Chapter 9 Aggression and Antisocial Behavior

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Chapter 9 - Aggression and Antisocial Behavior

• Defining Aggression and Antisocial Behavior
• Is Aggression Innate or Learned?
• Inner Causes of Aggression
• Interpersonal Causes of Aggression
• External Causes of Aggression
• Self and Culture
• Other Antisocial Behavior

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Aggression and Antisocial Behavior

• Saddam Hussein
• He was aggressive was he antisocial?
• How can we understand aggressive behavior of
  powerful individuals or small groups of cruel
  people?

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Tradeoffs - Is Military Action an EffectiveWay
to Fight Terrorism

• Many countries resort to military action to fight
  terrorism
• Effective in short-term, but in long-term creates
  a new pool of terrorist recruits

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Defining Aggression

• Aggression
• An intentional behavior
• Intent is to harm
• The victim wants to avoid harm
• Violence
• Aggression, with the goal of extreme physical harm

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Types of Aggression

• Hostile aggression
• Hot, impulsive
• Instrumental aggression
• Cold, premeditated
• Passive aggression
• Active aggression

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Defining Antisocial Behavior

• Antisocial Behavior
• Behavior that either damages interpersonal
  relationships or is culturally undesirable.
• Aggression may be social or antisocial
• Behaviors in addition to aggression may be
  antisocial

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Aggression and Antisocial Behavior

• Aggression is universal
• Cultural rules restrain aggression
• Aggression aids social animals
• Culture offers nonviolent ways of resolving
  conflicts and problems

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Aggression

• Rules of conduct for war
• Geneva Convention
• Reciprocity
• Rules governing self-defense
• Acceptable only if defender uses comparable force

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Is Aggression Innate or Learned?
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Instinct Theories of Aggression

• Freud proposed human motivational forces are
  based on instinct
• Sex life giving instinct Eros
• Aggression death instinct - Thanatos

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Learning Theories of Aggression

• Aggression is a learned behavior
• Modeling
• Bandura and colleagues (1961, 1963)
• Children who watched the aggressive model had the
  highest level of aggression
• If a model acts aggressively, inhibitions against
  aggression can be overcome

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Nature and Nurture

• Cultural socialization and learning can increase
  or decrease innate aggressive impulses and
  aggressive behaviors
• Both learning and instinct are relevant

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Inner Causes of Aggression

• Frustration-aggression hypothesis (1939)
• The occurrence of aggressive behavior always
  presupposes the existence of frustration
• Existence of frustration always leads to some
  form of aggression

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Frustration

• Influence on degree of frustration
• Interference when closer to the goal - greater
  frustration
• You can have aggression without frustration,
  frustration without aggression, but aggression is
  increased by frustration

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Inner Causes of Aggression

• Unpleasant moods increase aggression
• Bad mood is not necessary for aggression
• Anger does not directly or inevitably cause
  aggression
• If one believes aggression will dissipate anger,
  will behave more aggressively
• Excitation transfer may increase aggression

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Hostile Cognitive Biases

• Hostile attribution bias
• Perceive ambiguous actions by others as
  aggressive
• Hostile perception bias
• Perceive social interactions as being aggressive
• Hostile expectation bias
• Assume people will react to potential conflicts
  with aggression

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Hostile Cognitive Biases

• Aggressive people have inner biases that make
  them
• Expect others to react aggressively
• View ambiguous acts as aggressive
• Assume others act purposefully when they hurt or
  offend them

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Is Bad Stronger Than Good? The Magnitude Gap

• Victim loses more than the perpetrator gains
• Aggression is not a neutral exchange
• It lowers the total value available
• Murder, theft, sex crimes

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Age and Aggression

• 25 of toddler interactions in day-care settings
  involve physical aggression
• Limited alternatives for solving conflict

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Gender and Aggression

• When under stress
• Males fight or flight syndrome
• Females tend and befriend syndrome
• In all known societies men just over age of
  puberty commit most violent crimes and acts
• Females exhibit more relational aggression

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Interpersonal Causes of Aggression
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Selfishness and Influence

• Aggression
• Can be a means to resolve social disputes
• Can be a form of social influence
• Factors that encourage use of aggression
• More you want the reward
• Believe you will be successful
• Unconcerned with morality or risk

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Selfishness and Influence

• Aggression
• Can be a means to resolve social disputes
• Can be a form of social influence
• Factors that encourage use of aggression
• More you want the reward
• Believe you will be successful
• Unconcerned with morality or risk

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The Social Side of Sex - Sexual Aggression

• People use aggression and force to get sex from
  others
• Sexual coercion is often defined broadly
• Consequences for victim is dependent on
  definition of rape
• Profile of sexually coercive men differs from
  traditional stereotypes

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Domestic and Relationship Violence

• Domestic violence
• Occurs within the home, between people who have a
  close relationship
• Aggression is highest between siblings
• Surgeon General declared domestic violence the
  number one health risk in US (1984)

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Domestic and Relationship Violence

• Domestic violence occurs all over the world
• It is leading cause of injuries to women 15-44
• Women attack relationship partners slightly more
  than men do, but without as much harm
• Physically weaker family members are at greatest
  risk

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Displaced Aggression

• Displaced aggression
• Kicking the dog effect
• Triggered displaced aggression
• Minor triggering event increases aggression in
  angered participants

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External Causes of Aggression

• Weapons effect
• Mere presence of weapon increases aggressive
  behavior
• Mass Media
• Violent media exposure increases aggression
• Huesmann, et al. (2003)

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Teach Me a Lesson
PLAYVIDEO
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External Causes of Aggression

• Unpleasant Environments
• Hot temperatures are associated with aggression
  and violence
• Effects of global warming
• Loud noises, foul odors, air pollution, and
  crowding can increase aggression

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External Causes of Aggression

• Chemical Influences
• Testosterone
• Linked to increased aggression
• Serotonin
• Low levels linked to aggression
• Alcohol
• Linked to increased aggression

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Alcohol and Aggression

• How alcohol influences aggression
• Reduces inhibitions
• Narrowing effect on attention
• Decreases self-awareness
• Disrupts executive function

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Food for Thought - Is There a Link Between Diet
and Violence?

• Nutrition is linked to aggression and violence
• Junk food can increase violence
• Vitamin supplements reduces antisocial behavior

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Self and Culture
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Norms and Values

• Running amok and aggression
• Influence of culture
• Cultures can promote violence
• People may believe aggression is uncontrollable,
  but they may be mistaken

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Self-Control

• Poor self-control
• Is an important cause of crime
• Is a predictor of violent crimes

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Wounded Pride

• Violent individuals
• Think they are better than other people
• Have grandiose or inflated opinions of their
  worth

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Wounded Pride

• Violent individuals typically have the trait of
  narcissism
• Thinking oneself special
• Feeling entitled to preferential treatment
• Willing to exploit others
• Low empathy
• Grandiose fantasies

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Wounded Pride

• Narcissistic Personality Inventory
• High scores blow to ego aggression
• Most aggression is the result of some type of
  provocation
• Other factors increase or decrease effect of
  wounded pride

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Culture of Honor

• Southern US has culture of honor
• Violent response to threats to ones honor
• Higher levels of violence
• Humiliation
• Primary cause of violence and aggression in
  cultures of honor
• May be an important cause of terrorism

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Other Antisocial Behavior

• Cheating
• Self-control is important predictor of cheating
• Stealing
• People in deindividuated state more likely to
  steal
• Diener et al. (1976)

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Other Antisocial Behavior

• Littering
• When it seems everybody else is littering, people
  are more likely to litter too
• Males litter more than females
• Young people litter more than older people

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Norms

• Injunctive norms
• Specify what most approve or disapprove of
• Can be effective in reducing litter
• Descriptive norms
• Specify what most people do
• Have not been effective in reducing litter

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What Makes Us Human?

• In some ways humans are more aggressive than
  other animals
• Only humans kill for ideas
• Human cultures unique in attempts to restrain
  aggression
• Culture creates new opportunities for antisocial
  behavior