Chapter.12 : Aggression
- Anyone who commits mass murder is not emotionally stable, but mental illness itself cannot explain most
of these tragic outbursts.
o Most mentally ill people are not mass murderers.
- The violence that human beings inflict on one another comes in all too many varieties: mass shootings,
fistfights and brawls, murder, sexual coercion and rape, and domestic abuse.
12.1 : How do evolutionary, cultural, and learning explanations of
aggression differ ?
Is Aggression Innate, Learned, or Optional ?
- For social psychologists, aggression is defines as intentional behavior aimed at causing wither physical or
psychological pain.
o Aggression : intentional behavior aimed at causing physical harm or psychological pain to
another person.
• True aggression involves the intent to harm another.
• The action might be physical or verbal; it might succeed or not.
• The important thing is the intention
• “Violence” is an extreme form of aggression as in war, murder, and assault.
- It is also useful to distinguish between types of aggression.
o Hostile Aggression : aggression stemming from feelings of anger and aimed at inflicting pain or
injury.
o Instrumental Aggression : aggression as a means to some goal other than causing pain.
• Ex. Defending the ball from an attacker in football.
- Aggression has many complex causes.
o It comes in many forms from direct assault to indirect cruelty
o It is neither excused nor means it is inevitable.
o It doesn’t mean that such behavior cant be altered.
, Learning to Behave Aggressively
- Most of us take cues from other people.
o If we want to know whether aggressive behavior is okay, we will look to see what others are
doing or what others are saying about it.
o We learn what our culture’s rules are and what the norms are for men and women.
o Those situations can shape, direct, encourage, or suppress people’s individual wishes to behave
aggressively or peacefully.
- Social-cognitive learning theory holds that we learn social behavior, from aggression to altruism, in large part
by observing others an imitating them – a process called observational learning.
o Social-Cognitive Learning Theory : theory that people learn social behavior in large part through
observation and imitation of other and by cognitive processes.
- Children are especially susceptible to observational learning.
o In a classic series of experiments, Albert Bandura and his associates demonstrated the power of
social learning on children’s aggressive behavior.
• An adult knocked around a plastic doll and smacked it and striked it, kicked it, and
yelled aggressive things to it.
• Children who saw the adult imitates the exact treatment to the dolls, and some added
more forms of beating up the doll.
• Children who didn’t see the adult never unleashed any aggression against the doll.
• This research offers strong support for the social learning of aggressive behavior - power
of watching and imitating behavior of others.
- In general, the more respected a figure is, the greater their influence as a role model.
o When a violent story was attributed to the Bible, the reader was more likely to behave
aggressively afterward.
• The effect held for nonreligious and religious participants.
o In sports, the more aggressive players usually achieve greatest fame and highest salaries, and win
more games.
• Fame and fortune go hand in hand with excessive aggressiveness.
o When children watch adults they admire yelling, kicking, and acting in aggression ways, that is
the behavior they will copy.
- Anyone who commits mass murder is not emotionally stable, but mental illness itself cannot explain most
of these tragic outbursts.
o Most mentally ill people are not mass murderers.
- The violence that human beings inflict on one another comes in all too many varieties: mass shootings,
fistfights and brawls, murder, sexual coercion and rape, and domestic abuse.
12.1 : How do evolutionary, cultural, and learning explanations of
aggression differ ?
Is Aggression Innate, Learned, or Optional ?
- For social psychologists, aggression is defines as intentional behavior aimed at causing wither physical or
psychological pain.
o Aggression : intentional behavior aimed at causing physical harm or psychological pain to
another person.
• True aggression involves the intent to harm another.
• The action might be physical or verbal; it might succeed or not.
• The important thing is the intention
• “Violence” is an extreme form of aggression as in war, murder, and assault.
- It is also useful to distinguish between types of aggression.
o Hostile Aggression : aggression stemming from feelings of anger and aimed at inflicting pain or
injury.
o Instrumental Aggression : aggression as a means to some goal other than causing pain.
• Ex. Defending the ball from an attacker in football.
- Aggression has many complex causes.
o It comes in many forms from direct assault to indirect cruelty
o It is neither excused nor means it is inevitable.
o It doesn’t mean that such behavior cant be altered.
, Learning to Behave Aggressively
- Most of us take cues from other people.
o If we want to know whether aggressive behavior is okay, we will look to see what others are
doing or what others are saying about it.
o We learn what our culture’s rules are and what the norms are for men and women.
o Those situations can shape, direct, encourage, or suppress people’s individual wishes to behave
aggressively or peacefully.
- Social-cognitive learning theory holds that we learn social behavior, from aggression to altruism, in large part
by observing others an imitating them – a process called observational learning.
o Social-Cognitive Learning Theory : theory that people learn social behavior in large part through
observation and imitation of other and by cognitive processes.
- Children are especially susceptible to observational learning.
o In a classic series of experiments, Albert Bandura and his associates demonstrated the power of
social learning on children’s aggressive behavior.
• An adult knocked around a plastic doll and smacked it and striked it, kicked it, and
yelled aggressive things to it.
• Children who saw the adult imitates the exact treatment to the dolls, and some added
more forms of beating up the doll.
• Children who didn’t see the adult never unleashed any aggression against the doll.
• This research offers strong support for the social learning of aggressive behavior - power
of watching and imitating behavior of others.
- In general, the more respected a figure is, the greater their influence as a role model.
o When a violent story was attributed to the Bible, the reader was more likely to behave
aggressively afterward.
• The effect held for nonreligious and religious participants.
o In sports, the more aggressive players usually achieve greatest fame and highest salaries, and win
more games.
• Fame and fortune go hand in hand with excessive aggressiveness.
o When children watch adults they admire yelling, kicking, and acting in aggression ways, that is
the behavior they will copy.
