Chapter 12: Aggression
Different definitions of aggression:
● Behavior resulting in personal injury or destruction of property.
● Behavior intended to harm another of the same species.
● Behavior directed towards the goal of harming or injuring another living being who is
motivated to avoid such treatment.
● Intentional infliction of some form of harm on others.
● Behavior directed towards another individual carried out with the immediate intent to
cause harm.
3 components of aggression
● Harm (actual or potential)
● Intention to do harm
● Norm deviation
Values = a higher-order concept thought to provide a structure for organizing attitudes.
Operational definition = defines a theoretical term in a way that allows it to be manipulated
or measured.
Different operationalizations of aggression:
1. Analogues of behavior:
a. Punching an inflated plastic doll
b. Pressing a button supposed to deliver an electric shock to someone else
2. Signal of intention:
a. Verbal expression of willingness to use violence in an experimental laboratory
setting.
3. Ratings by self or others:
a. Written self-report by institutionalized teenage boys about their prior
aggressive behavior.
b. Pencil-and-paper ratings by teachers and classmates of a child’s level of
aggressiveness.
4. Indirect aggression
a. Relational aggression; e.g. damaging a person’s peer relationships or
spreading rumors.
Analogue = device or measure intended to faithfully mimic the ‘real thing’.
Explanations of aggression fall into two broad classes, biological and social (nature-nurture
debate).
Biological explanations
Instinct is:
● goal-directed and terminates in a specific consequence
● beneficial to the individual and to the species
● adapted to a normal environment
● shared by most members of the species
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Different definitions of aggression:
● Behavior resulting in personal injury or destruction of property.
● Behavior intended to harm another of the same species.
● Behavior directed towards the goal of harming or injuring another living being who is
motivated to avoid such treatment.
● Intentional infliction of some form of harm on others.
● Behavior directed towards another individual carried out with the immediate intent to
cause harm.
3 components of aggression
● Harm (actual or potential)
● Intention to do harm
● Norm deviation
Values = a higher-order concept thought to provide a structure for organizing attitudes.
Operational definition = defines a theoretical term in a way that allows it to be manipulated
or measured.
Different operationalizations of aggression:
1. Analogues of behavior:
a. Punching an inflated plastic doll
b. Pressing a button supposed to deliver an electric shock to someone else
2. Signal of intention:
a. Verbal expression of willingness to use violence in an experimental laboratory
setting.
3. Ratings by self or others:
a. Written self-report by institutionalized teenage boys about their prior
aggressive behavior.
b. Pencil-and-paper ratings by teachers and classmates of a child’s level of
aggressiveness.
4. Indirect aggression
a. Relational aggression; e.g. damaging a person’s peer relationships or
spreading rumors.
Analogue = device or measure intended to faithfully mimic the ‘real thing’.
Explanations of aggression fall into two broad classes, biological and social (nature-nurture
debate).
Biological explanations
Instinct is:
● goal-directed and terminates in a specific consequence
● beneficial to the individual and to the species
● adapted to a normal environment
● shared by most members of the species
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