Bio-Social Theories Of Aggression Research Paper

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Aggression is a form of antisocial behaviour which can be defined as “any act that harms another individual who is motivated to avoid such harm”. (Baron & Richardson, 1994). Aggression is a topic studied by many social psychologists who have, over many years, developed various theories about aggression. These theories are split in to two categories; instinct theories and bio-social theories. Instinct theories are based on the idea that aggression is innate and unavoidable, its theories rely heavily on biology as evidence. Bio-social, however, also refers to the biological nature as in instinct theories but that it is largely as the result of some form of social factor triggering such a response. This essay will discuss three of these bio-social …show more content…

This theory is the idea that aggression is developed as a result of seeing someone they perhaps look up to acting in an aggressive manner and so copying such actions is inevitable for them. (Brown, Treviño, & Harrison, 2005). The 1963 experiment lead by Bandura helped prove his hypothesises about social learning theory. The results of this experiment showed that while observing violent behaviour can affect some and cause them to act similarly, it can have almost no effect on others. This experiment also links to the theory of frustration aggression as the children were intentionally irritated prior to being put in the room with the bobo doll. Therefore, there are obvious similarities between these two theories. (Bandura, Ross, & Ross, Imitation of Film-Mediated Aggressive Models., 1963). Further research conducted by Bandura showed that social learning would only ever take place if the act was something they could visualise. Additionally, he concluded that people must be able to imagine receiving either a reward or being punished for that particular act before they would act in such a manner. (Bandura, Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory., 1986). As a whole, there is little entirely successful evidence to back up this particular theory which does make it slightly less reliable than other …show more content…

This theory is based on the idea that "frustration produces instigations to a number of different types of response, one of which is an instigation to some form of aggression." (Miller, 1941). Research into this theory was undergone by Kulik and Brown in 1979 which confirmed the theory as relevant and correct. The study showed that as there was a decrease in ability to complete a task, there was an increase in frustration and, of course, aggression. Therefore, the participants who received an adverse phone call during the experiment were, to a large extent, the ones who would choose the letter that would be considered equally as hostile as the phone call, as well as being the most aggressive. (Kulik & Brown, 1979). This theory fits in with real, everyday life and is relatable to situations which are very likely to occur each day. An example of this is people stuck in traffic jams for a prolonged period, especially when they have somewhere to be, can result in an increase in road

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