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Subject PSYCHOLOGY

Paper No and Title Paper no.7: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Module No and Title Module no.21: AGGRESSION AND VIOLENCE

Module Tag PSY_P7_M21

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Learning Outcomes
2. Introduction
3. Types of aggression
4. Development of aggression in childhood
5. Gender differences in aggression

6. Causes of aggression
6.1. Situational factors
6.2. Personal factors
6.3. Environmental factors
6.4. Biological factors

7. Theories of aggression
7.1 Drive theory
7.2 Cognitive neoassociation theory

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7.3 Social Learning theory

7.4 Script theory
7.5 Excitation transfer theory
7.6 Social interaction theory
7.7 The General Aggression model

8. Prevention and control of aggression

9. Summary

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1. Learning Outcomes
After studying this module, you shall be able to

 Know more about the concept of aggression and violence

 Identify the various causes of aggression
 Learn the various theories of aggression and
 Understand the ways of preventing and controlling aggression

2. Introduction
Aggression and violent behavior in human beings is not a new phenomenon. It was prevalent in
historic and prehistoric societies too. Looking at the incidents of violence each day we are quick to
assume that violence and aggression have increased nowadays. Statistics show that homicide rates
have increased in many industrialized countries. Some of the major causes of increased violence are
exposure to violent entertainment media, accessibility of guns etc. These factors contribute to the high
level of aggression and violence in modern societies. However, due to the high prevalence of
aggressive and violent acts, social psychologists need to have a better understanding of them.

Aggression versus violence

Human aggression is any behavior directed toward another individual with the intention to cause
harm. In addition to this, the perpetrator must believe that the behavior will harm the target, and that
the target is motivated to avoid the behavior (Bushman & Anderson 2001). Accidental harm is not
and intentional act, thus it is not considered aggressive.

Violence is physical aggression which lies at the extremely high end of the continuum of aggression.
Violence is aggression which has a goal of causing extreme harm. Though all violence is aggression
but much aggression may not be violence.

3. Types of aggression
The various types of aggression are as follows:

Direct vs. Indirect aggression:

Direct aggression is one which is committed in the presence of the target while indirect aggression is
one which is committed outside the presence of the target. Researches demonstrate that women are
more likely to engage in indirect aggression while males are more likely to engage in acts of direct
aggression.

Hostile vs. Instrumental Aggression: Hostile aggression is basically impulsive, unplanned and its
ultimate motive is harming the target. It occurs basically as a reaction to provocation. It is also known
as affective or reactive aggression. On the other hand, Instrumental aggression is a planned and
proactive means of obtaining some goal other than harming the victim. Bushman and Anderson

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distinguish between ultimate and proximate goals.

According to them, the intention to harm is a necessary
feature of all aggression, but it is necessary only as a proximate goal. They also distinguished
between different types of aggression at the level of ultimate goal.

Traditionally aggression was classified into dichotomous categories like hostile versus instrumental,
proactive versus reactive and the like. However, some of these categories are overlapping which leads to
many conceptual and empirical problems. In order to solve this problem, some researchers have proposed
to adopt a dimensional approach to understanding aggression.

4. Development of aggression in early childhood

Angry responses can be observed in most infants. The evidence of aggressive behavior occurs shortly
afterwards. In the later years, verbal aggression increases and physical aggression usually decreases.
However, some children show increase in aggressiveness as they grow up. According to Farrington
(1993), aggressiveness can be measured at different ages by different ways for eg. fighting at the age of
eight, vandalism at the age of 12 and homicide at the age of 18.

5. Gender differences in aggression

Males and females differ in aggressive tendencies, especially in terms of the most violent behaviors. Men
usually tend to get more involved in aggressive acts as compared to women. There are many evolutionary
explanations of these gender differences in aggression. For instance, it has been seen that females are
more upset by emotional infidelity of their partners than by sexual infidelity, while the opposite is true for
males. Gender differences in aggressiveness basically revolve around affective reactions.

Boys tend to show high levels of physical aggression as compared to girls while girls have been found to
show high levels of verbal and indirect aggression. These gender differences in aggression are a result of
socialization processes as well as neurological, physical and hormonal differences.

6. Causes of aggression
Increasing research evidence suggests that though many social psychological processes explain most of
the individual differences in aggression, there are other factors at play too. For example, dispositional and
factors interact with situational factors to provoke or inhibit aggressive and violent behavior. The main
causes of aggression can be classified as under:

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Situational
factors

Biological Causes of Personal

factors aggression factors

Environmental
factors

Figure 1 showing the main factors affecting aggression

6.1 Situational factors

Situational factors include important characteristics of the situation, like an aggressive cue or
presence of a provocation. Situational factors affect aggression by influencing cognition, affect and
arousal. Situational factors which affect aggression are:

6.1.1 Aggressive cues: Aggressive cues are objects that prime aggression-related concepts in
memory. Researches have shown that the mere presence of guns versus neutral stimuli increases the
aggressive behavior of angered research participants. It was also found that even pictures and words
related to weapons can automatically prime aggressive thoughts in individuals. Other situational
variables increasing aggression include factors such as exposure to violent movies, television and
video games. This occurs because being exposed to media violence may prime aggressive thoughts
and feelings. It has been found that priming can also occur without conscious awareness.

6.1.2 Provocation: Another important cause of aggression in humans is provocation. Provocations

include insults, physical aggression, verbal aggression, and creating hurdles in an individual’s
attempts to attain important goals etc.

6.1.3 Frustration: Frustration occurs due to blockage of goal attainment. Most provocations can be
seen as a type of frustration in which another person is perceived as responsible for the failure to
attain one’s goal. Studies showed that displaced aggression was also a frequent phenomenon. The
frustration-aggression hypothesis states that frustration leads to arousal of a drive to harm some
person or object which one feels is the cause of the frustration (Dollard et al., 1939).

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Frustration is one of the main causes of aggression

6.1.4 Pain and discomfort: Various researches have clearly shown that aversive conditions like loud
noises, hot temperatures, and unpleasant odors may trigger aggression. This could be due to increase
in negative affect due to these adverse conditions as well as cognitive and arousal processes.

6.1.5 Opportunity: Another predictor of aggression is opportunity. Whereas some situations restrict
opportunities for aggression; others provide good opportunities for aggression.

6.1.6 Alcohol and Drugs: Alcohol and drugs usually increase aggression. Although the effects
caused by these are indirect, factors like frustration, provocation, etc have a stronger effect on people
who are under the influence of drugs as compared to people who are not.

6.1.7 Arousing stimuli: Some situational instigators can increase arousal which may in turn lead to
aggression. If a person is provoked in a state of arousal it can lead to aggression. Arousal can affect
aggression in three ways: Arousal can strengthen aggressive tendencies; arousal elicited by irrelevant
sources can be mislabeled as anger thereby leading to aggressive behavior. This mislabeling process
is also known as excitation transfer.

According to the Excitation transfer theory, the arousal effect stays for a long period. Even after the
dissipation of arousal, the person may remain potentially aggressive. Affect also influences cognition
and arousal. For instance, hostile cognitions might make hostile feelings more accessible.

6.2 Personal factors

Personal factors comprise personality traits, attitudes, and genetic predispositions. Personality is the
sum of a person’s knowledge structures. Knowledge structures influence the type of situations an
individual will seek out and the type he will avoid. Personality factors influencing aggression include:

6.2.1 Traits: Traits predispose people to high levels of aggression. Some people are highly
susceptible towards hostile attribution, expectation and perception and so they frequently aggress.
Researches have shown that narcissists are more prone to anger and they are highly aggressive when
their high self-image is threatened. It has been found that Type A individuals are more aggressive
than Type B individuals.

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6.2.2 Cognition

Self-schemas
Self-schemas play an important role in aggression. For example, individuals with an inflated sense of
self esteem tend to be aggressive when their self esteem is threatened. Self efficacy beliefs are also
related to aggression.

Hostile thoughts: Some input variables affect aggressive behavior by increasing the accessibility of
aggressive thoughts in memory. When a concept is frequently activated it becomes highly accessible.
This is also called priming. Many factors, such as media violence, can prime aggressive thoughts in
individuals.

Scripts: Scripts consist of one’s goals, plans and beliefs. Aggressive scripts have been found to be
one of the most accessible scripts. It has been seen that aggressive children are less likely to create
prosocial scripts.

Beliefs and attitudes about aggression: Normative beliefs related to the appropriateness about
aggression are another important determinant of aggressive behavior. According to Guerra et al.,
(1995) children from low socioeconomic status show greater acceptance of aggression. Many
researchers have also emphasized upon the importance of cultural beliefs in aggression. Holding
positive views about violence is another important factor affecting aggressive behavior.

Many types of beliefs play a role in an individual’s preparedness to aggress. Beliefs related to
efficacy are also important. Individuals who possess the belief that they can successfully carry out
specific aggressive acts and that these acts will produce certain desired outcomes are much more
likely to engage in aggressive behaviors.

Positive attitudes towards violence also predispose a person to aggression. For example, positive
attitudes about violence against women are related to aggressiveness against women.

Values: The values one holds also play a role in aggression. Violence for many people is a valid
method of dealing with conflict. In some cultures, violence to protect one’s honor is justified and
hence assigned great value.

Long-term goals: One’s life goals also influence aggression. For example, if one’s goal in life is to
be feared and respected then he would find aggressive acts as a means to achieve that end.

6.2.3 Affect
Mood and emotion: One’s moods and emotions play an important role in aggression. For example,
pain or discomfort can increase anger. Uncomfortable temperatures and bad odors can lead to
increase in aggressive affect. Exposure to violent movie clips also increases hostile feelings. Many
personality variables are related to hostility-related affect.

6.2.4 Deindividuation: Deindividuation is the loss of personal identity and responsibility when
people become anonymous. Researches have shown that individuals are more inclined to be
aggressive when they are anonymous. Individuals can develop a sense of deindividuation when they
are part of a large group or crowd. Hence, deindividuation is the reason why people who are usually
well-behaved can become violent during clashes or riots. In a study done by Zimbardo in 1969, he
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found that female students who wore lab coats and hoods
which covered their faces gave twice as many electrics
shock as compared to participants who wore their own clothes and large name badges.

In order to understand the concept of deindividuation, Zimbardo (1969) conducted a study in which
he left a car with its bonnet open in (a) a small town (Palo Alto) and (b) in a big city (New York). He
then filmed the behavior of people towards the car. He observed that after 10 minutes of parking the
car in New York, the battery and radiator were removed and infact there was very little left after 3
days. In contrast, it was found that the car which was left in the small town (Palo Alto) was not
damaged at all and rather a passer-by lowered the bonnet when it started raining. He concluded that
this is due to the fact that there is more deindividuation in big cities as compared to small towns.

6.3. Environmental factors

6.3.1 Family and cultural environment: Children learn different behaviors through observational
learning. Research suggests that children’s aggression related beliefs are similar to those of their
parents. Cultural factors also determine the acceptability of various aggressive acts. Children who
grow up watching violence in homes and media are more likely to be violent.

6.3.2 Media violence

Various researches have revealed a significant positive relationship between media violence and
aggression. Eron et al., (1972) reported that boys’ early viewing of violence on television was
positively related to their aggressive and antisocial behavior ten years later. Research has also shown
that watching violent clips increases aggressive thoughts. Exposure to violent media desensitizes
people to later violence. This happens because watching violent media increases viewer’s acceptance
of violent attitudes and behaviors. Repeatedly exposing children to media violence combined with
poor parenting can lead to the development of an aggressive personality. This happens due to the
development and reinforcement of aggression-related knowledge structures.

6.3.3 Faulty parenting

Faulty parenting involves behaviors like inadequate monitoring of the activities of children, using
poor disciplinary techniques, physical punishment and other such inappropriate procedures. It has
been found that abused and neglected children become abusive and neglectful parents themselves.

6.3.4 Extreme social environments

Many environmental conditions can lead to the development of aggressive personality like poverty,
living in a violent neighborhood, deviant peers and excessive exposure to violent media, etc.

6.4 Biological factors

Research has shown that biological factors play an important role in aggression. People with lower
levels of arousal are more at risk of behaving in an aggressive manner. Since low arousal people may
engage in more sensation producing behaviors to increase their arousal. High testosterone levels are
also found to lead to increased aggression. Apart from these biological factors, many neuro-
physiological factors have also been found as related to aggression.

From an evolutionary standpoint, there are some common social needs like the needs to view oneself
positively; believe that others view the self positively and the need to view one’s group positively.
Threats to these needs are often the source of aggressive behavior.

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7. THEORIES OF AGGRESSION
There are many theories to explain aggressive behavior. Some of the important theories of aggression
are as follows:

7.1. Drive theories

According to drive theory of aggression, aggressive behavior is pushed from within by drives to harm
another person. One of the most important concept is the frustration-aggression hypothesis (Dollard et
al,1939). According to this hypothesis, frustration leads to arousal of a drive to harm some person or
object which one feels is the cause of the frustration.

7.2. Cognitive Neoassociation Theory

Berkowitz (1990) proposed that aversive events like loud noises, unpleasant odors, frustrations, and
provocations can produce negative affect. Negative affect leads to the stimulation of a variety of
memories, thoughts, and physiological and motor responses. The flight associations enhance the
feelings of fear while the fight associations give rise to feelings of anger. According to this theory,
cues which are present during an aversive event become associated with the event as well as with the
emotional and cognitive responses triggered by it.

The aggressive emotions, thoughts and behavioral tendencies become related together in memory.
When a concept is activated, this activation spreads to other related concepts. Cognitive
neoassociation theory incorporates the earlier frustration-aggression hypothesis.

7.3. Social Learning Theory: Social learning theory proposes that individuals learn aggressive
behaviors by observing others. This theory explains the acquiring of aggressive behaviors with the
help of observational learning. Bandura and his colleagues conducted the famous Bobo doll
experiment to show how children learn aggressive behaviors. The sample in the study consisted of 36
boys and 36 girls (3-6 years) belonging to Stanford University Nursery School. Out of 72
participants, 24 children were allotted to a control group where they did not receive any treatment.
The rest of 48 the children were equally divided into two experimental groups. One experimental
group was exposed to aggressive models, while the other group was shown non-aggressive models.

Before conduction, it was made sure that groups had equal average level of aggression. The child was
brought into a playroom where he/she was allowed to engage in a variety of activities. Then an adult
also joined in the activities with the child. In the non-aggressive condition, the adult model ignored
the Bobo doll and played with the tinker toys for the entire period. While, in the aggressive condition,
the adult model violently attacked the Bobo doll and also used verbally aggressive phrases. After 10
minute exposure to the adult model, the child was then taken to another room in which there were
many appealing and interesting toys. However, children were not allowed to play with any of these
toys. This helped the researcher to build up frustration in children.

Finally, each child was taken to the last experimental room which had many aggressive toys like dart
guns, mallet and a Bobo doll. Several non-aggressive toys including crayons, dolls, paper and plastic
animals were also present in the room. The children were then allowed to play with toys in this room
for sometime. The raters observed behaviour of each child from behind a one-way mirror and judged
each child’s level of aggression.

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Photo showing the Bobo doll experiment:

Albert Bandura conducted the classic series of experiments in 1961
http://www.personal.psu.edu/bfr3/blogs

Results showed that even when the adult was no longer present, children who had been exposed to the
aggressive model tended to copy the behavior they had observed. Boys were found to behave more
aggressively than girls. Infact, boys as compared to girls, engaged in more than twice as many acts of
aggression. The study clearly showed the power of observational learning and also how children learn
aggressive behaviors by merely observing and imitating aggressive models.

7.4. Script Theory

According to the script theory (Huesmann, 1998), children observe violence in the mass media and
learn aggressive scripts. Scripts are sets of well-rehearsed and highly linked concepts which involve
causal links and action plans. These scripts define situations and guide behavior. The person first
selects a script according to the situation and then assumes a role in the script. Once a script has been
learned, it may be retrieved at some later time and used as a guide for behavior.

7.5. Excitation Transfer Theory

According to the Excitation transfer theory (Zillmann, 1983), physiological arousal comes down
slowly. If two arousing events are separated by a short amount of time; arousal from the first event
may be wrongly attributed to the second event. If the second event is associated to anger, then the
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additional arousal may make the person angrier. This

theory states that anger may be extended over long periods
of time if an individual attributes his heightened arousal to anger. Hence, even after the arousal has
come down the individual may remain potentially aggressive.

Figure 1: Representing the Excitation Transfer Theory

(Source: Based on Zillman’s (1983) excitation transfer theory)

7.6. Social Interaction Theory

Social interaction theory (Tedeschi & Felson 1994) explains aggressive behavior in terms of social
influence behavior. According to this, an actor uses coercive actions to produce some change in the
target’s behavior. The actor is a decision-maker whose choices are determined by the expected
rewards, costs and probabilities of obtaining certain outcomes. This theory provides an explanation of
aggressive acts motivated by higher level goals. Social interaction theory helps in understanding the
recent findings that aggression is often the result of threats to high self-esteem.

7.7. The General Aggression Model (GAM) The GAM gives a detailed account of human
aggression (Anderson & Bushman, 2002). According to this model, aggression can be initiated by
situational factors and personal factors. The situational and personal factors lead to aggression by
their impact on arousal, cognitions and affective state. This model integrates mini-theories of
aggression. It has many advantages such as it is more parsimonious than earlier theories; it better
explains aggressive behaviors that are based on multiple motives; it helps in the development of more
comprehensive interventions to treat chronically aggressive individuals and also provides better
insights about child rearing and developmental issues.

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Figure 2: Representing the General Aggression Model

(Source: Based on Anderson & Bushman’s (2002) theory)

GAM draws heavily on recent work on the use of knowledge structures for perception, decision
making, interpretation and action. Three important types of knowledge structures include perceptual
schemata, person schemata and behavioral scripts. GAM focuses on the person and situation inputs;
affective, cognitive and arousal routes through which these input variables have their impact and
outcomes of the underlying appraisal and decision processes.

In sum, GAM provides a useful framework for understanding and integrating the earlier views on
human aggression. It also provides direction for creating interventions designed to prevent and
control human aggression.

8. Prevention and control of aggression

In order to reduce the frequency and intensity of aggressive and violent acts certain techniques can be
employed:

1. Punishment: this is one of the major techniques in reducing aggression. Punishment is given
since it is felt that the aggressor deserves to be punished and also to deter people from committing
such acts in the future. However, in order to be effective the punishment should be prompt,
certain, strong and should be perceived as justified by the recipient.

2. Self regulation: Aggression can also be checked or controlled by strengthening the internal
mechanisms which help in controlling aggressive behaviors.

3. Forgiveness: This relates to giving up the desire to hurt the person who had hurt us in the past,
and be kind to the person. Research shows that forgiveness leads to well being of both the parties.

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4. Multisystemic therapy: This approach is family-based

and focuses on major factors leading to delinquent and
violent behaviors of the individual undergoing treatment. Intervention is designed according to
the needs of the individual. In this, opportunities for prosocial behavior are rewarded while
opportunities for violent offenses are restricted.

5. Non-violence: The discussion about violence would be incomplete without the concept of Non-
violence. The concept of non-violence has a special significance in India. Mahatma Gandhi
practiced non-violence as an assertive means to end the British rule in India. Following suit many
protests in India and other parts of the world have adopted non-violence as a powerful tool.

9. Summary
 Human aggression is any behavior directed toward another individual with the intention to
cause harm. Violence is physical aggression at the extremely high end of the aggression
continuum. All violence is aggression but much aggression is not violence.
 Traditionally aggression was classified into dichotomous categories like direct and indirect
aggression, hostile and instrumental aggression etc. now many theorists are adopting a
dimensional approach.
 Aggressiveness manifests itself at different age in different ways.
 Males and females differ in aggressive tendencies, especially in the most violent behaviors.
 The main causes of aggression can be classified as situational, personal, environmental, and
biological.
 The main theories of aggression are cognitive neo-association theory, social interaction
theory, social learning theory, script theory, excitation transfer theory and the general
aggression model.
 Aggression can be prevented and controlled by punishment, self-regulation, forgiveness and
multi systemic therapy.

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