Aggression and Conflict

I. What is Aggression?

A. Aggression: physical or verbal behavior that is most oftenintended to cause harm.

B. Instrumental Aggression: aggressive behavior used as ameans of achieving a goal.

C. Hostile Aggression: aggressive behavior fueled by angerand directly intended to hurt another person as an end in itself.

D. Relational Aggression: aggressive behavior aimed atdamaging or interfering with another person’s relationships,reputation, or psychological well-being.

II. What Are Some Key Theories andCauses of Aggression?

A. Biological Bases

B. The Frustration-Aggression Theory: the idea thatfrustration caused by a failure to obtain a desired or expectedgoal leads to aggressive behavior.

1) Displaced Aggression: the transference of aggressionto a target other than the source of the frustration.Generally, the new target is a safer or more sociallyacceptable target.

2) Triggered Displaced Aggression: the more similar apotential target of displaced aggression is to the source ofthe frustration, the greater the likelihood of displacementupon that target.

LONG TIME IN COLDWATER

SHORT TIME IN COLDWATER

SHORT TIME IN COLDWATER

SHORT TIME IN COLDWATER

Initial ExperimenterInsult

SecondaryOther “Pseudo”

Participant Insult

YES

YES

NO

NO

C. Social Learning Theory: we learn social behavior byobserving and imitating others and by being rewarded andpunished.

1) Bandura’s “Bobo” Doll Studies

2) Family Influence

3) Cultural Influence

4) The Rewards of Aggression

Revised Frustration-Aggression Theory

D. Relative Deprivation: the perception that one is less welloff than others with whom one compares oneself.

E. Pain

F. Heat

G. OdorCigarette Smoke and Flatulence!

H. Alcohol

I. Arousal

1) Arousal magnifies whatever emotion you may be experiencing.

Zap for Zap!

Baseball… Hitting the Hitter!

J. Aggression Cues

K. Violence Among Intimate Partners

L. Pornography and Sexual Violence

M. Television and Aggression

1) Six out of ten TV shows portray violence.

2) It’s usually glamorized, trivialized, or glorified.

Televised violence affects our thinking through…

1) Desensitization

2) Social Scripts

3) Altered Perceptions

4) Cognitive Priming

N. Video Games and Aggression

1) Virtual violence (video games) may have a strongereffect than passive media (television).

2) Virtual violence increases aggressive thoughts,feelings, and behaviors, and decreases prosocial(helping) behavior.

O. A History of Violence

III. Reducing Aggression

A. Catharsis: emotional release. The notion that aggressivedrives are reduced when one “releases” aggressive energy,either by acting aggressively or by fantasizing about aggressiveactivity.

B. Sublimation: this refers to the transformation of sexual oraggressive energies into acceptable and prosocial behaviors.

C. Operant Conditioning: learning based on association ofbehavior with its consequences. The individual learns from theconsequences of “operating” in the environment.

1) Positive Reinforcement: increases desired behavior by rewarding that behavior.

2) Negative Punishment: decreases undesired behavior by removing something pleasant.

D. Forms of Discipline

What doesn’t work well...

1) Power Assertion: disciplinary strategy designed to discourage undesirable behavior through physical or verbal enforcement of parental control.

What does work well...

2) Inductive Techniques: disciplinary techniques designed to inducedesirable behavior by appealing to a child’s sense of reason and fairness.

IV. Conflict

I. Behavior Traps: Situations in which conflictingparties, by each rationally pursuing its self-interest,become caught in mutually destructive behaviors.

A. The Prisoner’s Dilemma:a situation in which aperson must choosebetween a cooperativeact and an act verybeneficial only tohimself or herselfand most likely hurtfulto others.

B. The Commons Dilemma: people who share a commonresource tend to overuse it and therefore make it unavailablein the long run.

II. Getting Out of Behavior Traps

A. Regulation

B. Make the Group Small

C. Communication

D. Change the Payoffs

E. Reciprocal Altruism: helping others with the understandingthat they are supposed to eventually help us.

F. Avoid Moochers

V. Key Remedies for Conflict

A. Superordinate Goal: a shared goal that necessitatescooperative effort; a goal that overrides people’s differences.

B. Friendships

C. Equal-Status

D. Reconciliation