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In all of nature, there is nothing so threatening to humanity as humanity itself. Lewis Thomas, 1981
Aggression
-- Intentional action aimed at doing harm or causing harm. Aggressive Behavior
Causes
Inherited or Learned Behaviors
- Research published in 2003 in Neuron suggests that there may indeed be a genetic link to aggressive outbursts. - Learned behaviors, unlike inherited traits, are not linked to genetics but acquired through environmental influence.
Causes
Medical Problems
- An adverse reaction to medication may cause aggressive behavior.
- Medications also have the power to bring about hostile behaviors in people with or without a psychological illness.
Causes
Inward
- People who engage in inward aggressive actions typically have an underlying mental problem. - Inward aggression occurs when individuals direct the belligerent actions towards themselves.
Causes
External
- External aggressive behaviors occur when an individual directs the action towards another person. - The causes of external aggressions vary and can include social pressure or a reaction to a previous abuse.
Types
Instrumental Aggression
- Harm inflicted as a means to some goal other than causing pain.
Goals include:
-- Personal gain
-- Attention -- Self-defense
Types
Emotional Aggression
-Harm inflicted for its own sake, to cause pain.
- Often impulsive
Types
Physical Violence/Hostility
- Often involves acts of violence taken with the intention of causing harm to the recipient, including death, by using weapons or even someone's bare hands.
Types
Verbal Hostility
- includes behavior such as bullying, threats or yelling.
Types
Nonverbal Intimidation
- Often implies the threat of violence, at least in the perception of the person at the receiving end.
Types
Passive Aggression
- An indirect way of expressing displeasure or anger.
- Often generated by resentment on the part of someone who is unable or unwilling to express this resentment directly.
What happens to our body when we are Aggressive or showing an Aggressive Behavior?
The response varies from person to person, but some symptoms include;
Teeth Grinding Fists Clenching Flushing Paling Prickly Sensations Numbness
Sweating
Muscle Tensions Temperature Changes
amygdala, the part of the brain that deals with emotion, is going crazy. It
The
wants to do something, and the time between a trigger event and a response from the amygdala can be a quarter of a second. But at the same time, blood flow is increasing to the frontal lobe, specifically the part of the brain that's over the left eye.
Some diseases you can get when youre always angry or expressing aggressive behavior: Weakened Heart
Stiffer Arteries Liver and Kidney damage. High Cholesterol. Depression or Anxiety .
Instinct Theories
- Freud
- Psychoanalytic theory
- Death instinct vs. Life instinct - Aggression death instinct is turned outward at others
Freud
Evolutionary Theories
- Darwin
- Genetic survival
- Genetic selection for aggression
- Modeling
- Learn how to behave prosocially - Learn how to behave aggressively
Situational Factors
Frustration-Aggression Theory
- Frustration always leads to aggression - Closeness of goal as a factor of frustration-aggression link - Aggression increases when frustration is unexpected
Displaced aggression
- Aggression not directed at source of the frustration, but at a different, lower status target
Berkowitzs modification of frustrationaggression theory - frustration leads to anger - anger with an aggressive cue leads to aggression Alcohol myopia (Steele & Josephs, 1990) - Intoxication facilitates aggression by impairing cognitive processing, narrows attention
Heat - More violent crimes (rape, murder, riots, assaults) In summer months In hot years In hot cities - Heat increases Hit by pitch incidents
Horn-honking
Interpret ambiguous event in hostile terms
Catharsis: Doesnt work Punishment: Not a simple solution Deterrence Theory: Punishment has to be severe, certain, and swift
Corporal punishment increases aggression (Eron et al., 1991; Straus et al., 1997; Gershoff, 2002)
Remove Cues to Aggression (Berkowitz) Provide Better Role Models (Bandura)