?

Hostile AggressionAggression stemming from feelings of

anger and aimed at inflicting pain.

Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

Is Aggression Inborn or Learned?

For centuries, scientists, philosophers, and other serious thinkers have been arguing about the human capacity for aggression.

• Some are convinced that aggression is an inborn, instinctive human trait.

• Others are just as certain that aggressive behavior must be learned.

Is Aggression Inborn or Learned?

Freud elaborated on the more pessimistic view that brutish traits are part of human nature.

He theorized that humans are born with an instinct toward life, which he called Eros, and an equally powerful instinct toward death, which he called Thanatos.

Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

Is Aggression Instinctual?Situational? Optional?

The Evolutionary ArgumentMales are theorized to aggress for two reasons:1. Males behave aggressively to establish

dominance over other males. The idea here is that the female will choose the male who is most likely to provide the best genes and the greatest protection and resources for their offspring.

2. Males aggress "jealously" in order to ensure that their mate(s) are not copulating with others. This ensures their paternity.

Research supporting the evolutionary perspective is provocative but inconclusive because it is impossible to conduct a definitive experiment. Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

Is Aggression Instinctual?Situational? Optional?

Aggression among the Lower Animals:

Most people assume that cats will instinctively stalk and kill rats. Kuo (1961) attempted to demonstrate that this was a myth. He performed a simple little experiment:

He raised a kitten in the same cage with a rat. Not only did the cat refrain from attacking the rat, but the two became close companions. Moreover, when given the opportunity, the cat refused either to chase or to kill other rats; thus the benign behavior was not confined to this one buddy but generalized to rats the cat had never met.

Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

Is Aggression Instinctual?Situational? Optional?

Aggression among the Lower Animals:

Chimpanzees are the only nonhuman species in which groups of male members hunt and kill other members of their own kind.

Bonobos, on the other hand, are known as the “make love, not war” ape. Prior to engaging in activities that could otherwise lead to conflict, bonobos engage in sex, This sexual activity functions to diffuse potential conflict.

The bonobo are a rare exception, however. The near universality of aggression strongly suggests that aggressiveness has evolved and has been maintained because it has survival value.

Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

Aggression and Culture

Whether or not aggressive action is actually expressed depends on a complex interplay between:– Innate tendencies,– Various learned inhibitory responses,

and– The precise nature of the social

situation.

Aggression and CultureCross-cultural studies have found that

human cultures vary widely in their degree of aggressiveness.

Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

Changes in Aggression across Time

In a given culture, changing social conditions frequently lead to striking changes in aggressive behavior.

For example, aggressiveness from previously peaceful people can come about when a social change produces increases in competition.

Regionalism and Aggression

Argument-related homicide rates for white southern males are substantially higher than those for white northern males, especially in rural areas.

Southerners are more inclined to endorse violence for protection and in response to insults.

Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

Neural and ChemicalInfluences on Aggression

Aggressive behaviors in human beings, as well as in the lower animals, are associated with an area in the core of the brain called the amygdale.

• When the amygdale is stimulated, docile organisms become violent.

• Similarly, when neural activity in that area is blocked, violent organisms become docile.

Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

Neural and ChemicalInfluences on Aggression

Certain chemicals have been shown to influence aggression.

Serotonin, a chemical substance that occurs naturally in the midbrain, seems to inhibit impulsive aggression.

In animals, when the flow of serotonin is disrupted, increases in aggressive behavior frequently follow.

Violent criminals have particularly low levels of naturally produced serotonin.

Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

Neural and ChemicalInfluences on Aggression

Too little serotonin can lead to increases in aggression, but so can too much testosterone, a male sex hormone.

1. Laboratory animals injected with testosterone became more aggressive.

2. Naturally occurring testosterone levels are significantly higher among violent criminals than nonviolent criminals.

3. Juvenile delinquents have higher levels.4. More aggressive fraternities’ members have

more.Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

Gender and Aggression

Eleanor Maccoby and Carol Jacklin (1974) demonstrated that boys appear to be more aggressive than girls.

Among boys, there was far more “nonplayful” pushing, shoving, and hitting than among girls.

Gender and AggressionBut research on gender differences is more

complicated than it might seem on the surface.

Although young boys tend to be more overtly aggressive than young girls (in the sense that they lash out directly at the target person), girls tend to express their aggressive feelings more covertly:

– Gossiping,– Engaging in more backbiting, and– Spreading false rumors about the target person.

Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

Does Culture Make a Difference?

Sex differences in aggressive behaviors tend to hold up across cultures.

In one study, teenagers from eleven different countries, mostly in Europe and Asia, read stories involving conflict among people and were asked to write their own endings.

In every one of the countries, young men showed a greater tendency toward violent solutions to conflict than young women did.

Does Culture Make a Difference?

Although within a given culture, men showed consistently higher levels of aggression than women, culture also played a major role.

For example, women from Australia and

New Zealand showed greater evidence of aggressiveness than men from Sweden and Korea did.

Violence Among Intimate Partners

• Some 22% of all violent crimes against women in a typical year were committed by their intimate male partners.

• For men, the figure is 3%.

• Husbands are far more likely to murder their wives than vice versa.

Alcohol and Aggression

“Oh that wasn’t me talking, it was the alcohol talking.”

Image copyright The New Yorker.

Alcohol and Aggression

Why can alcohol increase aggressive behavior? 1. Alcohol often serves as a disinhibitor—it reduces

our social inhibitions, making us less cautious than we usually are.

2. It appears to disrupt the way we usually process information. This means that intoxicated people often respond to the earliest and most obvious aspects of a social situation and tend to miss the subtleties.

3. When individuals ingest enough alcohol to make them legally drunk, they tend to respond more violently to provocations than those who have ingested little or no alcohol.

Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

Pain, Discomfort, and Aggression

If an animal is in pain and cannot flee the scene, it will almost invariably attack; this is true of rats, mice, hamsters, foxes, monkeys, crayfish, snakes, raccoons, alligators, and a host of other creatures.

In those circumstances, animals will attack members of their own species, members of different species, or anything else in sight, including stuffed dolls and tennis balls.

Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

Pain, Discomfort, and Aggression

Humans can act more aggressively when experiencing:– Pain– Heat– Humidity– Air pollution– Offensive odors

Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

The long, hot summerWarmer temperatures increase the likelihood that violent riots and other aggressive acts will occur,

The End