Aggression Intending
: to
hurtin others
g
Definition: What is and
Aggression types?
Aggression
• Physical or verbal behavior intended to cause harm to another
individual.
Violence/ Hostile Aggression (“social”)
• Aggression that springs from anger; its goal to injure
is
• Violence is aggression that creates extreme physical harm.
Emotional or impulsive aggression refers to aggression that occurs
with only a small amount of forethought or intent. E.g yelling at
friend, children
Instrumental/ Aggression
cognitive (“silent”)
Instrumental/cognitive Aggression (“silent”)
• Aggression that is intentional and planned. E.g hurting someone to
gain something-attention, monetary reward or political power.
• A bully who hits a child and steals her toys, a terrorist who kills
civilians to gain political exposure, and a hired assassin are all
good examples of instrumental aggression.
• Wars, terrorism, destruction, teasing/hurting others.
Types of
aggression
Aggression
• Active aggression\passive aggression
• Physical/nonphysical
• Hostile, violent/verbal aggression
Aggression may be physical or
nonphysical.
Physical aggression is aggression that involves harming others physically—
e.g. hitting, kicking, stabbing, or shooting them.
Nonphysical aggression is aggression that does not involve physical harm.
• Nonphysical aggression includes verbal aggression (yelling, screaming,
swearing, and name calling)
Relational or social aggression, which is defined as intentionally harming
another person’s social relationships, e.g. by gossiping about another
person,
excluding others from our friendship, or giving others the “silent treatment”
• Nonverbal aggression also occurs in the form of sexual, racial, and
homophobic jokes and nicknames, which are designed to cause harm to
individuals.
Nonphysical
aggression
• Gossiping
• Spreading rumors
• Criticizing other people behind their backs
• Bullying
• Leaving others out of a group or ostracizing them
• otherwise Turning people against each
• other Dismissing the opinions of others
• “Stealing” a boyfriend or girlfriend
• Threatening to break up with partner if the partner does not comply
• Flirting with another person to make a partner jealous
Cyberbullying
• Cyberbullying—aggression inflicted through the use of computers,
cell phones, and other electronic devices.
Theories :
Biological
Aggression as a Biological Phenomenon
• Biochemical influences
• More Testosterone and low serotonin levels (impulse control issue)
• Poor diet –eat a lot of omega-3-fatty acids and calcium
Theories of Aggression: Freud’s
In Freudian theory, Instinct Theory
Thanatos represents
the death drive, while
Eros represents the
life drive. Where
Thanatos leads people
to experience
aggression, engage in
risky behaviors, and
re-experience past
traumas, Eros helps
promote survival,
reproduction, and
social cooperation. It
is the complex
interaction between
Theories of
aggression
Frustration-Aggression Theory Revised (L. Berkowitz, ’78)
• Theory is designed to explain hostile aggression, not instrumental
aggression
Theories of
aggression
The Social Learning Theory was proposed by Albert Bandura in
• the 1960s. Bandura is most known for his Bobo Doll experiment,
which attempted to explain how children learn aggression from
an early age. He proposed that aggression is a learned behavior.
Children exert aggression simply because they are imitating what
they have observed.
Influences on
Aggression
Media Influences: Video Games
• The games kids play Effects of the games kids play
• Games are becoming more ✓ Increases aggressive behaviors
violent and sometimes include ✓ Increases aggressive thoughts
✓ Increases aggressive feelings
• Carjacking
✓ Decreases helping others
• Shooting
✓ Decreases empathy for others
• Sex ✓ Desensitized to violence
• Murder Should violent video games be
banned?
Influences on
aggression
Group Influences
• Can amplify aggressive reactions partly by diffusing responsibility
• Increases with distance and number
• deindividuation
How can aggression be
reduced?
• Catharsis?
• Contrary to the catharsis hypothesis, expressing aggression by catharsis
tends to breed further aggression, not reduce it
• A Social Learning Approach
Controlling aggression by counteracting the factors that provoke it
1. Reducing aversive stimulation
2. Rewarding nonaggression
3. Modeling nonaggression
4. Eliciting reactions incompatible with
aggression
Altruism
• altruism refers to a selfless and voluntary behavior or action performed
to benefit others, often at a personal cost or without any expectation of
personal gain or reward.
• Altruism involves helping, supporting, or providing assistance to others
out of genuine concern for their well-being or to promote the greater
good, rather than for selfish reasons.
• Altruistic acts can take various forms, such as helping a stranger in
need, donating to a charitable cause, volunteering time and effort for a
charitable organization, or even risking personal safety to aid someone
else.
• These acts are characterized by a lack of obvious personal gain and a
genuine desire to alleviate the suffering or improve the situation of
others.
• Social psychologists have studied altruism to understand
the underlying motivations and factors that drive people to
engage in selfless acts.
• Some theories suggest that altruism may be influenced by
empathy, a sense of social responsibility, cultural norms, or
even evolutionary factors that promote cooperation and
group survival.
• Researchers have also explored the role of empathy,
sympathy, and the concept of reciprocity in understanding
altruistic behavior.
Overall, altruism is a central topic in social psychology as it
helps us better comprehend the complexities of human social
behavior and the motivations behind acts of kindness and
compassion.
