Aggression can be physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt others. There are three main theories that differentiate perspectives on the origins of aggression: as a biological phenomenon, in response to frustration, and as a learned behavior. Biologically, aggression may be influenced by genetics, neural systems, and biochemistry. It can also arise from frustration or perceived lack or deprivation. Aggression can also be learned through observational learning, cultural reinforcement, and exposure to violence in media and the environment. Determinants include person factors like gender, traits, and environment like exposure to weapons, stressors, and social rejection.

1. UNIT 4
Aggression

2. Aggression
● Aggression - physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone
(Horgan, 2005)

3. Aggression
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● Aggression - Types
Hostile aggression / affective aggression - aggression
driven by anger and performed as an end in itself.
○ Instrumental aggression - aggression that is a means to
some other end
■ Most juvenile acts are examples of instrumental
aggression

4. Theorizing Aggression
● Three big ideas differentiating theories:
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● Aggression as a biological phenomenon
○ Thomas Hobbes (1588 - 1679) - credits society for restraining fundamentally
aggressive humans
○ Konrad Lorenz - twentieth century - argues in favour of fundamental
aggressive behavior of humans
Instinct theory & evolution psychology - an innate, unlearned universal
behavior pattern exhibited by all members of the species - has self-preserving
value

5. Theorizing Aggression
● Aggression as a biological phenomenon
○ Neural influences- research shows that complex neural systems facilitates
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aggression in both animals & humans - prefrontal cortex works as a break to
deeper brain areas facilitating aggression (Adrian et al., 1998, 2000, 2005, 2008)
○ Genetic influences - Lagerspetz (1979) - showed aggressive streak is genetically
passed on; Wilkowski & Robinson (2008) - temperament are blueprints of
genetically carried over emotions (aggression too); Huesman et al. (2003) - twin
studies showing genetic influence in aggression
○ Biochemical influences - blood chemistry influences neural sensitivity to
aggressive stimulation
Alcohol - MacDonald et
al., 2000 Testosterone -
Dabbs et al., 2001 Low
serotonin- Crockett et al.,
2008

6. Theorizing Aggression
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Aggression as a response to frustration
Frustration aggression hypothesis- frustration (blocking of goal-directed behavior) triggers a
readiness to aggress (Dollard et al., 1939)
Revision - Berkowitz (1989) - role of ‘anger’ emotion related to perception of unjustified frustration /
intention of frustration source
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○ Displacement - redirecting aggression to a target (more safer) other than the source of
frustration

7. Theorizing Aggression
• Freud and Aggression
• Human aggression is an instinctive drive.
• All humans possess two basic drives from birth that contribute to
their personality development and behavior: the drive for
aggression (thanatos) and the drive for pleasure (eros).
• Thanatos, or destructive energy, expresses itself in aggression
towards others and towards the self.

8. Theorizing Aggression
• Freud viewed the aggressive drive as part of Id, the part of the psyche
that motivates behavior, while ego, our rational self, and superego, our
ideal image of ourselves, oppose or repress the aggressive impulses. The
conflict between the different parts of personality creates tension in the
individual, who then uses defense mechanisms or ways of coping with
and blocking conscious awareness of this conflict.
• Sublimation – society regulates this instinct. Helps people to turn
destructive energy into useful behavior. E.g., danger seeking, competitive
person becomes a race car driver.

9. Theorizing Aggression
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Aggression as a response to frustration
Relative deprivation- perception of being less well-off than others with whom one
compares oneself
■ Lower happiness & higher crime rates in socially deprived communities (Hagerty, 2000)
Aggression as a learned behavior
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1772-1778) - blames society, not human nature
Rewards of aggression - reinforcing role of fear among targets related to aggression -
McCarthy & Kelly, 1978
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Martyr ideation in terrorism
Cultural reinforcement of aggressive behaviors in patriarchal societies
Chakraborty & De, 2011-2022 -
Aggression towards others: protector
Aggression towards victim: perpetrator
Protector has the ‘power’ to become perpetrator
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10. Theorizing Aggression
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Aggression as a learned behavior
Observational learning - combined role of observation, imitation and reward/
punishment from environment - Bandura, 1997
Family
Culture
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Social learning view of
aggression

11. The Bobo Doll
Experiment
• The Bobo doll experiment was conducted by Albert Bandura in 1961.
• Sample: Bandura, Ross, and Ross (1961) tested 36 boys and 36 girls
from the Stanford University Nursery School aged between 3 to 6 years
old.
• Method: The control group was composed of 24 children. The first
experimental group comprised 24 children exposed to aggressive
model behavior. The second experimental group comprised 24 children
exposed to nonaggressive model behavior. To avoid skewed results due
to the fact that some children were already predisposed to being more
aggressive, the experimenter and the teacher (both knew the children
well) rated each child based on physical aggression, verbal aggression,
and object aggression prior to the experiment. This allowed Bandura to
group the children based on average aggression level.
• Results: Bandura found that the children exposed to the aggressive
model were more likely to act in physically aggressive ways than those
who were not exposed to the aggressive model.

12. Individual difference in aggression
● Media influence on thinking
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○ Desensitization - with continual repeated exposure
○ Social scripts - Chakraborty & De - 2019, 2021 - de-escalation, socio-cultural script of
acceptable violations
Altered perceptions - Chakraborty & De - 2019, 2021 - creating a culture of fear & in
response either aggression / withdrawal
Cognitive priming - relation to frequency of watching
Concept of ‘stylized violence’- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NcLiFbdo7g
○ Effect of witnessing violence -
○ Chakraborty & Kumar (2022) - frequency, type, intensity and the child's relationship
with the people involved or impacted by the violence can determine the impact on a
child's mental health and development - resilience / trauma - Bio-psycho-social model -

13. Determinants of Aggression
● Person factors
○ Gender Differences inAggression
○ TraitAnger
○ Unemotional Personality Traits
○ Impulsivity, Executive Control, and Self-Control
○ Intelligence, Personality Traits – The ‘Big Five’, Hormones , Genetic
Predispositions

14. Determinants of Aggression
● Factors from the Environment and Cues for Aggression Provocation
○ Weapons
○ Violent environment
○ Violent media
○ Environmental stressors
○ Anonymity
○ Social rejection
○ Substances

15. Male Aggression vs. Female
Aggression.
• Men tend to be more aggressive than women.
• Males aggress to achieve and maintain status
• Females aggress to protect offspring.
Aggression in Children
•The frequency of physical aggression in humans peaks at around 2-3 years of age.
•It then declines gradually on average.-hair pulling-biting-pinching-hitting.
•These observations suggest that physical aggression is mostly not a learned behavior
and that development provides opportunities for the learning of self-regulation.
•Evidence: Recent research on children in which higher viewing of TV violence,
videogame violence, and music video violence was independently associated with a
higher level of physical aggression (Coker & others, 2015).

16. Aggression in
Adolescent
• A recent study found a higher level of parent- adolescent conflict was linked to higher
anxiety, depression, and aggression, and lower self-esteem (Smokowski &
others, 2016).
• New research on Chinese American families that revealed parent-adolescent conflict
was linked to a sense of alienation between parents and adolescents, which in turn
was related
to more depressive symptoms, delinquent behavior, and lower academic achievement
(Hou, Kim, & Wang, 2016).