What is aggression? “Aggression is behavior that is intended to harm another individual” (Kassin, Fein, & Markus, 2014, p. 435). From the beginning of time, different factors have come in all directions to influence aggression in humans. A couple of factors affecting aggression include adults and society. Adults continually set the stage for how children react to certain situations. Society also starts affecting a child at a very young age. The factors of adults and society play a major role in how the difference in gender aggression has evolved.
What most adults do not realize is the impact their actions have on a child. For example, in one study that took place by Bandura and his associates in 1961, they used what they called a Bobo doll
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A study performed in Montréal, Québec took into consideration many variables while researching how boys’ aggression played out. They measured from the mother whether or not the she was a teenager, her SES status, and if she divorced before her son turned six. In the boy, they measured cognitive and behavioral attributes that go along with aggression such as low IQ and hyperactivity. The conclusion of the study showed that the characteristics of the boy’s mother, such as how old she was and if she finished school or not, greatly affected the boys’ levels of aggression, and if the boys were more aggressive when they were young, then they were more prone to be aggressive as they aged (Nagin & Tremblay, 2001, p. 389). All children need parents who are going to steer them in the right direction when it comes to handling their …show more content…
If males feel their reputation to be threatened, they will do whatever it takes to maintain it. Britt Galon and Marion Underwood said, “Boys may use their fists to fight, but at least it’s over with quickly,” (Kassin et al., 2014, p. 442), and Vladas Griskevicius said, “…Not caring about status, which can be implied by backing away from a fight, can be evolutionary suicide. Aggression can lead to status…” (Kassin et al., 2014, p. 445). These statements are accurate in describing the way males fight in real life and also in movies. As in the movie “Never Back Down” there is an illustration of how society teaches young males how to handle their aggression. The main character, Jake Tyler, got involved in fighting and was faced multiple times to fight against the local bully, Ryan McCarthy. The fights turned extremely violent, but Jake persevered and finished the fight. This example shows how a young male fought for his status. He no longer wanted to be picked on by the bully so he found some extra motivation and did something about it. Along the same lines, parents tend to give their sons a pat on the back or some form of praise for retaliating against someone who has caused them some kind of
Aggressive individuals often act in ways that will result in having personal gain, rather than focusing what impact they have on others. Aggression is pervasive. It affects the rich as well as the poor, the upper and lower classes, it defines us. This means that most sole individuals will behave in certain ways to promote their well being, instead of how they affect others. Michael Crichton uses characters in Jurassic Park to portray the negative physical, social and intellectual impact they can have on society. This is evident in everyday life because society has molded individuals into looking out for their well being with no considerations of the impact that it has on others.
One of the most researched topics in the history of psychology is aggression. One goal of social scientists has been to define aggression. Some believe that aggression is biologically preprogrammed, others look toward situational factors and this study suggests that aggression is learned. This study was conducted by Albert Bandura and his associates in 1961 at Stanford University. The researchers proposed that the children be exposed to adult models with either aggressive or nonaggressive ways, they would then be tested without the models present to determine if they would imitate that aggression they observed in the adult.
Lefkowitz, Monroe M. 1977. Growing Up to be Violent: A Longitudinal Study of the Development of Aggression. New York: Pergamon.
Aggression is defined as any behavior intended to harm another person who is motivated to avoid the harm according to Baumeister & Bushman (2014). A study was conducted in 1967 by Leonard Berkowitz and Anthony LePage, to determine whether the presence of weapons would elicit aggressive behavior from an individual (Baumeister & Bushman, 2014). They hypothesized that participants were likely to associate weapons, particularly firearms, to aggression and violence, which would cause observing a weapon to elicit an aggressive response. The experiment determined that the presence of weapon can elicit an aggressive response from people ready to act aggressively. In the study, participants were shocked up to seven times then given the opportunity to
In comparison Robert Wright and Jane Ellen Stevens hold different positions on their stance about the biology of violence. Stevens writes in her article that it is her belief that violence is a direct result of biological or public health problems. Wright’s view differs as his article shows why he believes that violence is a result of external causes beyond the simple biological explanation. Whereas both authors have opposing viewpoints each presents an argument worth of consideration.
Vaillancourt, T., & Hymel, S. (2006). Aggression and social status: The moderating roles of sex and peer-valued characteristics. Aggressive Behavior, 32, 396–408. doi:10.1002/ab.20138.
Growing up as a male, they will mainly hear these sayings all the time, “Be a man,” “Don’t show emotions,” “Don’t act like a girl,” “Be cool and better than others” and “Grow some balls.” There are many other things that have been said but I am pretty sure you get the point by now. Living in today 's society, in other to have that man box they have the obligation to prove their manliness. It controls and takes over their box. Especially during school, seeing all the bad males being favored for being mad, this makes the younger generation look up to them and want to be like them. Males are known to look for trouble, they don’t know why they do it, but it feels right when they do it because it 's the only way they can “earn” respect from friends and outsiders. Every male feels they deserve respect, they will try to get it no matter what, “Respect is linked to violence,” Dr. Marshal stated in the video “The Mask You Live in.” Males are aggressive, it’s like a special trait they’re known to have. IF violence I the only way they can get respect, then that’s what is indeed to happen. Males mask their feelings, and push everything out with actions. There is no need to be weak if they know can they can man up, “If I can man up, why step down from that,” said a student in the video “Mask You Live In.” Males know they can be superior, rough, the
A high school student cried as she recounted being tormented in middle school by her classmates. For some reason she was targeted as a “dog,” and day after day she had to walk the halls with kids barking at her. How did it stop? The girl said she stopped it. But how? She picked out another girl, someone worse off than herself, and started to call her dog. Then the others forgot about her. Then they barked at the other girl instead. Girls may be made of sugar and spice and everything nice, but on the inside, they are just plain mean. “Girls tease, insult, threaten, gossip maliciously, and play cruel games with their friends’ feelings and set up exclusive cliques and hierarchies in high schools.” (Omaha World Herald, 10A).
The Effects of Two or More Environmental Stressors on Aggressive Behaviour An environmental stressor is a situation, which causes a negative emotional experience, accompanied by predictable physiological, biochemical and behavioural changes that are designed to help us adapt to the stressor. The three main environmental stressors are heat, noise and crowding, all of which may result in heightened physiological and psychological behaviour. A large number of studies have investigated the possibility of a connection between temperature and aggressive behaviour. Carlsmith and Anderson (1979) found that hotter weather gives a higher chance of a riot when they looked at disturbances in 79 US cities between 1967 and 1971. There appears to be a similar relationship between violent crime and hot weather.
Provocation is main important factor that plays a role in aggression. Aggression can be defined as behavior that is meant to hurt others. It is generally divided into hostile aggression and instrumental aggression. Instrumental aggression is a means to an end. It is often referred to as "predatory" aggression and is associated with goal-oriented, planned, or controlled behavior. Generally, harming the person is used to obtain some other goal, such as money or benefits. Hostile aggression is accompanied by strong emotions, particularly anger. It is associated with being impulsive, unplanned, overt, uncontrolled and harming the other person is the goal.
The different levels of aggression in a certain situation is based on the person maturity in my case. Certain individuals will be more mature in a situation and in other situations that may break them to a point of no return may act out in a way that may even be new to them. For example, A person may threaten to do something to the certain individual, but say that person was to threaten someone they love, maybe his/her mother, that person would probably be filled up with rage at the thought of that person hurting his/her mother. The state of your environment can affect the way you handle your aggression. Negative arousal is a way of getting into one’s mind. Once in the mind it uses probably the worst possible thought you have of the situation and because of that it will give a likely chance of an aggressive action.
It is a fact that a person may harm another person in a form of aggression at some point in time. When people get frustrated, they are expected to be aggressive. And when people do aggressive acts, it may be said that the aggression is brought about by prior frustration. This is the suggestion of the frustration-aggression hypothesis. (Dollard, Doob, Miller, Mowrer, & Sears, 1939). There are also existing factors that influence us to do so. Some harm others to deal with aversion, others harm because they expect rewards or have observed other people rewarded, or basically because they are obliged or expected to do so. (Fall, 2010) Expectation of rewards also involves material benefits, social approval, and attention. (Delamater & Myers, 2012) The reward to be expected by the
Now ways to help prevent or at least acknowledge were some aggressive behavior comes from. In the “BoBo” doll experiment we saw that children act out aggression as they see it. So it’s safe to say that a front line to reduce aggressive behavior comes from the home. Studies have shown that more aggressive children have physically punitive parents or guardians in their active life, disciplining with aggressive acts such as screaming, slapping, and beating. The culture also has a great deal of influence when it comes to aggressive behavior. In adolescent ages those who observed violent act with guns are twice as likely to become violent as they grow.
Violence within families often reflects behaviours learned by children from their parents. A theory is that violent behaviour is passed down from generation to generation through families (Cole & Flanagin, Pg. 2). The majority of Americans are subjected to corporal punishment at one point or another during their lifetime(Kandel, Pg. 4). Surveys suggested that almost all American parents used physical punishment at one point or another and the punishment was regared as an appropriate child rearing technique. Another survey also suggested that some psychologists belive physical punishment to be an effective and useful socialization tool(Kandel, Pg. 2). Aggression is commonly conceived as existing on a continuum, ranging from very severe parental aggression to much milder and normal parental aggression, such as use of corporal or physical punishment(Kandel, Pg. 1). A common concern is that parental use of physical punishment will lead to aggressive behaviour in children.
Aggression is the human behaviour of one that is directed towards another with the intention to cause harm (Anderson & Bushman, 2002). Violence is aggression with the intention to cause extreme harm (Anderson & Bushman, 2002). There are mainly two types of aggression. Firstly is hostile aggression which is an unplanned form of aggression which occurs as a reaction. Instrumental aggression on the other hand is a pre-planned form of aggression which has other goals than merely harming the victim (Anderson & Bushman, 2002). In this essay, we will view three different psychological theories of aggression. They are the biological phenomenon of aggression, aggression as a form of response to frustration and finally aggression as a learned social