Aggression and Bullying

Statistics, Causes, Solutions

Section Goals

Basic Definitions
Goals of Aggressive Behavior
Freuds View
___________________
Gender Differences
Causes of Aggression (individual)
____________________________
The complex role of testosterone
Regional Differences
Bullying Defined
_________________
Violent pornography
Solutions

Aggression Defined
___________________
________________

In Contrast to Assertiveness
Behavior designed
to express
confidence or to
maintain
boundaries.

Types of Aggression
_____________________aimed at harming
another individual overtly.
Indirect Aggression-an attempt to harm
someone without obvious face to face
conflict.
_______________-hurtful behavior that stems
from angry feelings
Instrumental Aggression-hurting another
person to accomplish some other goal.

Summary of Gender Differences in

Aggression
Depends on
definition/type of
aggression
___________________
___________________
Women = higher in
indirect aggression.

Freuds View-Levels of Awareness

Conscious

everythin
g in our
awarenes
s at a
given
moment.

Freuds View-Levels of
Awareness
Preconsciou
s
____________
____________
____________
___.

Freuds View-Levels of
Awareness

Unconscious
thoughts, urges,
drives, motivations,
etc. that are
inaccessible to the
conscious mind.
______________________
______________________
__________________
Accessible through
Free Association
Dream Analysis
Royal road to the
unconscious
Examination of
______________________
_________________

Psychoanalytic
Divisions of the Mind
Id, Ego, and Superego

Id: The Pleasure Principle

Idinstinctual drives present at

birth
does not distinguish between
reality and fantasy
operates according to the
pleasure principle:
drive toward
immediate
gratification. most
fundamental human
motive

Sources of energy
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
___________________________
Libidosexual energy or
motivation

Summary of Freuds View On

Aggression
______________discharge of pent up emotion
_____________tmisdirected emotional catharsis
Misplaced aggression due to a lack of ability to
self-actualize?
Misplaced aggression due to economic
inequality?
______________________
feeling that one has less than the others to
whom one compares oneself

Frustration-Aggression
Hypothesis
Original - Theory that aggression
is an automatic response to any
blocking of goal-directed
behavior
_________________________________
_________________________________
____________________________

Frustration-Aggression
Hypothesis (Reformulated)
Frustration

_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____

Heat/Pain

AnyOther
Unpleasant
Experience

Aggression Related to Lack

of Access to Resources
Lynchings in the American South
during the years 1882 to 1930
were negatively related to cotton
prices (Hovland & Sears, 1940)
Later analyses found that lynchings
were highest when a recession
followed a period of economic wellbeing (Hepworth & West, 1988)
This supports a frustration
hypothesis

Aggression Related to Lack

of Access to Resources
Catalano et al. interviewed
14,500 people twice over a
year-long period
Respondents were asked Have
you done done any of the
following within the past two
weeks:
____________
Used a weapon
Struck your partner
_____________

Aggression Related to Lack of

Access to Resources
Odds of violence were six times
higher among those whod lost jobs
in the interim

Feelings of Arousal
and Irritability
_____________________theory that anger (or more
appropriately rage) is
physiologically similar to other
emotional states, and any form
of arousal can enhance
aggressive responses
Example: Students were more
aggressive after watching
nonviolent erotic films or riding an

Annoyance Leads to
Changes
in Perception of Situations

____________tendency for weapons, such as guns,

to enhance aggressive thoughts,
feelings, and actions

Technique for Reducing

Violence
Studies comparing homes with and
without guns and countries with and
without gun control
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
__

Evolutionary Perspective--Purpose of
Aggressive Behavior
To gain material rewards and social
status

To protect oneself and members of

ones group.

To Gain and Maintain

Material Rewards and
Social Status

Blocked Pathways
to Success
James Dabbs and Robin Morris
searched records of 4,462 U.S.
military veterans, now in their 30s
and 40s:
They divided men into those from:
____________________________
____________________________

And then compared the groups for

evidence of antisocial behavior
before, during, or after military
service

Dabbs&Morris(1990)

esearch
50
40
Percentagewith
HighLevelsof
Delinquency

30
20
10
0

LowSES
Lowtestosterone

Hightestosterone

HighSES
Butnotinmenof
highersocio
economicstatus,
whopresumably
hadotherpathsto
attainstatus

Sex and Testosterone

Testosterone hormone linked to
_____________________________________
_______________ in a wide range of
species

Sex and Testosterone

Social psychologist Jim Dabbs and
colleagues found high
___________________________________
Aggressive boys
Violent criminals
Men and women with criminal records
______________________________________
__________________

Sex and Testosterone

Dutch psychologist Stephanie
VanGoozen and colleagues
studied people undergoing sex
change operations:
___________________________________
___________________________________
_____________
Men changing to women got
testosterone suppressants, and
became less aggressive and sexual

Insults & The Culture of

Honor
Culture of _________________societal
norms with central idea that people
(particularly men) should be ready to
defend their honor with violent
retaliation if necessary

Insults & Other Trivial

Altercations
Southern U.S. has more honorrelated homicides (Nisbett et al.,
1995)
_________________________________
_________________________________
___________________
However, as the following slide
shows, Northerners and
Southerners respond similarly to
most situations

To Protect Oneself and the

Members of Ones Group

Aggressive Behavior

AggressiveBehavior

AlienatesTeachers,Peers,
Coworkers,Authorities

________________________
______________________

_______________

Glamorized Violence in The

Media
Typical American child sees 100,000
acts of violence on TV before
finishing grammar school (Huston et al.,
1992)

_____________________________________
___________________________________
Experimental studies, in which
violence is controlled, also find
effects of watching violence

Glamorizing Violence
_______________ statistical combination of results
from different studies of the same
topic

Violent Media Magnify

Violent Inclinations
Movie-goers filled out an aggression
questionnaire as they entered, or left
a violent movie, or
a nonviolent movie

_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
________

Violent Pornography
Correlational and experimental data
suggest that a relationship between
pornography and mens hostility to
women:
_____________________
Is particularly found in violent
pornography
Is more likely among men who have
several risk factors for violence against
women
(Malamuth et al., 2001)

Self-Defenders
_________________________the tendency to notice threats and
interpret other peoples behavior as
intended to do one harm

Social information processing by

defensive and nondefensive
children
Step

Example of Uncertainty

Search situation
for possible threats

Is anyone threatening me now?

Interpret cues

Why did that kid bump me?

Consider possible
responses
_______________
__
Carry it out

What should I do about it?

Which option solves the
problem?
How do I do what Ive decided
on?

Non-defensive
Child

Defensive Child

Less likely to notice a

bump from another
child

More likely to notice a

bump from another child

Interpret as accident

Interpret as threat

Consider peaceful
solution (e.g. joke)

Consider violent solution

(e.g., hitting other)

Likely to rule out an

aggressive response

Likely to rule out a

peaceful response

More skilled at
carrying out peaceful
options

More skilled at carrying

out aggressive options

Solutions